Introduction
Securing a well-paying job during their youth stage is the wish of every parent to their children; moreover, some governments have laws that consider youths for employment. Nevertheless, working with youths remains a challenge because most of them are inexperienced; likewise, some are facing financial and social depression, thus unable to give their best in the designated roles at work. Some youths are facing peer pressure challenges making them adopt bad behaviors in the workplace. As a concerned citizen, I would propose competency training to make these youths excellent in executing duties. I will similarly advocate for guiding and counseling programs to solve social depression. Concerning financial depression, I would recommend increasing youths’ minimum wage to aid them in comfortably meeting their basic needs. Likewise, I would embrace the idea of introducing good role models to demonstrate the values worth emulating; when youths imitate these positive values, such as hard work and honesty, working with them becomes easier. Youth development has several benefits to the nation, but working with youths is never easy, and few strategies must be implemented to ensure they become experienced and peaceful enough to give their best at work.
Working with Youths Description
Working with youths can be a troublesome issue for some elements of society due to many reasons. One of the main reasons is that youths are often unpredictable and can be difficult to control due to peer pressure. Peer pressure can be a strong influence on young people. It can be tough for adults to understand why youths might cave into peer pressure, but it happens because humans are social creatures that care about what others think of them. Sometimes, youths might engage in risky behavior to conform to the group (Eesley and Wang 649). Others might practice things they would not normally do only to go along with their friends, such as stealing, which makes them untrusted at the workplace.
Additionally, they may be more susceptible to manipulation due to various reasons. First, they are often less experienced than older adults in many aspects of life, including the workforce and navigating personal relationships. As a result, they may be more likely to trust someone who appears to have more knowledge or expertise than them. Second, youths may have difficulty recognizing when they are being manipulated or taken advantage of because they may not know how to identify professionally misleading individuals.
Finally, many youths come from disadvantaged backgrounds and could be battling depression, thus leading to low productivity. Depression is a serious mental illness that can profoundly impact someone’s ability to work, study, and participate in activities they enjoy (Eesley and Wang 648). Depression can make it hard for people to concentrate, remember things, and make competent decisions. It can cause physical symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and insomnia, thus unable to work excellently. The increased number of young people with depression makes it more difficult for employers to accommodate their needs.
Solution Proposals
Initiating Competence Training Programs
I confidently believe that initiating competency training programs will play an important role in aiding young people to perform better in the work environment by minimizing errors and improving productivity. By teaching young workers the skills they need to be successful, these programs can help them reach their potential and contribute to the success of their organization (Martini and Cavenago 31). Additionally, providing ongoing support and feedback can ensure that employees maintain their competence levels over time. Investing in a competency training program can benefit youths by reducing their workplace mistakes and errors, thus making them fit at work.
Similarly, when it comes to youths, one of the most important things to be done in reducing their manipulation by the public will be to help them develop a sense of competence and mastery. This assists them in thriving in their professional lives and makes them less susceptible to manipulation by others (Martini and Cavenago 27). One of the best ways to achieve this is through competence training programs. These programs will help youths learn new skills and build self-efficacy. When youths feel competent, they are less likely to be swayed by outside forces; and stand up for workplace integrity.
Furthermore, under competency training, I recommend adopting job rotation and employee appraisal to equip youths with relevant skills and work experience. There are many ways that job rotation and employee appraisal can help youths gain needed experience (Martini and Cavenago 19). For example, job rotation will aid them in learning new skills and becoming more familiar with different aspects of the job. Employees’ appraisals will help them identify their strengths and weaknesses and understand how their performance is being evaluated. These two tools will make it easier for employers to work with youths and provide them with the necessary support to grow and develop their skills.
Introducing Guiding and Counseling and Youths’ Minimum Wage Increment
In dealing with financial and social life depression that hinders youths’ productivity, I would recommend counseling and minimum wage increment to youths. Guiding and counseling will play a significant role in alleviating some of the challenges faced by youths, such as depression. Through guidance and counseling, youths can be provided with the necessary support to help them cope with stressors in their lives. In essence, guiding and counseling can foster a more positive outlook in life for youths, which can ultimately lead to improved mental health, thus being more productive (McDaid et al. 374). Depression is a serious mental health condition that can have a major impact on a person’s professional life. It can interfere with work and personal relationships, thus impeding a youth from working in a team. Therapy is an important way to deal with depression since it entails depression management methods such as anger management techniques.
Alternatively, I would introduce minimum wage laws to protect workers by ensuring that youths are paid a fair wage for their labor. Introducing a youth minimum wage will make youths more productive at work in a few ways. One is by eliminating financial depression, which can be a major distraction and hinder productivity (Doleac 4). A second way is by providing them with some financial stability, which will give them the peace of mind to focus on their work. Similarly, increasing the minimum wage reduces crime rates, as youths engage more in their well-paying job, thus having enough disposable income to meet their basic needs. “This could reduce criminal behavior since legal income is a direct substitution of legal income for illegal income – that is, they will have less incentive to commit crime for monetary gain” (Doleac 23). Finally, a higher minimum wage for youths will help to build their skills and experience, which will make them more marketable and thus being optimistic, thus working wholeheartedly.
Provision of Good Role Models
I would propose having good role models for youths to reduce the rates of peer pressure by teaching positive behaviors, thus making it easier to work with youths. It is widely known that role models play an important role in shaping the characters of young people in society. A good role model can influence a young person’s attitudes, values, and behaviors and aid them in developing into a well-rounded individual (Eesley and Wang 637). There are many ways in which a good role model can shape youths’ characters, for instance, by setting a good example, acting as a positive influence, and demonstrating the importance of hard work and determination.
Moreover, a good role model shows youngsters the importance of behaving responsibly and respectfully to overcome peer pressure. They show and teach youths how to be resilient in the face of adversity and cope with workplace setbacks, and provide young people with someone to look up to professionally (Eesley and Wang 646). When youths have role models, they are likely to behave well socially, making them attractive to employers and comfortable to work with at the workplace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, working with youths might be challenging for several societal groups for many reasons. One reason is that many youths lack experience and can be easily manipulated, while some suffer from depression and peer pressure. Regarding peer pressure problems, I would propose introducing role models to mentor the youths to be respectful while working with others. In gaining experience in avoiding workplace manipulation, I would propose job rotation and employee appraisal systems. Job rotation allows youths to try out different roles, thus learning new skills, while employee appraisal provides feedback on their performance. Both methods identify gaps in youths’ skillsets and provide youths with diverse knowledge not to be deceived at the workplace. Conversely, I would recommend guidance, counseling, and higher salaries for the depressed youths to work better. This will aid young people in learning how to cope with their emotions and identify healthy coping mechanisms, while better salaries will relieve them from financial and crime-related crimes by having enough sustenance funds. The three solutions will ensure the youths are competent professionally, socially, and emotionally ready to work with other society members.
Works Cited
Doleac, Jennifer L. “Encouraging Desistance from Crime.” Texas A&M University – Department of Economics, 2020.
Eesley, Charles, and Yanbo Wang. “Social Influence in Career Choice: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment On Entrepreneurial Mentorship.” Research Policy, 2017.
Martini, Mattia, and Dario Cavenago. “The Role of Perceived Workplace Development Opportunities in Enhancing Individual Employability.” International Journal of Training and Development, 2017.
McDaid, David, A-La Park, and Kristian Wahlbeck. “The Economic Case for the Prevention of Mental Illness.” Annual Review of Public Health, 2019.