Become a Cornerstone Employer Become a Cornerstone Employer

Become a Cornerstone Employer

Become a Cornerstone Employer Our goal is to make it easier for employers like you to prepare and inspire young people for the fast-changing world of work. During this period of economic recovery, having the right people with the right skills, behaviours and attitudes is key to rebuilding businesses across England. Young people who are on the cusp of transitioning from education to employment rely on businesses nationwide to help them take on new opportunities – and to make informed decisions about their career. Young people are your workforce of tomorrow.

Become a Cornerstone Employer Four or more encounters with the world of work significantly increases a young person’s future earnings. 1 Two thirds of businesses are concerned there will be a lack of sufficiently skilled people to fill their roles over the coming years. 2 Employers need to reach out to one young person a year for every seven employees in their workplace. 3 1. Educating for the modern world: CBI/Pearson education and skills annual report, 2018. 2. Source: Mann, Kashefpakdel, Rehill and Huddleston. 2017. Contemporary transitions: Young Britons reflect on life after secondary school and college. London: Education and Employers. 3. Source: Closing the Gap: The Level of Employer Engagement in England’s Schools and Colleges. 2018. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company.

Become a Cornerstone Employer Our role

Become a Cornerstone Employer What is a Cornerstone Employer? As a Cornerstone Employer, you build on your commitment to supporting young people by working with a small number of like-minded businesses locally. You lead efforts to enlist more employers and to coordinate and improve existing and future outreach. Cornerstone Employers work with their networks, the wider business community and their local team to make sure that young people have access to the career opportunities they need. There are currently over 200 Cornerstone Employers across the country. They are made up of SMEs, large employers, government, private and not for profits and are from a range of different sectors.

Become a Cornerstone Employer Who can be a Cornerstone Employer? A Cornerstone Employer can be a large or small business, and a local or national employer, provided they are: ü Experienced in engaging with education ü Dedicated to investing time and resources ü Committed to working with other Cornerstone Employers ü Willing to galvanise their business networks ü Focused on sustainability and acts as an ambassador

Become a Cornerstone Employer Why become a Cornerstone Employer? • Support the growth of your local economy and give back to your community. • Work with and learn from like-minded employers across various sectors. • Take a needs-based approach and direct resources where support is most needed. • Increase your organisation’s understanding of the world of education and the needs of young people. • Diversity your talent pipeline and support social mobility. With a complex, fast-changing labour market, the need for high-quality workplace experiences and links to employers has never been greater – and Cornerstone Employers are ambassadors for making this become a reality. BAE Systems Backing Social Mobility Watch the video here

Become a Cornerstone Employer What to expect… Your commitments National picture Regular local check-ins Work strategically with your local team to support schools and colleges, driving business engagement to target local need. Priorities could include more employer encounters, workplace experiences and recruiting Enterprise Advisers – as well as getting more employers involved. Receive regular updates and join our annual event giving you the national picture. Access and share best practice with Cornerstones around the country, for example by joining the Cornerstone Employer Linked. In Group. Join termly local Cornerstone Employer roundtables and 1 -1 meetings with your local team to understand the local landscape and access support.

Become a Cornerstone Employer Examples from the national Cornerstone community Cornerstone Employers supporting the Birmingham Careers Hubs are collaborating on a project called ‘Me plc’ – especially to help young people in Birmingham during the Covid 19 pandemic to stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs, college or university. Young people will develop a 29 second elevator pitch and Cornerstone Employers will be available to critique them. A workbook and videos will be available for sharing nationally. Hastings Opportunity Area has successfully held ‘Open Doors’ weeks providing young people with the opportunity to visit a workplace in their area. Having developed an effective approach, East Sussex shared their resources across the network and a number of Cornerstone groups are picking this up including Oldham, Derby, Blackpool, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and the Black Country. Dorset Cornerstone Employer group is launching their first initiative for students in Years 10 -13 and their parents/carers, who will be able to join Dorset Careers Live webinars, starting with NHS. The series will include information on progression routes, job roles, skills and experience required and Q&A.

