Programme Management

You may choose to have your whole programme designed, use us on a consultancy basis to sense-check your current offering, or delegate some of the administrative setup to us. You may want a branded LMS or have us plan and co-ordinate all or an aspect of your training programme. The choice is yours and will be discussed in detail with one of our consultants who can guide and advise you as to which routes might best fit your plan and circumstances.

The suggested key themes will help a new graduate:

• Acclimatise to the world of work
• Gain the support of their buddy and mentor
• Perform activities, engage in discussions and immerse themselves within the team, culture and organisational values
• Understand what’s expected from them in terms of behaviours, output and outcomes
• Measure how they arrive against programme KPI’s and bridge any potential gaps
• Discuss their personal and professional development plan, and understand their career progression
• Learn about the organisational structure, reporting, ethics and gain exposure to wider networking opportunities.

By the end of their first 6 months, graduates new to the business should feel confident in their new role, have a clear understanding of their pathways through the programme, who to go to for help and support and what happens next. And you can gain valuable feedback on what is and isn’t working, what tweaks need to be made and course-correct where necessary so that you can move seamlessly into Stage 2.

During this next stage, we could be looking at collaborating with you on or fully taking over some of the following tasks; setting up, monitoring and evaluating your mentoring programme, debriefing the buddies working with your graduate cohort and plugging skills gaps, helping with securing venues, adding value to or taking over the complete management of your LMS process for you, organising speakers, and ensuring that your vision and values are deeply embedded within the programme.

From industry and organisational-specific technical competencies to MPDS and coursework mapped to the UK-SPEC, graduates can expect to feel more confident, focused and stretched during this next stage of the programme.

• Create a personal and professional development plan with your mentor and have accountability for key milestones with your buddy.
• Build a robust set of technical and non-technical foundational skills in areas such as finance fundamentals, ethical principles, communication and influence.
• Discover your personal communication and leadership style, and its power to improve relationships, teamwork, stakeholder engagement and increase self-awareness.
• Choose to become a STEM Ambassador with all the growth potential and connections that this can bring, and participate in industry-led discussions, challenges, projects and lunch & learns.
• Understand key milestones on your way to professional registration.

By the end of their first year, graduates will feel increasingly confident, resilient, able to take on greater responsibility and should feel integrated with the culture and aligned with the organisational vision.

During the acceleration phase, the goal is to help you future proof your organisation, enable you to change and adapt where necessary, innovate and remain competitive in today’s global markets. This is where we can dig in deep within you as a trusted partner, or begin passing the reins back to you in a more hands-off capacity. We could look at how well DE&I is being embedded in behaviours and everyday interaction and measure this against your objectives, whilst deepening the training provision in that area. We could also be helping you or completely host your round tables, discussions, close feedback loops and report our findings whilst discussing next steps.

There is a strong focus at this stage on greater collaboration, self-awareness, teamwork, accountability and autonomy whilst still benefitting from the individual support necessary to develop consistently through the second year of the programme. 

By the end of their second year on the programme, graduates will have benchmarked well against your objectives, be able to demonstrate the key behaviours and characteristics required by the organisation to be a successful contributor and will exhibit a thirst for growth, contribution and progression, high ethics, a customer-first perspective and inclusion.

During this last phase of the programme, all stakeholders will review the performance of the cohort individually and collectively. From the point of recruitment right the way through to completion and beyond, reflective questions will be asked to inform activity in the next round. We can support the process of measuring effectiveness, making recommendations, and producing an executive progress summary.

From a graduate point of view, they will feel settled in their role, understand next steps in their progression, and demonstrate the characteristics of a competent, motivated and aligned employee. There will be a focus on the following key areas:

• Targeted support towards achieving the next level of professional registration
• Recognition of what has been achieved on a 121 and company-wide basis
• Areas of specialism discussed, and an updated career and personal/professional development plan put in place
• A reflective piece of work by the graduate, outlining their experiences and key learnings over the course of the programme
• Agreement on the next stages of the up-skilling process.

As graduates exit the programme, it’s critical to ensure that as much data has been/is captured, distilled and conclusions drawn that can inform the next round of recruitment. Likewise, that the transfer of learning has taken place and the graduate now feels confident that the transition from university to workplace has been successful.