JA Europe Company of the Year

Ready for Work

Ready for Work — the results are in

Summer 2017. Two hundred students wait in excited anticipation for final results. But this time, it’s not exam results — it’s the announcement of the winners in the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition. After one year of hard work, in addition to their studies, they’ve worked on product development, business plans, financial planning and marketing—beating 300,000 competitors across 37 countries to get here. These young people represented the very best in new business innovation. And the results are in…

Teach kids to succeed: by being work ready, not just grad ready

JA Europe is a part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, an organization dedicated to teaching young people work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The Company Program has been challenging students around the world since 1919—to create, start up and run their own businesses. As well as the more obvious business skills, students are encouraged to develop their “soft skills”—things like teamwork, leadership and innovation—when designing and implementing their products or services. Our mission to help kids get ready for work has created a strong partnership with Junior Achievement for more than a decade. And this year in Brussels, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jonas Prising presented the first-ever Ready for Work Award.

“You're interacting with people in your everyday life. So you have to learn how to talk to them, how to persuade them, and how to work as a team.” — Tefkros Chimonas, Team GrowGreen

Ready for Work — you bet!

It was Team Flair of Malta that truly demonstrated what it means to be ready for work. They captured the spirit of learnability—the ability to face fresh challenges, grow skills and adapt to new circumstances—when developing their product; designed to help others do the same. Branded as “A Cards,” their innovative revision flashcards used psychological self-testing designed to build confidence and future employability. And they’ve already had their product endorsed — by the Ministry of Education!

Ready for Work Award Criteria

25%

for Process of Skill Improvement
50%

for Skills Displayed During Project
25%

for Self-Reflection and Demonstrating Learnability

“Congratulations to Team Flair from Malta,” said Jonas Prising presenting the ManpowerGroup Ready for Work award. “The caliber of talent was extremely high and we were energized by the enthusiasm of these future leaders who have demonstrated their ability to collaborate, adapt, persevere and innovate.”

“You can never do anything alone. You always need help, and you always need to empathize and understand the people you’re working with so you can strive to do whatever you’re doing much better.” — Giada Fiorini, Team Flair

Rewards beyond awards

Our work with Junior Achievement in 31 locations across Europe and right across the U.S. isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s in our core values and makes business sense. These young people will soon be our skilled workers; our healthcare professionals, our engineers and more. That’s why we believe sustainable employment starts with young people being work ready. Helping them build the skills they’ll need to succeed and gain practical experience in the workplace doesn’t just work for them – it works for employers too.