» GradStart for graduate recruits

Business and soft skills development

GradStart is an Akonia programme. It is a personal development programme designed to enable graduate recruits to develop the skills they need to function optimally in the workplace. Whilst around half of the programme is more or less centred around emotional intelligence and its application (people skills), there are also modules on commercial awareness, financial awareness, industry intelligence, customer care, and so on.

The ten GradStart models are given one day a month.

GradStart is not a training course: it is a programme which facilitates attenders to develop their ability to work productively. It includes:

(a) a series of workshops which include an element of teaching. As such, the detailed contents can be tailored, on the fly, for the needs of the specific people attending a particular programme

(b) small assignments which delegates are expected to complete between workshops

More information on GradStart. (Note that we are not currently scheduling any year 2 programmes.)

Typical GradStart workshop

We aim for twelve participants for a programme plus the facilitator. We expect some will drop out, if only because they have changed employer. Eight is the smallest we would want; sixteen the largest.

If attenders want to drop out because they suddenly discover they don’t need it after all, then we will assume that that is a symptom of resistance and do our best to get them to stay.

We use several facilitators to accommodate the wide range of content in the will be used for different modules.

A workshop day is typically 10 am – 5 pm, with morning, afternoon and lunch breaks.

Each day is driven by the issues raised at the beginning by the participants around the theme of the workshop (eg Communication skills). Topics are introduced as needed and these usually involve the presentation of a couple of models.

As Derren Brown has observed, “Our tendency to think that we’re not predictable is probably one of our more predictable traits”. At least 80% of the topic content can be predicted in advance whilst fully meeting the needs of each of each group of participants.

The day consists of:

“chalk and talk” sessions, typically no more than fifteen minutes, intended simply to teach attenders material which it would take them months/years to work out themselves
exercises and games designed to help attenders remember the key points from the “chalk and talk” sessions
“buddy work” where the delegates work in twos; the extent to which the outcomes of that work are presented to the group is at the discretion of the facilitator (buddies are also expected to work together between sessions)
group discussion about issues
possibly work with an individual on a particular issue, possibly requiring role play from others.

The GradStart market

Business markets

Currently we are marketing GradStart to large SME and corporate businesses.

There is nothing specifically about the programme that restricts it to commercial organisations. Public and third sector organisations are equally welcome.

There is nothing specifically about the contents which restricts it to graduate recruits as opposed to any other recruits.

There is nothing specifically about the contents which restricts it to graduate employees as opposed to any other employees. The level of content is adjusted to the needs of the delegates, so we do not run programmes with participants of widely varying levels of work experience.

‘Target’ participants

newly recruited graduates or college leavers
apprentices.

Background to the GradStart programme

The five ’emotional intelligence’ modules are mostly derived from material which Jeremy Marchant devised and delivered with other clients in the past. In particular, he delivered a four day programme, Getting it together, in Great Western Hospital, Swindon, four times over. This was delivered under, and financed by, the previous Labour government’s Skills pledge scheme and was restricted to junior staff (bands 1-4).

The five ‘commercial’ modules have been developed for GradStart by Chris Hoggarth.

Feedback from the Great Western Hospital programme

Here. (Note, there really were no serious complaints about the facilitators (Jeremy and Kay McMahon)—about the chairs, yes!)

Miscellaneous points

In addition to this programme we can provide

one to one mentoring
ancillary courses for the same participants and/or their colleagues.

GradStart cannot be run as ten consecutive days. Participants must have space between days to reflect on what they’ve learnt and, more importantly, to apply it. Workshops could be run at two or three week intervals, though.

Related material:
> GradStart : programme definition
> GradStart : programme overview
> GradStart calendar

Download a complimentary best practice guide now and discover…
The 22 essential steps for successfully recruiting and retaining young employees
The guide covers the four stages : attraction, recruitment, development and retention.

Contact Jeremy Marchant, jeremy.marchant@akonia.com, 01 453 764 615