April's Workforce Wednesday discussion focused on strategies for improving engagement with young people by creating a welcoming, engaging, and supportive work environment. We heard from a panel of students, educators, employers, and subject matter experts who shared the programs and resources they use to help ease the transition for today's students and young people into tomorrow's successful workforce.

As you enter the workforce, what are the qualities that are important to you in a nurturing work environment?

Cadence Nunn, Ambassador of Youth Development and Communications with StoryArk

• A workspace that that supports my mental health and doesn't shame me if I need to take a day off.
• Questions should always be welcomed. If there's an organizational process that's been in place for a long time, employees should be able to ask why we do things a certain way and suggest improvements if necessary.

Shania Youssef, Senior at Stillwater Area Public Schools, Full-time PSEO Student at UMN Twin Cities – Pre Med

• A good work environment should have a balance between teamwork and independence.
• Having coworkers from diverse backgrounds helps make employees feel more comfortable coming to work.
• Acknowledging the barriers some people face and providing solutions and accommodations to address those barriers.

What are some inclusive practices, processes, or policies that you've integrated into your programs to support the diversity of identities, experiences and needs of youth?

Eric Anderson, Coordinator of Office of Equity and Integration, Stillwater Area Public Schools

• When students are working with our teachers in doing professional development, we really ground them in the 'why' they're doing the work.
• We say our over 300 summer success scholars have a 'vein of gold' within them and the job of the student leaders is to extract that vein of gold so that the student scholars see that in themselves.

Cayce Craig, Recruiter, Federated Insurance – Internship Program

• The variety of opportunities in our internships — from entry-level custodian positions to customer service, data entry and all the way to working with our I.T. team. There's something of interest for many different students.
• There's also variety of different skill sets and career paths that our student interns will find within our internships.

Dr. Misun Bormann, HR Director of Workforce Development, PTEC Program, Mayo Clinic

• As employers we must be intentional. We can't sit back and wait for students and community partners to knock on our door.
• We need to assess what's already happening in the community and figure out where can I start making some calls and start building those relationships.

Stephani Atkins, Executive Director, StoryArk – Emerging Professionals Program

• We as an organization, need to be flexible and adaptable to meet people where they are at and to know and to build a culture where we ask questions, and we listen to what people say so we can adapt accordingly.
• We trust that staff will tell us what they need if we include them from the start.
• Once we have that trust, we can build a healthy, inclusive culture together, so we have a work environment that we all want to be apart of.

View a recording of this session and other past sessions, find related downloadable resources and access a schedule for all Workforce Wednesday sessions in 2023 on the Workforce Wednesday page on CareerForceMN.com.