Employer Innovation Lab

SVA's Employer Innovation Lab is an evidence-based program helping employers improve their recruitment and retention by lifting barriers facing young people.

I would recommend this in a heartbeat. Any employer that has the opportunity to do this, should.” Kate Mills • Head of HR, Consep Pty Ltd

The problem

Recruitment and retention are a challenge for most employers. Particularly for younger staff in early-career pathways.

Meanwhile, 1 in 5 young people want more work but can’t find it. Many didn’t get a head start in life and face barriers at critical stages of their employment journey. Often, these barriers are the unconscious product of ‘business as usual’.

The solution

The Employer Innovation Lab is an evidence-based program to improve recruitment and retention by lifting the barriers facing young people. It helps employers start small, find quick wins, then scale up for longer-term impact.

Lab participants can:

access a latent talent pool of over 1 million workers nation-wide
improve early-career pathways
boost equity, diversity, inclusivity, productivity and profit.

How it works

Our evidence-based model has 4 stages:

Hear cutting-edge insights on the labour market
Collaborate with young people and other employers
Identify barriers at your organisation
Leave with a ready-to-test pilot blueprint

Implement your pilot prototype
Receive expert support over 12 months
Incorporate youth voice
Access our extensive network of community partners

Maintain momentum with our guidance
Measure your pilot’s impact on recruitment and retention
Identify what’s working and fix what isn’t

Confirm that your pilot contributes to business goals
Develop a plan to scale
Tell your story internally and externally
Increase impact and boost your profile as an employer of choice

Our impact

The Employer Innovation Lab has helped employers:

improve early-career pathways
boost retention rates, particularly for new young staff
increase productivity, employee satisfaction, equity and social impact.

In 2023, Lab employers reported:

100% found the Lab useful
100% improved their understanding of key labour market challenges
85% changed their practices.

Through the Lab, we are:

supporting over 30 major employers
expecting to affect around 2,000 roles in the next 12 months
changing the way employers work with young people nation-wide.

Case study: Consep Pty Ltd

Consep was facing challenges in attracting and retaining young talent. As part of the Employer Innovation Lab, Consep developed the Young Starters program.

The aim was to lift barriers for young people with limited experience of work. They only had one requirement: that participants show up to work every day.

Described by the CEO as ‘One of the most profound things I have achieved in my career’, the program: