Moving Young People from Audience to Architects
When you think of driving social impact in the corporate world, young people may not be the first stakeholders that come to mind, but they should be. And, despite the growing prevalence of AI, there is no substitute for human insight. While a growing number of organizations are experimenting with using AI to support their strategic decision-making, they may skip over consulting with the source–the young people who are most impacted by their decisions and who hold the keys to the future of their organization.
Today, Gen Z makes up the largest population globally, wielding over $360 billion in direct purchasing power, and they are the fastest-growing segment of employees in the U.S. Their expectations redefine how companies build trust, attract talent, strengthen brand loyalty and ultimately drive growth. What’s more, the nimble ways in which Gen Zers glean and communicate social and economic trends and insights gives them a potent influence on people of all ages.
The team at DSS was recently invited by Social Impact World to reflect on what it looks like to shift the role young people play from being passive participants to active builders in the social value delivered by corporations and organizations.
“Companies that empower young consumers as co-creators and pressure testers significantly reduce product failure rates and can be more responsive to consumer preferences and values, thus outpacing competitors,” Tsihai Hanson, DSS Senior Strategist highlighted during the webinar. “However, according to our recent What Gen Z Wants: Brands and Social Impact survey, only 12.5 percent of Gen Zers said they felt included enough in shaping how brands engage in social impact.”
Here are a few key insights from the conversation that can shape your own youth engagement efforts:
Move upward toward true collaboration: Organizations can continuously evaluate the depth of their youth engagement by using Hart’s Ladder of Participation, a framework that can encourage companies, to move upward from merely including young people to sharing genuine decision-making power with them as equal partners. It’s a journey, but you have to start somewhere!
Adopt the “ACDs” of youth co-creation: Companies should set out to define the role youth co-creators play by empowering young people as Ambassadors who inspire others to amplify and champion a cause; Collaborators who play an equal role in solving challenges and bringing new ideas to life; and Decision Makers who have power, insight, and leverage to define priorities and opportunities and drive outcomes. The value of engaging young people in these ways is well illustrated through three case studies shared during the webinar:
Ambassadors - PVH Brands’ PVH2O employee engagement campaign where younger employees served as ambassadors for mobilizing a global staff around water conservation
Collaborators - Allstate Foundation’s It’s Not All In Your Head campaign for increased mental health resources in schools.
Decision Makers - Hinge’s One More Hour campaign to invest in fostering social connection
Gauge what needs to stop and start: Shifting your organization’s youth engagement mindset doesn’t require a complete overhaul, but it might mean changing internal practices and behaviors. This might look like evolving from thinking about youth participation as one-directional or using young people to make initiatives feel more youthful to meaningfully investing in youth-led projects.
Whether you are a small startup or a global brand, when you set out to move your organization beyond symbolic youth participation, you leverage youth input as a driver for genuine business value. Check out the full webinar recording for more insight on how DSS has supported our corporate partners in leading this effort and for all the insightful gems that were shared.