Reducing youth unemployment through mentoring in Basel, Switzerland

While unemployment in Switzerland is relatively low (4% in 2011) a growing number of young people find it increasingly difficult to manage the transition from school to the labour market. An innovative partnership between the two Cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft in Basel has developed a new approach to reduce youth unemployment. Instead of public agencies providing advice to young people about apprenticeships or placements, young business leaders provide personalised support through mentoring of young people. The results speak for themselves…

In the last few years a growing number of school leavers have been registering at the unemployment offices in Switzerland, with young women and non-Swiss young people disproportionally affected. Clearly, the transition from school to the labour market is a challenging time for young people. They need to grapple with a mix of questions and thoughts about their future when they're deciding on their next steps. And during this process, they can often become disappointed and discouraged, making the search for apprenticeships and placements even more difficult.

The mentoring programme was established in Basel to offer support for young people (school leavers up to 25 year olds) who are having difficulties finding an apprenticeship or placement. It establishes a mentoring relationship between unemployed young people and experienced adults, which gives the young people a helping hand and enables them to get started on their career. This personal relationship between the mentor and mentee helps develop young people's ability to define and focus on their goals, as well as cope with the frustrations of the search process.

In particular, the programme aims to:

• strengthen the boldness and stamina of mentees, while they are searching for placements or apprenticeships;
• discuss mentees’ future plans and assess their skills and expertise;
• set goals;
• help with planning the steps needed to achieve these goals;
• help with collecting and using relevant information;
• encouragement in finding a placement or apprenticeship;
• use mentees’ own professional networks; and
• provide further contacts (through mentees' professional and personal networks) for further advice and support.

In the last 11 years around 550 young people have taken part in the mentoring programme in Basel. Reflecting the priorities of the programme's initial funder (Cantonal Office for Gender Equality), the programme started with a higher proportion of female mentees, but over time the gender balance has evened out. As a result of their participation in the programme, many young people have secured a position in their chosen profession and further developed their career aspirations.

For example, take Gentiana's journey (not her real name). Originally from Albania, but now living in Basel, Gentiana decided that she was interested in becoming a care assistant. She contacted hospitals and care homes and, in her second round of applications, succeeded in getting an interview and a short-term holiday placement. Following this, her employer agreed to give her some preparatory training, and her mentor supported her throughout this by preparing her for her appraisals. However, during this training time, Gentiana realised that she didn't really want to work as a care assistant but rather as a registered nurse. Her mentor helped her identify what educational gaps she needed to fill, and supported and encouraged her in the application process for nursing.

But it is not just the mentees, the mentors themselves also benefit from participating. As well as experiencing the satisfaction of helping others, many develop a deeper understanding of young people and the challenges they face as well as developing skills and experience that can help with their own professional development.

The results of the programme are impressive: around 70% of mentees find a apprenticeship or placement each year, and while the length of time spent on the programme can vary from three months to two years, it is often the case that mentees find an appropriate training opportunity after eight months. Only around 10% drop out of the programme altogether, although in some cases mentees have returned to the programme, experiencing later success. Mentees whose search runs for longer than expected or who also face more complex challenges, for example because of learning difficulties, are referred to other relevant support in the local area.

Reflecting its success, the programme won the Basel Stadt prize for Integration in 2005 (10,000 Swiss Francs). An evaluation was completed by the local Fachhochschule für Sozialarbeit in 2003, which assessed: overall acceptance of the project, its gender-specific focus, the participation of non-Swiss young people, the project's uses and competences and its voluntary component. The positive results of the evaluation were seen to provide a foundation for the implementation of the project across both Basel Stadt and Basel Land Cantons.

Clearly, the major financial saving offered by the mentoring programme is a reduction in the social insurance (unemployment benefit) bill. On the other hand, the cost of the programme involves 80% of one local government officer's time, along with 20% of an administrator's time (totally approximately 120,000 Swiss francs). The officer position organises and supports the mentoring programme. It promotes the programme through the school system, the unemployment office, local media and, of course, face to face, as well as assessing the mentors and mentees and matching them together. It also involves providing an introductory course and organising five conferences a year for the mentors. As well as infrastructure costs, a further 35,000 Swiss francs are spent on: professional development of staff, meeting costs, publications, books, events, consultants and evaluators.

In addition to this, the mentors provide their own voluntary time. Around 150 volunteer mentors have participated in the programme so far, with a range of professional backgrounds, covering industries such as: administration, hotels and restaurants, marketing and communications, social work, heath care, academia and skilled manual trades. The mentors support the mentees for approximately four hours a month, averaging around 30-40 hours in total.

The experience of the mentoring programme in Basel highlights the following learning points:

• as with all innovative programmes, the mentoring programme required considerable time, effort and persistence to initially get it off the ground. Those wishing to launch similar programmes should ensure they have enough resources, as well as sufficient commitment from officers and politicians;
• mentoring programmes work most successfully when they have a clear structure that is communicated to all those involved. It is essential that the mentors and the mentees fully understand how the mentoring process works, and the commitment required from themselves to make it a success;
• fundamental to the success of the programme is matching the 'right' mentor to the 'right' mentee. One of the programme's strengths is its relatively small scale which enables the programme managers to get to know the mentees, helping them choose the best mentor for each individual. In the past six years only three to four mentoring relationships have not worked well and, in these cases, the programme officer has worked with the mentor and mentee to resolve the issue and re-matched them if necessary. Scaling up of the programme may require additional officer time to ensure that the matching service continues to be successful;
• the informal approach taken by the programme is also seen as a strength. The programme is designed to keep the bureaucratic face of the Canton in the background, and instead, to encourage the mentors and mentees to develop strong, informal relationships through meeting in their homes or in cafes.

Websites (in German)

Information about the mentoring scheme:
www.mentoring.bl.ch

Information about the association of mentors:
http://www.verein-mentoring.ch/