Chevening Leadership and Influence Essay Example: Youth employment social enterprise founder

When dropout in our youth employment programme climbed from 24 percent to 37 percent across two cohorts of about 120 participants, I pulled the intake and exit records before any formal review was called. Most attrition sat in the gap between course completion and placement with small employers. Employers wanted candidates who understood workplace norms; trainees finished the course with no way to show they were ready. I proposed a structured employer-facing onboarding step and took it to our two main training providers and 15 small employers we referred to. Several employers questioned the extra time, and one provider resisted changing a process that had drawn no complaints. Rather than argue, I shared the dropout figures and convened a joint session where each party stated what a good match looked like from their side. Employers agreed to pilot a 45-minute feedback session after each cohort; the lead provider revised one preparatory module on the strength of that feedback; I adjusted the matching criteria before referrals. Across the next two cycles, completion-to-referral rose from 63 percent to 81 percent on the same intake categories, and 11 of 15 employers joined at least one feedback session. The lead provider added the revised onboarding to its standard youth-cohort process and asked me to write it up for their annual review and brief a second provider next quarter. For young people, this meant fewer dropping out at the point they were closest to a first wage. I want to sharpen cross-stakeholder evaluation through applied social innovation study in the UK, particularly programme evaluation methods. On return, I will pilot the feedback template with the second provider, ask Chevening alumni in employment programming to critique the indicators, and present results to our provincial youth employment working group, seeking adoption as a referral standard.