Assuming a youth-empowerment perspective
could involve EMBs thinking of opportunities for young people to contribute to
the strategic decision-making of the organization. Appropriately skilled young
people can be considered for professional positions, as well as members of
election management advisory and governance boards. An EMB can show its
commitment to employing youth in its strategic planning – e.g. mandating that
future electoral management roles must have a minimum percentage of staff under
25 years of age. It can also send a message that it is seeking to foster a
youth-friendly workplace by adopting a number of youth-friendly policies.
Having minimum numbers of youth employees must be balanced with the need to minimize
staff turnover; it is important to retain competent staff (thereby retaining
institutional capacity and knowledge).). In Fiji, the mandatory retirement age
for public servants, which includes all EMB employees, is 55. This may have the
advantage of ensuring continual staff turnover, which may allow younger staff
to enter the workforce and/or be promoted sooner. The disadvantage may be a
risk of institutional memory loss as staff leave an organization at 55.
Further, it may be considered “ageist” to mandate a retirement age when this
age cohort are perhaps considered to be in the prime of their careers. Striking
a balance for being inclusive of both youth and older workers is a challenge
for any organization.
Changing organizational culture takes time. It requires the removal of
barriers to youth participation in the governance of an organization and
commitment to ensuring that young people’s perspectives are mainstreamed
throughout the organization.
Selection and recruitment strategies
often aim for diversity and inclusion, but often fail to consider age barriers
relating to employment – for both young people and older people. An
intergenerational mix of employees is good for an organization in terms of
inclusion, diversity, succession planning, and the different benefits that
younger (and older) people can bring with their different perspectives,
experiences, and phase-of-life priorities. Young people can be flexible in
terms of their work patterns and can be willing to move and work in different
locations around the country. They bring creativity, innovation, and a willingness
to learn. To open positions to youth, EMBs can assess their human resources
policies in relation to higher education requirements or other rigid
requirements (such as specific experience), and instead consider a flexible
approach to recruitment so as not to exclude young people who may have lower
qualifications and less experience than older adults. Removing rigid barriers
for employment also benefits women and other marginalized groups that face
similar barriers in employment and promotion.
Frequently, young people work in
volunteer or intern roles in organizations. While there is nothing wrong with
this in principle, these roles can sometimes be short-term and not provide
opportunities for young people to contribute to the organization’s broader
strategy and policies. However, when interns combine working for an EMB with
study (e.g. taking a university course or leadership course) - focusing on a
specific task or project, this could be beneficial to both the organization and
the intern. Youth volunteers are often used at electoral events, assisting to
mobilize and direct the voters.
For EMBs considering employing more youth, in
see ACE Electoral Materials: Apathy Is Boring – Youth Friendly Guide
(4th edition), which has good tips.
