I met people who provide a similar service to mine as well as those who are more focused on training, licensing and apprenticeships – all of whom were in the space to engage people and enhance their learning/employability. It was really inspiring to be honest!

I hesitate to say that lunch was my favourite part of the day, and implore you to believe that it was the presentations that occurred over the midday event that made it special!

Ross from the Wodonga Abattoirs spoke about employing young people and he made some genuinely insightful comments about leadership that had me nodding my head in agreement and smiling as I listened to him. He said that managing a team is like being a footy coach - you can’t coach everyone the same, but you need to coach them equally. He said it is about taking the time to understand your team, what their interests, skills, and weaknesses are and coaching them to their strengths. This is a sentiment that I regularly hear from my executive clients – leadership is about adaptability as much as it is about empowering and equipping staff to reach their potential.

Ross’s pearls of wisdom, shared within a context of genuine experience built through a career that navigated its way from the ground up, were well-timed and well-placed. He told us about how sometimes you have to follow your gut and take a chance on someone. At the abattoirs, they often give people a go who haven’t been able to get a start anywhere else and Ross believed in this approach. He shared his delight in being able to prove ‘the powers that be’ wrong when a risky hire proved to be the beginning of a meaningful career and he told us how the most successful employees were the ones who worked their way through the different areas with a strong work ethic in order to gain as much experience as they could. He finished off with acknowledging that despite the stereotypes, there are some extraordinary millennials out there and being open to hiring young people can give the workplace a welcome perspective and fresh ideas.

The Albury Northside Chamber of Commerce has welcomed two interns, Alex and Sam, at the office over the past 12 weeks as part of the Transition to Work program and they had a huge hand in running the event. Their commitment and drive is a testament to their work ethic and I think they embody the positive elements that Ross talked about. They showed the entrepreneurship, innovation, communication and tech-savvy skills so often attributed to millennials as they ran social media, updated web content and attended youth forums as part of a marketing plan designed to reach others like them who could use some support and improved connections with the local business space.

I left the Work Connections Event with a bag full of resources to share with my clients, a stack of business cards for amazing people I can refer my clients to, and a renewed sense of inspiration – that there are people out there in the community looking out for young people and those at risk, with a toolkit of practical programs to teach the proverbial man to fish.

If you are unemployed or disengaged and need a hand to find your way back to the path you want to forge, then reach out. We are all here looking for you.

www.impressability.com.au