Developing graduate talent that can make a measurable and lasting positive impact on organisational culture and business success – but it requires a carefully thought out investment strategy.

1. Graduate Talent
Transforming today’s graduates
into tomorrow’s leaders
THOUGHTPIECE

2. Effective leadership at all levels
within an organisation is critical for
sustainable success. But how can you
be sure that your graduate recruits
will develop the skills needed to
meet the leadership challenges of
tomorrow?
Today’s fresh faced graduate has
always been seen as a resource
that can be developed for senior
positions of the future. Even with
the dramatic rise in the number of
graduates in recent years, one in two
graduate recruitment candidates are
considered to be potential future
leaders.1
The reasons for this are clear:
graduates bring the latest thinking,
have acquired a range of skills and
knowledge from their university
education and are likely to be
a source of innovation in any
organisation. The careful selection
and subsequent nurturing of the
best and most talented graduates
is vital for the future success of any
business.
Parity Professionals | Talent Matters!
Developing graduate talent that can make
a measurable and lasting positive impact
on organisational culture and business
success – but it requires a carefully thought
out investment strategy

3. www.parityprofessionals.co.uk
What kinds of training do graduates want?6
Technical Skills 87%
Communication 77%
Project Management 75%
Interpersonal Skills 73%
People Management 71%
However businesses may not realise
this potential for a number of reasons.
Firstly spotting those with talent, and
more crucially those with the best fit to
the needs of the recruiting organisation.
Secondly supporting young graduates
through the ‘rite of passage’ from
university to the professional workplace.
And thirdly retaining graduates to
ensure the early stages of investment
in them materialises into contribution
to the success of the business. Put
simply, realising graduate talent is about
identifying potential and investing in
development so that each individual
can reach their full potential within the
business.
The challenge of graduate development
The first question is often how do we fit
graduates into the organisation so that
they can make a contribution to the
business? Yet to engage with, and retain
graduate talent, we might first need to
gain an understanding of what graduates’
needs are and what they expect from
employers. When looking to their
futures, it seems the next generation of
graduates may be looking for more than
just competitive financial remuneration.
Contribution from, and the retention of,
graduate recruits may well be significantly
enhanced by taking the time to think
carefully about their aspirations and
motivations and how might supporting
integration into the business take account
of this.
A large graduate study (2015) carried out
by Accenture led its head of strategy Payal
Vasudeva to conclude:
“This year’s graduates are highly
resourceful in making themselves
relevant to employers. They
expect good work opportunities
and employer provided training,
but many remain underemployed
and dissatisfied with their work
situation.”2
The Accenture study also concludes that
“59% of UK graduates would trade salary
for a positive social atmosphere.”2
A recent survey by the Hay Group
involving 300 heads of engagement
found that more than three-quarters
of respondents (84%) believed that
employers must engage their workforces
differently if they are to succeed in the
future3
.
Graduate recruits want employers to take
an active interest in their professional
development, providing creative
challenges from the outset and offering a
clear sense of career progression. Above
all, graduates are looking for first-class
training and support so that they can
develop the skills they need to progress in
their chosen career.

4. In addition, as learning via electronic
channels rather than face-to-face
communication becomes more common
in universities and training more generally,
more graduates are expecting the same
approach to be taken to the evelopment
they receive at work.
Although the situation is changing
significantly, many graduates have
limited, or in some cases no, prior work
experience (30% of the 2015 intake have
no work experience). So, while they bring
knowledge, energy and innovative thinking
to the workplace, their ability to put it into
practice in the work environment has yet
to be proven. Not surprisingly, therefore,
many organisations are looking closely
at the effectiveness of their graduate
development programmes.
Managing the progress of graduate talent
A successful graduate development
programme begins with a student and
ends with a business leader in order to
cultivate and retain the best graduates,
and of course those with talent are the
most sought-after in the job market,
investing careful thought and planning
into a graduate development programme
is essential. In a report by the Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development6
(CIPD), employed graduates ranked
training and development (94%) and
career development (97%) as the top two
most important aspects of their job5
.
However, the journey is full of potential
pitfalls. If your programme is not aligned
to the needs of your graduate recruits, you
will be wasting your time and money – and
running the risk that your finest future
leaders will move elsewhere.
With this in mind, we have identified
three critical points associated with the
attraction, development and retention of
graduates:
Critical point 1
Attracting, selecting and screening
talented graduates is not something
that can be accomplished instinctively. It
requires a strategy. Without a carefully
considered approach, you will lose out
to other employers offering a more
appealing employment proposition. It is
critical to consider at this stage not only
the brightest and the most talented, but
the nature of your business, the kind
of organisational culture you have (and
perhaps the one may want to have in the
future) and what kind of person is most
likely to be successful. Recruiting the very
brightest graduate is not good business if
you are unable to offer them what they
aspire to or indeed the business cannot
find a way to realise their contribution.
Critical point 2
The psychological appeal of your
workplace, based on its organisational
culture, is a key inducement factor. Once
a graduate is involved in the reality of
your organisation and experiences the
culture first hand, they will compare this
experience with their prior expectations
and decide whether or not to commit
themselves further. They will learn and
adapt accordingly. The opportunity
to shape and manage expectation,
to find ways of supporting graduate
recruits through the ‘rite of passage’
from university to work, may be crucial.
Investment in coaching and mentoring
is critical at this early stage to support
individuals to see how they might realise
their potential and build affinity with the
organisation.
Seeing and understanding how to become
a valued professional contributing to the
success of the business is not instinctive.
Much of this is learned behaviour and a
conscious support process to achieve this
is likely to provide significant dividends for
both the individual and the organisation.
Parity Professionals | Talent Matters!

