Developing future leaders

The position

Our client is in the utilities sector. They’re national, large, engineering-based and they take on around 30 graduates each year. They have a history of offering a comprehensive development package and place great value on behavioural skills alongside technical training.

We believe that investing in graduates has never been more important to get the best out of them and accelerate their contribution to the business.

Increasingly graduates are more sophisticated in understanding what they want in terms of development and this is reflected in the programme we developed with our client.

How did we tackle it?

Our challenge was to create a modular programme that was experiential, challenging and provided benefit to the graduates as well as the business. We did this with an innovative and engaging design that dovetailed the learning from module to module and back to work.

The finished programme consisted of seven modules over 18 months.

Induction This is induction but not as you know it. We strongly believe that graduates learn more effectively when they take on responsibility for the learning. The induction takes the form of a project and accelerates the graduates’ understanding of the whole company. It covers business awareness, problem solving in teams and self-awareness, and provides opportunities to learn about and explore their graduate capability matrix. It involves the graduates in their learning.

The graduate group is split into small work teams of between six and eight. Each team investigates a business topic and presents their findings and recommendations to a group of directors and senior managers at the end of the week. They are required to do this thoughtfully and professionally. Project work, team-working exercises, employee interviews, and preparation of a high stake presentation all provide a multi-tasking environment with many parallels to working life. Each team is supported by a facilitator who helps them absorb the learning and prepare for their presentation.

Research told us that 100% of managers rated graduates’ knowledge of the company low or very low before the induction. This shifted to 100% of managers rating it medium or high after induction.

Learning set launch Our client places a high importance on the value of learning sets to support graduate development. To give the learning sets the best possible start there was a need for a launch programme. The module helps bond the learning set team and create a trusting and supporting atmosphere along with understanding the skills needed to make the learning set work. We do this by blending a mix of high impact outdoor activities, MBTI®, and skills inputs.

“As a result of this module I now understand what a learning set involves and how to get the best out of them.”

Managing oneself The graduates will be near the end of their first business placement and understandably the transition from student to professional member of staff can be difficult. For the first few months on the scheme the business guides and supports them. The next challenge for the graduates is to start to take the onus on themselves for their own development and career management. The module gives them valuable skills, with inputs in networking, time management, career management, and goal setting. They are given the task of making a video alongside a professional film crew that explores the importance of managing their own learning. The video is presented to an audience at the end of the module for review and discussion.

“Personal learning and development and taking responsibility for it are essential if I am to succeed.”

Business and strategic awareness Once the graduates have been in the business a little while they are ready to receive a more commercially focused module - providing that the content accurately reflects what they need to know. The module explores the main challenges facing the graduates within their business function and helps them understand their own role in the company’s future and the rationale behind strategic decisions. It uses essential tools and techniques to analyse an example company’s strategic and financial health and present some strategic options. The module is in the style of a workshop, and managers from key business functions are invited to co-facilitate.

“I can now apply this learning to other company analysis.”

Working with others Graduates are now one year in and starting to take on roles within, or lead, project teams. This highly interactive module uses a range of activities to give each graduate a chance to lead a team and receive some structured feedback on their style. Each leadership opportunity is slightly different - such as leading a new team or taking on an established team - to reflect the types of situations they will face. We use professional actors to role play one to one influencing scenarios. The graduates are encouraged to work with real situations and receive feedback and coaching on how to move a situation forward.

“By dealing with real life issues, it made it very useful and applicable for me back at work.”

Planning to achieve Increasingly graduates are involved in delivering projects. As a way of bringing it to life we wanted to give them a real project to work on. This module introduces a CSR project by using relationships our client has within the local community. This module explores key skills including strategic thinking, gathering and analysing data, project management, and problem solving. As well as executing a much-needed community project it also embedded many of the team working and leadership skills learnt on the previous module.

“Highlighted the importance of planning and the balance between managing people in addition to the task.”

Development centre From our experience this is the most critical module in the graduate programme. For each graduate it’s a combination of looking back, looking forward and understanding where they are now. It’s the finale to one part of their career and the first step towards the next. During the four days they take part in a selection of development centre exercises to receive feedback from facilitators that will have worked with them throughout the 18 months. They are introduced to the leadership framework within the business and identify where their strengths and weaknesses are - they complete an emotional intelligence questionnaire which helps them to do this. Senior managers come along to talk about what they expect from them within their first post. The module also serves to congratulate them on their hard work and achievements. This culminates in the ‘graduate of the year’ award, which is announced by a Business Director.

“Made me think about my future career, gave me a chance to evaluate how I have developed.”

Email Lucy Neale or phone 0117 315 5243.