Employability – equipping students with the necessary skills and attributes that are sought after by employers – has become a watchword in higher education. Many institutions will talk about the importance of employability within the curriculum, but less will explain how it is actually achieved. Within the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth, we ensure our curriculum has an employability focus by offering our students practical learning opportunities. One of the ways in which we achieve this is through involving local, small businesses in live client work.
Live client work is offered through a number of our undergraduate and postgraduate modules. It comes in a number of guises, but the usual model is for small groups of students to work together for a small business on a real brief. Depending on the module, the briefs will vary and might include tasks such as undertaking market or competitor research to understand gaps and opportunities in the market, developing a social media strategy to widen a customer base, or creating a promotional campaign to boost sales. Insights, findings and recommendations are then shared back with clients through presentations and reports.
Many institutions will offer what might be referred to as ‘real world scenarios’ – assessment that requires students to address a genuine or authentic business concern. It may even require research into a specific organisation. The difference with live client work, is that the organisation is aware that they are the focus of an assessment, play an active role, and directly benefit from student involvement. Some small businesses are actively involved in the assessment – they might meet with students regularly to shape and direct their work. Others might listen and interact with students as they present their findings and ideas at the end of a project. And some prefer to interact with the module leader rather than the students, receiving students’ work by correspondence.
For a small business, being a student’s live client can offer some real advantages. Firstly, there is the obvious benefit of being able to get external input free. Whilst many small businesses would love to employ a consultant or agency for a project, the fees can make this unaffordable. Students can provide fresh ideas and a different perspective without the consultant price tag. As one small business owner said - “their research…was both thorough and insightful”. Through live client projects, our students have provided new straplines, web design, market research and promotional videos to a number of local businesses. Secondly, students offer an authentic Gen Z voice - “students are supporting our comms team with social media content to help us engage with wider range of audiences”.
For local organisations in the third sector, student involvement offers an additional outlet for raising awareness. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is one such organisation who has been involved in several student projects. For them, one of the benefits of being a live client is that “it brings our charity and our work to the attention of students” and encourages students to appreciate “the importance of nature and the impact it has on our wellbeing and health.” Working with this charity in particular, brought some unexpected benefits for students, as it helped them to facilitate a sense of belonging and attachment to a new place and with each other. As the module leader explained: “This has been a brilliant project for first year students, many of whom are new to the city, as it has helped them engage with the natural world around the city … as well as helping them connect with their teammates and other students across the university.”
For the student, working with a small business gives them the chance to develop and showcase their skills. As one student said, “The more tangible modules … offering real experience are most valuable. They give something tangible to talk about at interviews”. One small business was so impressed with student work that it resulted in a job offer.
And for the tutor, when a small business is the focus for an assessment, there is the sense that the student is working on something meaningful – “I have often received positive feedback from students when small businesses are live clients. It makes them feel valuable, gives them "real" experience in a controlled/safe environment, and most importantly, challenges them to apply what they have been learning in the classroom. As someone who really wants students to have practical experience, these types of projects ensure I achieve my own commitment to developing students' employability needs”.
At Portsmouth, we will continue to champion the involvement of small businesses in the classroom: the business benefits from fresh ideas and cost-effective solutions; the students gain invaluable, real-world experience; and the tutor witnesses the transformation of theoretical knowledge into practical skills. It really is a win-win for everyone!
Dr Emma Winter, PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons), SFHEA
Head of Faculty Marketing
Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth