This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease – said Robert Kennedy and he surely had a point. Youth nowadays is hungry for changes and do not wait for permission. The best way, for every business which wants to develop its social responsibility strategy, is to simply ally with these young leaders.
Why would you care? Because, according to the estimations of Deloitte, by 2025 Millennials will fill up around 75% of the global workforce. Millennials will soon become the managing body of your company and if you won’t learn how to work with them now, you’ll feel the consequences later.
There’s good news. Young people, very often the ones who enforce youth-run NGOs, are very eager to cooperate and happy to develop their professional path. A great way how to combine all these goals is to let the youth speak up.
There are many ways how run-youth organizations contribute to a more responsible business world. Here are three examples, for a good start.
Content Creators
Millennials are the first generation considered to be globally ‘plugged in’ to the constantly updating news, notifications and changes. However, when you team up with their younger and even more connected cohort called ‘Generation Z’, you’ll quickly see that the incredible skill of multi-tasking will help your business become always up to date with the hottest news. It is simply a consequence of their natural expectation for all information to be on the full speed. According to executive director of growth strategy, Marcle Merriman, When it doesn’t get there that fast they think something’s wrong.
MaY, for example, is the first world NGO, which is very focused on quality media. After only 3 years of its existence, it managed to gather +5000 members who collect content and transform it into objective, ethical pieces of media. And it’s not only about writing; MaY runs several ‘networks’, which aim to develop young photographers, graphic designers or filmmakers. Why not then using this power of dynamic insight and implement it to your next social campaign?
Insights Providers
One of the biggest power young people have, and businesses run by their older mates don’t have, are the insights and opinions of the modern world of youth. That is why we need to constantly communicate between each other and get full understanding of mutual expectations. ‘Why do Millennials leave the company so fast?’ ‘Why do they have such weird expectations?’ ‘How can I provide the right development model for my Millennial employees so they will stay loyal to the job?’
The list goes on. A fast and efficient way how to solve it is to run many surveys. As much as this task sometimes can take a lot of time and resources, an even better idea is to use insights already collected by the youth. One of the best examples of such campaign is an initiative called Youth Speak Survey, organized by global, youth-run NGO, AIESEC. Over 160 000 people from 197 countries around the world answered questions regarding their life goals, career, vision for the future and values. If you need information or insight and you are driven by a socially responsible project – just ask for it. Young, purposeful leaders are more than happy to collaborate.
Campaigns Supporters
It’s not like Millennials and Generation Z cannot do it alone. Beautiful examples of the power of youth leadership, such as Malala Yousafzai, prove that teenagers and university students have great power to be positive change-makers. When you have thousands of young people, committed for one goal, there’s nothing to stop them. Except for… financial resources, brand recognition and experience in project management.
This is why combining youth-run organizations with socially responsible business can make the world a better place. The idea is the same, and the point is to collaborate. In MaY, you have plenty of opportunities, from getting brilliant Content Providers to engaged Campaign Supporters. It’s about MaY + your Business. Why not starting now?
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