5. www.parityprofessionals.co.uk
CULTURAL
“DELTA”
INTRODUCTION
TO CULTURE
PIONEER OF
CULTURE
LEADERS OF
CULTURE
Aspirational Culture
(employer brand promise) (employer brand reality)
Actual Culture
GRADUATE JOURNEY
The TRUST Point
“Emotional Contract”
Performance
Support &
On Board
Continuous
Professional
DevelopmentDevelop & RetainSearch/Screen
Select
Leadership
Development
CP-1
CP-1
CP-2
CP-2
CP-3
CP-3
Critical Point 1 – Having a stratgic approach to the attraction, selection and appointment of talented graduates
Critical Point 2 – The transition from the aspirational to the reality of the company culture - manging the psychological contract
Critical Point 3 – The transition into a pioneer – manging the transition to empowerment
Critical point 3
When graduates have found their feet
and are ready to be developed for
future leadership roles, they will gain
a clearer understanding of their value
to the organisation and feel inclined to
contribute, not just to the organisational
success, but to the overall culture. This
stage is critical as to whether the individual
may be retained and all the investment
made so far is realised for the benefit of
the business and the development of the
organisational culture. One of the most
common complaints about investing in
graduate development is their early ‘loss’.
The demonstration of commitment to
further development of career will be vital
to the rate of ‘loss’ of graduate recruits.
Accelerating graduate performance
By investing wisely businesses can take
proactive steps to deliver this expertise
and secure the benefits. Careful
examination of a business’s needs and
culture enables the identification of the
knowledge and skills that successful
new recruits should possess. A graduate
training programme needs to be versatile
and flexible, with coaching and mentoring
at its core, to prepare young graduates to
‘come of age’ professionally and become
fully-capable, self-supporting leaders
within an organisation. If carried out
effectively, a well designed development
programme will have an immediate
influence within the business and make a
significant impact to the bottom line?

6. About Parity Professionals
Parity Professionals work closely with our clients to source and develop exceptional talent, build-
ing capacity and capability in order to transform individual and organisational performance. We
pride ourselves in doing things differently, and are fully committed to providing you with the best
service possible.
Whether you are looking to:
• Partially or fully outsource your Graduate Talent and Development Programme
• Recruit Graduate talent for your business, or
• Develop an end-to-end recruitment and Graduate Development Programme
Parity Professionals are the people that can help. We have the passion and experience to make a
real difference. Call our Develop team now to discuss a complimentary Discovery Session – and
let’s get the conversation started.
Contact Details
The Develop Team
t: 0208 171 1592
e: graduatedevelopment@parity.net
w: www.parityprofessionals.co.uk
Parity Professionals work closely with our clients to source and develop talent, building capacity and capability in
order to transform individual and organisational performance. We pride ourselves in doing things differently, and
are fully committed to providing you with the best service possible.
References
1. Kaplan 2014, Graduate Recruitment Report
2. International Business Times, 2014, The War
for Talent: Top Firms Failing to Meet Demands
of Workers
3. The Real Prospectus 2010, Prospectus Ltd
4. BBC Report, 2014 Firms battle to recruit and
retain best staff
5. Business Insider 2012, McKinsey Predicts The
War For Talent Will Go Nuts By 2020
6. CIPD Report, Graduates in the workplace 2006
degree add value