Age on your side

Consultancy firm RLF is doing its bit to encourage its younger workforce, despite some internal scepticism. Its ‘Youth Think Tank’ is designed to give younger staff a voice within the company.

There are four members on the YTT, which is now in its third year. The team is asked to think laterally and develop projects that will benefit the business as a whole.

The YTT is the brainchild of senior partner Steve Barker. The concept of giving junior staff their own body is not entirely new and the idea had been building up in Barker’s mind over several years. “When I was made senior partner three years ago, it was then that I really started thinking about it,” Barker says.

One of the YTT’s members, QS Elliot Titre, says it is a good opportunity for the younger staff to network – members are spread across different offices. Meetings are held every three months to discuss the work.

So what results have emerged so far?

Titre says the team “are perhaps more able to voice certain thoughts than other more senior staff would, for fear of looking out of place”.

One of the YTT’s earlier and more controversial proposals suggested that the costs of running a London office might not be justified. Barker admits he did not take the suggestion seriously, but says this kind of original thinking is a good thing.

The first project to be approved, and still ongoing, is a recruitment drive. Barker says he is having real problems recruiting staff. “There’s no problem in receiving applications from idiots, but there aren’t enough skilled people out there. There is an education gap,” he says.

Traditionally, in QS practices, you had to be of a certain age to get noticed

Peter Scragg, partner, RLF

The YTT developed a campaign that involves touring schools, universities and career fairs. Presentations are made, showcasing the benefits of working in the construction industry. The thinking behind this, according to Barker, is that students are much more likely to listen to the younger members of staff than older ones.

Another project helped create a ‘paperless office’, which Barker says “might have saved forests”. Titre explains: “We were printing all of these emails to attach to project documents, so we came up with the idea of electronic storage. Now we forward emails to a central server and scan documents as well.”

The YTT worked with the IT department and ‘Project Integral’ celebrates its first year in operation next week.

A third project is also office orientated. The YTT has been given the go-ahead to create “break-out” areas – rooms that will be specifically designed as places of relaxation, where you can take five minutes to switch off. RLF’s London office will trial this and if successful it will be applied to the other branches.

Despite all of this, Titre says there are differing views among his colleagues. “Some of the younger staff take the mickey. They do it in a joking manner, but you can tell some of them seriously think it is a doss,” he says.

He adds that some senior partners also worry about the time spent on ideas and projects, but this is where partner Peter Scragg, acting as the YTT mentor, comes in. He is in charge of these quarterly meetings and helps with short-listing the projects, sometimes reining ideas in. All he asks for is around a dozen project proposals and definitive timetables. “Traditionally, in QS practices, you had to be of a certain age to get noticed. Apart from the results of the projects themselves, we’re giving people the chance to shine, to see who the natural leaders are,” Scragg says, adding that this is not detrimental to the other members of staff. “And when someone leaves the YTT, there are other projects that we’ll put them on to, so they can continue to shine,” he adds.

But for now, the most recent project is on a much grander scale. Part of the London 2012 Olympic bid was based on carbon emission offsetting, so the team has been looking at clean energy projects. The use of canals has been mentioned, but Titre is keeping things under wraps at the moment, as the YTT will be making a formal presentation at RLF’s full partners meeting next month. This is the first time the YTT has been given the opportunity to attend this meeting. Titre admits it will be a daunting task. But this is what the YTT is all about, says Barker, as it gives the younger staff plenty of experience. And if their ideas prove a success, Titre and co may well be receiving less smart witticisms and more slaps on the back.