Are you getting ready for the start of a new term?

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we celebrated Lara’s graduation, my eldest’s girlfriend. She is part of the family, so it was lovely to celebrate and be a part of her success. Last week, she went through the first stage of the process for a graduate scheme with the police. It would be a great first career step for her, utilising her criminology degree and working in HR - which hopefully I can give her a bit of help with along the way.  

This got me thinking that a lot of our members are readying themselves for new intakes of early talent in September.  

I love this time of year and will miss being involved in those new starter events. It was one of the highlights of the year in my last role at National Highways. Now I get the pleasure of helping our members with making their early talent programmes fantastic. So, whilst I don’t get the satisfaction of being directly involved, it feels like we are able to make a bigger impact by supporting more companies.  

For anyone wanting to improve how they are developing that early talent pipeline join me and the wonderful Catherine Serusclat in September for a masterclass on Successful Early Talent Programmes . We also have some insightful resources in our Members Library from both Catherine and our Partners at Eli Onboarding to help you shape great programmes:  

• What makes a good graduate programme?   

• Early careers onboarding in 2024   

• How to avoid your graduate intake disappearing on you   

Early talent is such an important part of your overall talent strategy. Sometimes organisations don’t see it as a strategic part of the people plan - it is just another recruitment channel or a way to use up their apprenticeship levy. This can lead to poorly designed and managed programmes. Ultimately, providing a poor experience for your talent and not getting the return on investment you should. Your early talent are not just ‘an extra pair of hands’, they are the future of your business and with the right effort you can deliver the impact you want for their careers and your business.  

Make sure you have your recruitment aligned to your strategic capability requirements, so you are building the right longer-term capability across the business. It should be a key element of your strategic workforce planning. Design your programme(s) to develop these talent pools with purpose. Think about the core skills they need alongside any technical learning so they can deliver great things for you, both on and post programme.  

Engage your early talent network in helping to develop the company and your employer brand. In my experience they want to be developed and involved. They can add huge value from day 1 with the right support in place. Also, design clear and effective transitions through the stages of the programme and post programme so you retain that talent and progress them smoothly into the next career step. Tracking progress on programme and career development post programme is essential too.  

I had a great Talent team at National Highways, and we did lots to elevate the early talent programmes. They are a well-established part of their people strategy now giving plenty of ROI, with countless examples of individuals making a huge impact in that company and the sector. Reflecting on it reminded me that I interviewed Elaine Billington MBE , Chief People Officer at National Highways, earlier in the year for our Talent Optimisation Insight Report . We couldn’t use the interview in the report due to the timing of the election. It was a great discussion with Elaine that covered quite a lot of themes, one being the importance of early talent. Our members can view that interview here .  

I hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer. Our events in September are the perfect way to kick start the new term and support your autumn priorities, so check them out here.   

Have a great week.  

Ted Miller