We talk to Mary Samasoni from Link Alliance about how the organisation’s youth initiatives, Scaffolding through Sisterhood and Young Gunz, are shaping Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s future workforce.
Who is Link Alliance?
Link Alliance is a consortium of seven companies based in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally that work together to deliver the City Rail Link project for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Two companies within Link Alliance, Downer New Zealand and Tonkin + Taylor, joined Auckland’s Youth Employer Pledge (YEP) and committed to helping rangatahi (youth) thrive in the workplace.
Since Link Alliance formed in 2019, it has employed more than 3,650 people, with around 600 people aged under 25 – and they’re not stopping there.
Investing in our rangatahi
Link Alliance is leading the way for other large Auckland employers through a social outcomes plan targeting better employment outcomes for rangatahi. “This is part of our wider principles of being socially responsible and solutions-focused, as well as providing a whānau-oriented environment for all employees,” notes Mary Samasoni, Link Alliance's Social Outcomes Future Workforce Lead.
“Young people are our future workforce. If we’re lucky, for the construction and infrastructure industries, but certainly for Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa.”
Employing young people creates a culture that helps grow and sustain your workforce both now and in the future.
Young people also attract other young people to your workplace. It’s hard if they come in and find there’s nobody else their age but if they know there will be, they’re more likely to want to come and work for you.
Scaffolding through Sisterhood offers work experience for young wāhine (women)
Link Alliance recently introduced Scaffolding through Sisterhood, a five-day work experience programme that matches four high school students with a Link Alliance mentor.
The initiative aims to increase the participation and success of young Māori and Pasifika women in the construction and infrastructure industries by growing awareness of the diverse careers and pathways for high school wāhine.
“What really inspired me was the women we had on the project,” Mary shares. “We’ve got so many amazing wāhine working across different disciplines, yet we’re still underrepresented in terms of numbers.”
“I thought, ‘How can we utilise this amazing resource to inspire the next wave of women onto the project?’ They were so willing to give back, and to give their time to other wāhine and rangatahi.”
To shape our future workforce and help young people, we need to offer them work experience. Mary explains, “through that exposure and mentorship, they gain awareness of the opportunities out there, as well as becoming more visible to potential employers on the project.”
The feedback Link Alliance received from wāhine was positive. It opened their eyes to the sheer variety of different jobs there are within the industry - from administration to engineering, and health and safety. This opportunity inspired them to see what is possible in the construction sector and the opportunities available to them. It also allowed them to see themselves doing the job in the future, thus opening possibilities.
Work experience offers young talent a wealth of advantages including but not limited to:
- An understanding of the work environment in real life
- An opportunity to learn about roles in an industry
- An opportunity to meet potential employers
- An introduction to workplace recruitment practices
- New knowledge related to specific competencies and skills
This was the first trial of the programme and Link Alliance are already thinking about improvements for the next intake. Looking at how the programme can offer more hands-on activities (within safety restrictions) and identify other roles and mentors across the project to support more wāhine realising what career pathways are available for them within the construction sector.
Breaking barriers to employment
Unpaid work experience is a barrier to many young people. To overcome this, the Link Alliance team took a different approach for the Scaffolding for Sisterhood programme, offering each student a $200 Prezzie card and $50 to go towards transport to and from the workplace or phone top-ups.
“It was preemptive,” says Mary. “As well as acknowledging that they were giving up time during school holidays, it was about addressing barriers facing our rangatahi. We knew transport and communication would be the biggies.”
With access to transport taken care of, Mary needed to think of what would motivate a young person to get up before dawn and catch a 6am train. To do this, the workplace had to be worth it. It had to be exciting. It had to be a place where they felt they belonged, and it had to feel this way from day one on the job.
“I think we started right,” Mary notes. “We followed the tikanga (correct procedure) and the whakawhanaungatanga (process of establishing relationships and connections), and ensured their journey with us was safe. We wanted the young women to be together for that first day so they could make connections with each other and their mentors.”
Scaffolding through Sisterhood will run quarterly. At the end of the year, the young women will come together for a celebration and an informal evaluation to gather feedback and make the next programme even better.
“Our hope is that the legacy of the programme will inspire young wāhine to become part of Aotearoa’s solution to a sustainable, equitable future workforce.”
Young Gunz gives youth the tools to talk
There’s another group of rangatahi making a name for themselves at Link Alliance. Young Gunz emerged organically after a group of young men working together on a project site were given the opportunity to speak at Friday Toolbox Talk, the group’s weekly health and safety check-ins. Each Friday, rangatahi take it in turns to facilitate these updates for the entire site. Then individually, they represent their specific team and give updates on upcoming work, their highlights, and learnings from the week.
“It began with making sure rangatahi felt able to speak up, particularly around health and safety,” said Morris Misilisi, NAL1 Supervisor for Link Alliance who worked to get Young Gunz started and who has helped sustain it.
“This is such an important issue on site and rangatahi needed to know they were encouraged to share concerns and suggestions.”
This programme was driven after identifying a real need and led by the site’s leadership team. The group has helped its members develop crucial skills for success in the workplace including confidence, leadership, and ambition.
You can really notice the difference between when they first started and now. They don’t even need encouragement these days; they take ownership of wanting to learn and upskill. They feel validated in aspiring to the next steps in their careers.
Link Alliance is looking at how they may be able to roll the Young Gunz programme out across other sites and further support they can provide to the current cohort. One thing is for sure - sometimes, all it takes is giving an individual the opportunity to speak.
How you can introduce similar programmes to your workplace
Employers have a pivotal role in building a skilled and resilient workforce for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Whether you're considering introducing youth initiatives to your own organisation or looking to improve existing programmes, you might take some inspiration from Link Alliance:
- Offer work experience with incentive schemes to break down barriers
- Tailor the experience to young people to ensure it’s exciting and engaging
- Give young people the opportunity to speak up
- Support and nurture young people’s ideas
These programmes allow Link Alliance to make a difference by giving rangatahi these opportunities, and when “youth feel like they are encouraged within their environment, they are more likely to succeed” says Samasoni.