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What is it?
Retention is about helping young people see a future for themselves, through clear pathways, growing responsibility, and support that lasts.
For many young people, staying comes down to whether they can see what comes next. When the path forward is unclear, the role stops growing, or when no one seems invested in where they are headed, even a committed young person can drift.
Organisations that get this right give young people a reason to stay and to return. They grow into leaders, mentors, and advocates, because the organisation showed them that staying was a way forward, not a way of standing still.
Common challenges
What barriers do organisations face at this stage?
Young people disengage when they can't see what their journey will be from the beginning, and the feeling of uncertainty compounds over time. Many organisations describe losing people not because the work was wrong, but because nobody ever laid out where it was heading.
When organisations hire dedicated support workers to look after young people, managers step back believing support isn't their job, and young people learn to rely on one person rather than the workplace around them. Many organisations describe discontinuing these specialist roles after realising the support didn't survive the support worker leaving.
Long career pathways can feel irrelevant to young people who think in months, not years. Many organisations describe sharing "the world is your oyster" progression maps and watching them fail to land, because the pathway was built on the organisation's timeline rather than the young person's.
What we heard
Verbatim from Community of Practice members during the Awareness session.
"The barrier is a lack of clarity from the beginning - what is the journey going to be for the individual? That feeling of uncertainty."
Community of Practice member
"When you share a long pathway of what is possible, it may not be relevant - young people have a different timeline in their mind. It can't just be 'the world is your oyster.'"
Community of Practice member
"When support only comes from certain people, managers and supervisors feel it's not their role. And it doesn't result in a sustainable understanding of the workplace."
Community of Practice member
Guiding insights
What patterns emerged across every organisation we spoke to? Hover or tap any card for the insight behind it.
Young people weigh what staying gives them — growing pay, new skills, real perks, and recognition that compounds — and when the offer stops improving, so does the reason to stay.
Young people stay when there's a visible career ladder with the next rung within reach — a named role above them, clear requirements to get there, and proof that people like them have made the climb.
Young people stay engaged for the long term when they're held by an ecosystem of support — coaches, managers, and peers together — rather than a single dedicated relationship.
A strong everyday culture makes staying the default, and no strategy or incentives can compensate for a culture that isn't worth staying in.
Retention isn't about stopping young people from leaving. Young people who leave well come back as mentors, advocates, and connections, while young people who are clung to just leave.
The Underground Collective
PERTH // WESTERN AUSTRALIA
This case study is part of the Youth Engagement Playbook. Download the full playbook to explore all six stages of youth engagement and take the self-assess
In 2017, The Underground Collective was founded on a simple belief: that a café could be more than a workplace for young people at risk of, homelessness - it could be the place they rebuild on. For participants whose lives have often been unpredictable, engagement starts with predictability.
At TUC, safety is designed into the environment before anyone starts work. The café is located in the State Library, where security staff and a welcoming support team help participants feel secure from the moment they arrive. A flexible step-out policy and an agreed quiet space mean anyone can pause when overwhelmed, without explanation or penalty. Stepping away is treated as a normal part of the workday rather than something to apologise for.
All employees learn and rotate through café roles, including front-of-house, food preparation, stock management, and cleaning. They choose the tasks they take on, aligned with their strengths or growth areas. Experienced team members work side by side with participants, showing their thinking before handing it over, and stepping back a little further each time. Over time, participants understand the café as a whole, and grow confident across every area of the business.
As they grow in confidence, young people are invited to actively shape their day to day. They offer suggestions on menu items, presentation, and workflow improvements. These are low-risk topics where their daily experience makes them the experts. Suggestions that work are adopted, so young people can point to things in the café that changed because of them.
Engagement is built from small, deliberate practices. Each step is giving young people a little more ownership than the last:
- Choice in daily tasks, so participants shape how they contribute within their role.
- Operational input that visibly lands, with real suggestions on menu, presentation, and workflow adopted.
- Peer support on the floor, as experienced participants guide newer ones through tasks they once found daunting themselves.
- Growing responsibility, handed over as confidence and capability are demonstrated over time.
Together, this approach shows what engagement really is. It is the daily experience of a workplace where questions are safe, stepping back is allowed, contributions visibly land, and confidence grows one task at a time. For young people deciding every week whether an experience is worth continuing, TUC makes the answer easy.
Where do you stand on Retention?
Now it's your turn. Take an honest look at how your organisation is doing on [stage]. Rate each statement from one to five, and you'll see exactly where to start."
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