Login
Areas of Interest
Search
Our Thinking
Designing Programmes
We are pleased to be working with lots of great and innovative organisations. This has allowed us to develop a comprehensive body of thought on what it takes to make a successful graduate scheme.
Our not too surprising first outcome is that there is not a common answer to what a great scheme is. What works for a large multinational investment bank is unlikely to work for a small UK retailer and so on. The context of the organisation is the dominant factor.
This led us to develop a model at the level above what a great scheme looks like to what is the process for creating a great scheme in your context. We call this the 4Ds and it acts as a guide to our actions. This is also supported by a diagnostic and measurement tool, the Graduate Effectiveness Model, which current performance and areas to focus on.
The 4Ds
- Discover Business strategy, Talent gaps, Scheme Objectives and Outcomes, Target roles
- Define Skills, behaviours and knowledge needed. The performance and potential frameworks. Recruitment profiles.
- DevelopLearning and Development programmes, Line manager systems, Role profiles, reporting and measurement systems
- DeliverRecruitment, Induction, Embedding, Experiences, Development and Measurement
The Graduate Effectiveness Model
To help our clients to diagnose where they are and where they need to be investing their efforts, we developed the Graduate Effectiveness model. It addresses the drivers for a successful scheme, and through a multi stakeholder questionnaire allows you to identify which stage of the 4Ds process, Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver, you need to focus on and where to put your efforts.
Learning Journeys
Learning is a Journey not a Destination
We see learning as at the heart of the competitive advantage of individuals, teams and organisations. Graduate Programmes are fundamentally accelerated learning programmes, where the graduate learns a whole new set of skills, behaviours and attitudes which reflect success, in a work context.
The work we do is based around a well developed model of how graduates learn at this transition stage. We combine events with ongoing support to build journeys which take place over significant time periods. Insight can happen in a day, genuine learning takes longer
Our learning model
- Learning needs context
- We learn best when have a real need, learning in advance is not effective
- We learn from each other and role models who we see as relevant
- Learning requires practice, reinforcement and time to embed
- Learning should be fun in its own right and not require gimmicks
- Knowledge is easy, skills harder, behaviours harder still and attitudes the hardest
Our learning systems and technologies are built around these insights