Graduate Development – ‘What’s Next?’

Graduate Development Inductions have come and gone for the year and now is the time to truly innovate and take the next step in designing your best possible development program. Creating that next step on the development journey takes passion and commitment – with the graduates needs always at the forefront of your thinking.

No longer is it acceptable to throw together a program based on what other organisations are delivering, what’s worked in the past or just absolute guesswork on what your cohort needs.

A more successful approach is to use assessment data (often already gathered during recruitment) to customise and tailor the best possible development program. This process also provides an integral opportunity to help your graduates understand what the assessments mean and what the results mean for them in the workplace. They develop a deeper self-awareness through understanding why they behave the way they do and why some tasks come more easily to them than others in comparison to their peers. With this knowledge, and some additional coping mechanisms, they can begin to manage themselves to become the most effective they can be. It is also a great tool for creating Individual Development Plans and developing conversation starters to use with their Managers.

Further critical elements to progressing your development program include looking closely at the way in which graduates learn and the availability they have to leaders and mentors.

We’re already halfway through 2018 but let’s not forget that it’s still very early days for first year graduates. You need to be open to allowing them to share their preferred learning styles and methods to ensure the highest level of engagement in all sessions.

Another important inclusion in any upcoming development day is giving your graduates access to a range of leaders to increase their networks and knowledge of the organisation. Leaders have the capability to speak on the various themes of the development days and help to bring the learnings to life through personal experiences and knowledge. There is no one better in the business to drive motivation and inspiration.

When it comes to building graduate competencies, it is time to consider development topics with solid learning objectives and practical application back in the business like giving and receiving feedback, effective workplace communication and resilience.

If you want to know more or need assistance in planning your next graduate development session, please contact:
Jum Lamont – jum@fusiongc.com.au