The Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
With two out of three South Africans between 18 and 28 are unemployed, Spier is keenly aware of the need to create job opportunities for young people. It partnered with Harambee in July 2014, recruiting 18 candidates. 83% of these have been retained, working at the Spier Hotel, Eight restaurant, and Eight to Go – a marked improvement on 2013’s turnover rate of 77% for entry-level employees. In September 2015, a new intake of approximately 14 Harambee candidates will begin work.
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator provides a sustainable way to successfully employ and retain first-time entrants into the world of work. The initiative sources, trains and places unemployed young people from from disadvantaged backgrounds into their first jobs.
Harmabee’s research shows that young South Africans who can keep their first job for 12 months have an 85% chance of staying employed for a lifetime.
Harambee finds the right candidates through a combination of rigorous psychometric and qualitative assessments. The qualities it looks for in successful candidates include discipline, commitment and a positive attitude; energy and resilience; an ability to deal with difficult situations; and a performance-driven work ethic.
Because many matriculants don’t have the skills to get and keep a job, Harambee offers work-readiness “bridging” training which includes the basics of work life, time management, maths and language and computer skills. Having assessed more than 75 000 people, Harambee has placed over 10 000 young people with 70 companies across seven sectors in all of South Africa’s provinces. It has more than 230 000 candidates on its database.
Employers who partner with Harambee enjoy a number of benefits. Employing first-timers is less risky; performance is improved; HR spend is lower; retention rates are higher; and the people employed have the attributes for success and upward mobility towards management.