Become a Cornerstone Employer Where are Cornerstone Employers needed? Opportunity Areas have been identified by Government to tackle low social mobility, testing what works in a range of different communities and spreading best practice to other areas of the country. Careers Hubs are set up by The Careers & Enterprise Company to help transform careers education for young people. They consist of local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve performance against the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks of excellent careers education. Careers Hubs have access to support and funding. This includes a Hub Lead to help coordinate activity and build networks; access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘careers leaders’; a Central Hub Fund; and support from a community of Cornerstone Employers.

Become a Cornerstone Employer LEP Careers Hub Black Country Consortium Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Opportunity area LEP Careers Hub Yes Leicester and Leicestershire Yes Liverpool City Region Yes - recently expanded New Anglia Yes - recently expanded Cambs and Peterborough Fenlands & East Cambridgeshire Coast to Capital Yes - new North East Yes - incl. College and SEND Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Yes - recently expanded Oxfordshire Yes Coventry and Warwickshire Yes Sheffield City Region Yes Cumbria Yes Solent Yes Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Yes - recently expanded South East - East Sussex Yes Dorset Yes - recently expanded South East Midlands Yes Gloucestershire First Yes - new Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Yes - recently expanded Swindon & Wiltshire Yes - recently expanded Derby Opportunity area Ipswich & Norwich Doncaster Hastings Stoke-on-Trent Greater Birmingham and Solihull (Birmingham) Yes - recently expanded SEND Tees Valley Yes - recently expanded Greater Birmingham and Solihull (Solihull) Yes Thames Valley Berkshire Yes Greater Manchester Yes - recently expanded Oldham The Marches Yes - new Heart of the South West Yes - recently expanded West Somerset West of England Yes - recently expanded Hertfordshire Yes - recently expanded Worcestershire Yes - recently expanded Middle School Humber Yes York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Yes North Yorkshire Coast Lancashire Yes - recently expanded Blackpool Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Yes - recently expanded Stoke-on-Trent Leeds City Region Yes - Kirklees and SEND Bradford Swindon & Wiltshire Yes - recently expanded

Become a Cornerstone Employer Join a growing national community of 200+ Cornerstone Employers…

Become a Cornerstone Employer How to sign up 1. Discuss the role with CEC and your local team, and agree to the Cornerstone Commitment statement. 2. Identify a main and a senior contact to represent your organisation. 3. Liaise with your local Hub Lead/ Enterprise Coordinator to join roundtables with other Cornerstones and plan how you can contribute. To find out more, contact the Employer & Partnerships team: employers@careersandenterprise. co. uk Supporting young people by providing meaningful business encounters has always been central to our Early Talent strategy, so when the opportunity arose for us to become a Cornerstone Employer it was an easy decision. Part of the appeal was joining a network of likeminded businesses and having the opportunity to collaborate across sectors to provide some fantastic opportunities for young people in our region. Being part of this network allows us to reach a much wider audience with the ultimate aim of ensuring no young person is left behind. From a business perspective, we're able to reach out to more schools than we ordinarily would, providing us with a great pipeline of talent for our various programmes Sam Lee: Head of Recruitment, Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP

Become a Cornerstone Employer The Gatsby Benchmarks 1| A stable careers programme Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers. 2| Learning from career and labour market information Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information. 3| Addressing the needs of each pupil Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. 4| Linking curriculum learning to careers All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.

Become a Cornerstone Employer The Gatsby Benchmarks Encounters with employers and employees Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment A stable careers programme and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes. known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers. Experiences of workplaces Learning from career and labour market information Every pupil should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options shadowing and/ or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of their networks. available information. Encounters with further and higher education Addressing the needs of each pupil All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity the workplace. considerations throughout. Personal guidance Linking curriculum learning to careers Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs. 5| 6| 7| 8|

Employers play a crucial role in supporting young people to understand the world of work. KPMG are proud to work closely with schools, colleges, and fellow employers to improve the social mobility of children and students in Opportunity Areas. Together with our fellow Cornerstone Employers, we encourage all local businesses to contribute where they can in supporting the needs of our schools, colleges and young people. Roisin Sharkey and Roisin Murphy Directors, Corporate Responsibility, KPMG

Thank you