Commercial break
The position
Our client is one of the most well known retailers in the UK. They provide a fast track programme for graduates looking to join their Commercial department. The brief was to design and deliver a two year behavioural development programme for the graduates, but also to provide advice and to share our experience with the team set up to manage the programme overall.
Expectations of line managers are high so the programme needed to get the graduates up to speed quickly as well as enabling them to get to grips with the demanding culture and fast paced environment.
We work closely in partnership with the client and often have to adapt the programme in response to constantly changing requirements in this dynamic business.
The brief
Our challenge was to create a programme that would develop the graduates’ personal skills and would sit alongside the rest of the programme. Right from the start the graduates are placed in a real job, which they remain in until they are moved to a different role for the second year, and so the training needs to provide them with the behavioural skills they need to contribute as quickly as possible. Technical training is supplied by the internal team to provide the role specific skills and knowledge.
The finished programme consisted of five modules over two years.
Line manager engagement was patchy, and at first challenging. As part of the programme we designed and ran a coaching skills workshop for the managers to enable them to support the graduates as they neared the end of the programme.
Induction Right from the start the graduates are expected to take responsibility for themselves and their development, so the induction embodies this message loud and clear. The graduates also need to understand the role of a Commercial graduate and how their work fits with what happens in the stores.
So rather than tell the graduates all about the company, we set them a task to research a business related topic and prepare a presentation to deliver to senior managers at the end of the week. Working in small teams, they research their topic through interviews with people from the business and other resources. They have to manage their own time, fulfil various mandatory tasks, as well as complete their project, thus creating a multi-tasking environment with many parallels to working life. Each team is supported by a facilitator who helps them to reflect on what they are learning and prepare for their presentation.
I have learnt a lot about Boots in a very short space of time.
Personal effectiveness Self awareness and understanding are key to their role and their development, and this module provides them with a foundation from which to build. We start off the programme at a far away venue in the Peak District, which not only enables us to use the outdoors, but also to create a relaxed, open feel to the programme. Using a mix of high impact outdoor activities, MBTI®, and skills inputs the graduates learn more about themselves as well as others.
It really got me thinking about my behaviour and how I can positively alter it.
Building relationships Once the graduates have been in the business a little while they are ready to take on projects and responsibility for specific contracts and brands. This requires them to work with a variety of contacts, from suppliers to senior managers. We use our online 360° questionnaire to provide the graduates with feedback about how they are seen by their colleagues. Work with professional actors provides a powerful and practical method for developing valuable interpersonal skills.
Working with actors was an incredibly insightful experience; I learnt a lot of positive tips.
Taking stock and the Year Ahead Towards the end of the first year we run two one-day workshops to enable the graduates to reflect on the past year and to plan for the second year with the business. It marks a change in the programme style from one of exploration and development to a more business, results focused approach.
By dealing with real projects, it made it very useful and applicable for me back at work.
Getting results Increasingly graduates are involved in delivering projects and so it is also important that they develop an understanding of the retail aspect of the business. They are given a project that involves researching an issue within Stores and making recommendations to a small team of senior managers. This one day module provides them with an opportunity to reflect on how well they are working and to acquire some further useful tools such as Stakeholder Analysis.
Highly relevant and very useful for our project.
The programme is still evolving and is in its second year. A new intake has arrived and is experiencing a modified programme as the business continues to change and require new ways of working.
What did it achieve?
It’s still early days, but the programme has enabled the graduates to operate in a highly complex and ever changing business with multiple stakeholders and agendas at play on a daily basis.
The programme has given the graduates the confidence, skills, and behaviours to flourish.
Email Jill Pennington or phone 0117 315 5243.
