WOULD YOU RECOGNISE YOUR CEO?
July 1, 2011 Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago I attended the 18th Breakfast News event organised by TARGETJobs sponsored by Work and in association with AGR.
I have yet to miss one of these breakfasts, so I am well placed to say that this was one of the best yet. Not because of the food, although it was very good, but because the agenda was as fresh as the orange juice that Gary Rhodes served up.
My presentation focused on “How important are graduates to business leaders?” Over the past three weeks we surveyed AGR members with a series of questions aimed at exploring this somewhat neglected aspect of the graduate recruitment function.
Against a backcloth of 5 years of expansion in graduate vacancies, despite the uncertain and challenging economic environment, two thirds of AGR members reported that their business leaders have either a great deal, or a fair level, of involvement with graduate recruitment. That involvement was at its highest with regards to determining targets and budgets and participating in the selection process and development programmes. There was also a healthy interest in the return on investment.
In a majority of businesses graduate recruitment was seen as a route to leadership and a significant minority saw it as a prime outcome of the development process. It was estimated that 3 in 4 leaders are themselves graduates.
Perhaps the most useful statistics related to the length of time it takes a graduate to reach positions of responsibility. Bearing in mind Gen Y’s predilection for progressing quickly at work, the responses were fascinating and provide a valuable benchmark against which to measure you own organisation’s performance. For example, the first level of responsibility is working autonomously (16 months on average) followed by managing projects. The report also includes timescales for managing people and managing budgets. Compared to my early years at work when ‘sitting next to Nelly’ and observing how to do the job could last for 6 months or more, these timescales are impressive but I doubt that high-flying graduates will see it that way.
The survey also covered the value of graduates to organisations. Some interesting data emerged here though not all of it positive. It seems that too many businesses still don’t have processes in place to measure the ROI. An element of ROI has to be retention rates and again, half of the respondents did not know how long graduates stay with them. That’s not quite the same as saying that no-one in the business knows but those recruiters who could provide an accurate answer are clearly in a stronger position to measure the true value of graduates.
To be effective at work in this day and age you need to be able to develop working relationships with colleagues at all levels including top management. The last section of the survey explored how well the graduate recruiter related to their CEO. While the vast majority would be happy to ask their CEO to take part in recruitment/development activities, only a third would buy them a drink and one in twenty would not recognise their top boss if they bumped into them!
AGR members will be able to access the full survey report for free shortly on the AGR website.
Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive (who would be delighted to accept a free drink from a member of staff!)
