Indirectly, the events of 21 July 1969 have shaped my life and career. Because although I was less than a year old when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, that historic achievement inspired my parents to instil in me a belief that mankind really had made a giant leap - belief that anything was possible for individuals who had big dreams and worked tirelessly to achieve them. So when I asked them whether I could run my own business, train as a priest or even become an astronaut their response was always the same: "Of course - if you work at it hard enough."
Four decades later, and the commission on social mobility chaired by Alan Milburn has been weighing the factors that prevent young people progressing up the professional career ladder. And high on his list will be aspiration, because nobody is going to put in the hard graft required to climb that ladder unless they have a real desire to get to the top - a desire fuelled by a clear vision of what life's going to be like up there.
Milburn won't be alone in reaching this conclusion. Research for the Sutton Trust by Ipsos MORI in 2008, for example, found the root cause of low representation in higher education by certain groups of young people was due to poor educational performance at school. And the primary reason for that poor performance? Quite simply that the absence of meaningful future aspirations had created a 'why bother'? culture within these groups before they had even reached the age of 16.
As a consequence, many of these young people will leave the education system at the earliest possible opportunity to join the burgeoning ranks of NEETs (people Not in Employment, Education or Training).
But it needn't be like this. Research by the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit has shown that there is a period in early adulthood when people regret dropping out of school and want a second chance to learn. Why? Well I think it's a fair bet that while education had clearly failed to capture their imaginations, it was experiencing the world of work that finally ignited their aspirations.
I say this because over the past few months McDonald's has given the Policy Research Institute (PRI) at Leeds Metropolitan University access to 500 of our employees in a unique project to assess the impact of our employment practices on social mobility. And the results show that employers can make a really positive contribution to enhancing the aspirations and life chances of individuals who may previously have been written off by many in our society as failures.
The PRI study found almost a quarter of the staff they interviewed had either no qualifications or qualifications with less than NVQ2 equivalence. They also found 93% of them had two or more 'indicators of disadvantage' such as periods of unemployment, a single or no parental figure during formative years, or living in a deprived area. However, they also found that among this group two-fifths had gained nationally recognised qualifications at a higher level than previously attained since joining the company - and that a similar number thought that their careers had progressed. Furthermore, almost one in five stated that their next career move would be back into education.
McDonald's is not alone in having this effect on its people - other organisations are also making an enormous difference. But by challenging outdated hiring practices and removing the barriers to progress in their businesses, every employer has the potential to achieve this sort of transformation.
Forty years ago, the power of dreams enabled a man to take one small step into the history books. And by welcoming into the workplace those whose eyes are not yet open to the opportunities before them, maybe employers can dream of a future when social inequality and squandered human potential are a thing of the past.
- David Fairhurst is senior vice-president/chief people officer, McDonald's Restaurants Northern Europe.
