Graduate programs have been around for decades, allowing organisations and junior candidates to nurture and grow junior talent without pigeon-holing them into a role from day 1. There are so many graduate programs out there, from Big 4 giants such as Deloitte and KPMG through to retail schemes at Lidl and Mcdonalds; graduate schemes enable organisations to shape the leaders of tomorrow.
When looking at this through the lens of Finance, it’s important for organisations that are struggling to acquire high-quality talent to look at other methodologies in their hiring process. Despite graduate schemes being available within financial services, there are criticisms of what is currently on offer in the UK.
“Graduate schemes in the financial services sector typically last around two to three years and aim to provide graduates with an in-depth understanding of the industry, develop wide-ranging expertise, and identify and nurture their interests.
The concerning findings were revealed by a poll of 250 decision-makers at UK financial institutions and banks, via the independent polling agency Censuswide, to measure the current state of digital skills and diversity levels in the banking and finance sectors.
It was also revealed that 74 per cent of workers believe that applicants for graduate schemes in the financial services industry are male-dominated, and 70 per cent believe that diversity, equity and inclusion are an afterthought in the financial services industry.” – Fintech Times
It’s clear from the statistics that change needs to happen within the industry, but what can organisations do to improve their graduate schemes and shape better financial leaders?
First, gain feedback
If you already run a graduate scheme, it’s important to get tangible feedback from participants on the scheme to find out what is going well, what needs to be improved, and what else they’d like to see from the scheme. You can then assess the pain points and change your graduate scheme over time.
If you don’t run a graduate scheme, look to gain feedback from junior employees on what their experience has been like with the organisation thus far and use that as your ‘litmus test’ of what could and couldn’t potentially work if you were to adapt it to a graduate scheme. It can be easy to fall into the trap of using your senior leadership team for guidance, however, you don’t want it to become an echo chamber of senior leaders who aren’t clued into what the ‘next-gen’ of financial professionals truly want.
Secondly, think about the value offered vs the number of candidates in a graduate scheme
If you currently have a graduate scheme, you should use your internal feedback in tandem with the value that you’re currently offering on the scheme. For example, Big 4 organisations are used to taking hundreds, even thousands of graduate cohorts in a year. But, depending on the size of your organisation, replicating this and trying to do a grad scheme en masse can become messy and complicated. Assess the value that you can offer and the quality of the graduate scheme with a smaller pool of candidates vs trying to get as many graduates through the door as possible.
That way, you can shape people from day #1 and give them value as well as company integration. You have to think about the culture of your business and ensure that it can translate effectively into a graduate scheme. There will be candidates that gravitate to the corporate schemes but there will also be a huge pool of candidates who want a graduate scheme that is considered more boutique. Remember, it’s about the value, not the scale.
Finally, look at different graduate scheme lengths to mitigate fatigue and cater to different personalities
Graduate schemes can range from 1 year to 3 years, and it’s important to ensure that there is variety when you are offering schemes to candidates. Traditional graduate schemes involve candidates rotating around different departments in an organisation to get a feel for what type of role they’d like to do, however, there can be fatigue associated with this – especially for candidates who quickly decipher what role or department would suit them best. It’s important to provide a clear path for progression when creating a graduate scheme
What are the benefits of graduate schemes?
- A diversified workforce: Particularly within Financial Services, there can often be homogeneity, especially if there is a lack of juniors within the firm or an individual team. Graduate schemes encourage diversity as there will be continuous cohorts of fresh talent and fresh perspectives on an annual or semiannual basis, depending on how many people you want. If you provide a diverse graduate scheme, then you will naturally attract different types of candidates.
- Structured progression: Graduate schemes, when run correctly, will enable you to offer structured progression and really see your training and development put into practice.
- Home-grown talent: Give yourself the opportunity to invest in home-grown talent that you can nurture yourself, instead of hiring juniors who are 1-2 years into their career who may have learned ‘bad habits’ or have different expectations when coming into your organisation.
How can you factor this into your succession planning?
Creating a robust graduate scheme will work wonders for your future succession planning. Whether it’s a 1-year graduate scheme or a 3-year graduate scheme, you can stagger talent across a progression timeline and get a key understanding of where they’re going to sit within your organisation. Whether it’s assessing who will step into leadership long-term, or who will be a core part of your technical team, you can use this for a solid bottom-up approach that will then give you room to grow your executive leadership team in the future.
Finally, this is an excellent opportunity to invest in your Diversity and Inclusion from day #1. Offering variety at graduate level and multiple entry paths will naturally attract more candidates, thus creating a diverse – and hopefully more engaged – workforce.
