Learning from the young people

Do our cultural orientations allow this?

Do adults know better?

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My 25+ years of working experience means that in my office I have team members who are in the age range of 21 years upwards. I am living in an era where many things have changed – for example the growth and use of technology, the diversity of people working in organisations and the generally different terrain of today’s work place.

A growing number of Africans are living and working in other African countries. People from varying religious backgrounds are working together in teams. People with different belief systems and experiences find themselves having to collaborate at work places. The workers are also becoming younger and younger in most organisations.

I am interested in how we can tap into this diversity for knowledge transfer, learning from each other, mentoring, coaching and promoting innovative ways of working.

I worked as a computer programmer in the 90s and early 2000s. I then became a manager of technical teams. I know that I have much to learn from the young people concerning the current tools and platforms that are being used for example by systems developers/programmers in this new age. I admit that young people know certain things that I do not know.

My experience of working in some countries in Africa is that the young people’s voices cannot be easily heard in organizations. The older people have the final say. The young people will not speak up and oppose the views of an adult. I find that this suffocates learning, collaboration and knowledge transfer.

How I learn from young people

1.  I established ‘Tuesday Meetings’ where the department meets to share. The golden rule is that everyone’s views matter.
2. We hold joint learning sessions. This is based on an agreed area of joint learning. Young people get the opportunity to research and present as a method of joint learning.
3. I assign young people to solve real organisational problems. This is of course done under supervision, but they lead the process.

Advantages of having young people in the work place

1. They have more energy and zeal
2. They are technology-savvy
3. They have new ideas. With guidance some of these ideas could benefit organisations
4. They quickly adapt to new environments

What the older people bring to the work place

1.  Older people bring valuable experience. Nothing beats experience. But experience must not come in the way of new thinking
2. They know people and have networks associated with their profession
3. Loyalty – the young could benefit from this
4. Have more organisational skills

We can benefit from understanding the value that young people and other diverse groups can bring to the organisations. If diverse teams are properly nurtured – this can result in organisations that easily ‘learn’, ‘adapt’ and anticipate new directions to take.

Thank you for reading my article. What has been your experience as a young person in an organisational setting? What has been your experience if you are an older person? Do our cultural orientations promote learning from the youth?

8 key messages that I shared with students during a Career’s Day Event

Today I was invited to speak at the 17^th annual Career’s Day organized by the SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC) based in Tema, Accra, Ghana (http://www.soshgic.edu.gh/)

The theme of this year’s event was “Exploring Public Sector and Non-Profit Careers: Viable Choices for Fulfillment and Impact”. When I received the invitation I did not hesitate because I take a special interest in coaching and mentoring young people.  

The event was very well organized and focused. It began with a key note address in a big hall where all the students gathered. It then followed up with parallel sessions held in different rooms. I spoke to two different groups during two sessions of 30 minutes each.

My key messages to the students were:

1. Volunteerism: it is important for young people to volunteer their time. This is an excellent way of contributing to society, learning skills and being connected.
2. Being Open: sometimes our plans do not proceed as we expect. It is important to be flexible when it comes to available opportunities.
3. Soft Skills are as equally important as technical skills: skills required for success include communication, writing, technology literacy, ability to work with diverse teams, entrepreneurship and problem solving.
4. Technology literacy: Technology is impacting all aspects of our lives. Learning how to write code must be  like learning how to read and write
5. Self-Branding: young people can take advantage of social media to brand themselves. Social media etiquette is important. For example if one has a skill or knows something – they could record a video or article and share it for others to learn from. Being consistent and professional on social media platforms is part of self-branding.
6. Life-long Learning: In order to succeed it is important to keep learning. There are numerous opportunities to learn online and upgrade one’s skills.
7. Limited jobs for the youth: The number of jobless youth has reached frightening levels globally. It is important to think out of the box. How can youth create their own jobs? How can they identify opportunities? How can they build unique skills that are in demand?
8. Trending professions on the continent: include the creative industries, food technologists, 3D designers, data centre workers and care, education and health workers – this is according to the analysis done by the World Economic Forum in partnership with LinkedIn (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EGW_FOJ_Africa.pdf). They predicted that in the longer term, there will be “strong job growth potential in hard and soft infrastructure, green jobs, ICT sector and through new work formats”.

Some of the questions that the students asked me included:

1. Which universities in Africa offer the best Computer Science programs?
2. How have you coped as a woman in technology?
3. What languages did you use to code computer programs back in the 90’s and 2000’s?
4. It is difficult to get organizations to buy into technological solutions and to dedicate resources for Information Technology – what strategies have you used to convince them?
5. How do I get to understand what my passion is?

What I learned from the visit to the school

1. SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC) is a very well-organized and well-kept school. The environment speaks volumes concerning the type of leadership, vision and culture.
2. Because of the excellent learning environment, curriculum and style of teaching, the students attending this school are very privileged to be at that school.
3. There is a need for many of us to volunteer by contributing to the education and exposure of our youth by participating in career days.

Thank you for reading my article. I will be happy to get your comments – especially your own experiences related to mentoring and coaching young people.