Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Standard Chartered Bank have held a Work Readiness initiative under its Futuremakers programme for over 200 youth at the Employee Services Bureau.
The Work Readiness initiative falls under the pillar of Empowering Youth and the Bank has undertaken such initiatives consistently over the years in each and every one of its sustainability initiatives.
This is the second of such initiatives StanChart has undertaken to empower the youth in partnership with KCCA, the inaugural one was successfully held mid-2018.
“We seek to foster economic growth, development and opportunity among the youth in Uganda and to demonstrate our ‘human’ values.
“We recognize that the security, prosperity and stability of our financial system, communities and economies depend on well educated, financially capable young people and entrepreneurs.
“I am confident that the information we are sharing will influence and prepare you for the dynamic workspace that you are aspiring to penetrate,” said Edward Barlow Country Head, Operational Risk at Standard Chartered Bank.
On his part, Ethan Musolini while addressing the youth spoke about Success tips advising the youth on.
He said attending networking events to make contacts and grow their networks, maximize their potential, the importance of respecting and greeting people, being honest and hardworking, effectively utilizing opportunities whenever they arise, speaking up and selling themselves is the key to success.
Musolini added that discovering their gifts or talents as it’s what will help them excel, never seeking for permission to serve and why they should put up their hands and claim opportunities, Goal setting and visioning, timekeeping, not using their pasts as an excuse to hold them back, paying attention, being aggressive, minding their appearances especially their dress code as part of their packaging, being curious and excited, not angry when they meet someone better than them are other areas youths can explore for success.
He shared several practical examples like that of Eliud Kipchoge who used Pacesetters who are world-class to support him succeed in relating that to real life where we need to associate with people who are better than us.
Musolini also advised the youth to be steadfast and committed to their cause e.g. if one is seeking a job then they need to make looking for a job their number one job.
He also spoke about the importance of; coaching, setting goals, reading, the importance of everyone learning sales and marketing, consistency, self-esteem and productivity.
He emphasized the need to know and reflect on what they are going to talk about as well as do and the need to use case studies, stories or facts as back up.
Josephine Lubwama – Deputy director Gender, Social Services and Community Development at KCCA while speaking to the youth advised that they offer free services relating to; labour market information to job seekers and the general public.
She added that they undertake job marching and recommend youth to various places of work and they are currently running a youth volunteer programme called “I Serve” where they offer hands-on training for 6 months.
They also mentioned they offer free training in computer and are equipping youth with technical skills at their Kabalagala one-stop-youth-centre, some of the training they offer over a 4 month period relate to; hairdressing, electrical installation and brick making.
They appreciated the Bank for their continued partnership in supporting the youth and proposed the need to join hands in supporting entrepreneurship training by ensuring youth access start-up capital.
Other key insights on work readiness shared by the Bank representatives with the youth during the event included; The changing work dynamics and in particular; skill shift, automation and the future of the workforce Work Etiquette and Attitude.
The youth heard that automation and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of work at supersonic speed.
“One cannot speak about employability or work readiness therefore without emphasizing the impact of technology on the economy, business and society.”
It was mentioned that there is a shift in demand for workforce skills and how work is organized within companies, as people increasingly interact with technology and machines in the workplace.
These technologies are changing the skills required of human workers. Today many companies in many countries complain that they have trouble finding the talent they need, and workers often complain about being underqualified or even overqualified for their jobs.
Skill shortages and mismatches have increased with negative implications for the economies and the labour markets.
This results in increased labour costs lost production due to unfilled vacancies, slower adoption of new technologies, and the implicit and explicit costs of higher unemployment rates. Therefore, appropriate skills can boost economic growth.
The Automation through worrying on future employment prospects will also bring numerous benefits, in the form of higher economic growth, improved corporate performance, and new prosperity. It will also help solve societal problems.
For Instance, already Artificial Intelligence powered machines are more adept than expert doctors at diagnosing some diseases from X-rays and MRIs. Research also suggests that automation could give a boost to productivity growth, and generate considerable value for companies across sectors, from agriculture and media to healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
So as far as a skillset for the future is concerned, the first one on the future of the workplace is the space of data and analytics which is getting to be more and more important.
But the skill that would be required would not be of only a statistician or someone good with numbers. The most sought-after skill would be that of interpreting the data and telling the story that connects with humans.
One who understands human behaviour connects the dots and provide insights. And where would you find such skills – well, look no further than liberal arts, psychology and/ or Design?
Furthermore, there is need to harness future skills like; critical thinking, creativity, people skills, Emotional intelligence, Analytical and strategic thinking, decision making, interpersonal communication skills, leadership skills, diversity and cultural intelligence that enables you to work with people from diverse backgrounds, technology skills and Embracing Change.
The implication of all of this for everyone especially youth is that it’s clear that we are going to need to continue to learn throughout our lifetime.
The idea that one gets an education when they’re young and then you stop—that’s over! There is a need to continue to adapt, get new skills, and possibly go back for different types of training and credential
