Structured graduate recruitment schemes have traditionally been the domain of larger firms. Yet with the recession leading to numerous redundancies and a lack of graduate opportunities, there are more talented graduates on the market than ever. For the savvy recruiter, now is the time to implement a well-honed selection process to ensure only the strongest candidates are hired and to introduce a well structured training programme to ensure you bring out the best in your new recruits.

Know what you want to achieve

Just as with any new venture, it is vital to begin your planning by deciding what it is you want to achieve

Your core motivation might be succession planning; making sure that you have well trained talent ready for when senior members of staff move on or retire. Or it could be to release the recruitment pressure on your organisation, affording you a ready stream of talent from within and reducing the need for expensive rounds of recruitment higher up the managerial chain.

Alternatively, it might be that you are looking to address a scarce skills gap. As these candidates become more experienced they become scarcer and more expensive to hire. So good graduate recruitment scheme could win you attention from the brightest and best graduates that you might otherwise fail to attract at a later stage in their careers and for a much lower cost.

An additional benefit you may also consider is that, you will be able to raise your organisation’s profile through a graduate recruitment scheme, since the advertising and recruitment process means you will be actively promoting your employer brand.

Be committed

A graduate recruitment scheme is no small undertaking – it’s just the same as a new product launch. It is likely to take up to a year to put your plans in place before you actually begin to see recruits joining your organisation. And once recruited, your graduates will expect 12 – 18 months of well-structured training and development, so embarking on such a programme means committing for the long haul.

In addition, a graduate recruitment scheme is not something you would do one year and not the next. It takes commitment to the long term in order to effectively develop the programme and get the stream of talent running steadily. In essence, you are creating a pipeline, so if you don’t maintain the programme, you will find gaps in the availability of management staff further down the line.

Get internal support

For a graduate recruitment scheme to be successful, it must have the support of the entire business. To achieve this, it is wise to win the support of a very senior member of your organisation who can champion the scheme. If this person has sufficient clout within the business, this should win you the support of managers that is so vital to successfully delivering the scheme.

In addition, it is important to consider the impact of the scheme on existing employees, as their cooperation will be equally vital to the success of the scheme. Make sure that planning is done transparently to avoid feelings of jealousy or animosity and, if possible, make the scheme open to existing staff who might want to apply. If this is not possible, aim to implement an alternative management development programme for existing staff to show that they are valued and equally worth your time and investment.

Be realistic

It is important to be realistic about the number of graduates you can effectively manage. It is far better to deliver an effective training programme to four well chosen recruits, than to offer a overstretched, hurriedly delivered scheme to 20 hastily chosen graduates.

In the first year of your scheme, it is often worth considering piloting your programme in just one area of the business. Perhaps an area where succession planning is a concern. When this works well, you can then take what you have learned and apply it to other areas of the business in subsequent years.

Another way to trial how well prepared your business is for an intake of trainees, is to run an internship programme for students to attend during the summer between their second and final year of university. Targetting those universities which have degree courses that match the needs of your sector of the business: This gives you an opportunity to begin advertising and making contact with universities, and to trial the recruitment process, without the commitment of embarking on a full graduate recruitment scheme.

Running internships may also help to reduce cost – another key issue to consider during the planning stages – as interns who perform well can be offered a place on your graduate recruitment scheme when they finish their degree programme.

Weigh up costs versus benefits

Other important issues in relation to cost include how the scheme will be funded and how much of a budget is available. The scale of the scheme may well rest on the amount of funds available to you.

In addition, at the earliest planning stage, you must decide whether you are going to outsource the management of your graduate recruitment scheme to a third party. If you wish, you can pass on everything from advertising to assessment on to an organisation, but be aware that you will still need to work closely with your chosen consultancy to ensure the scheme is designed with your goals in mind. If you are working to a budget, you may decide to just outsource part of the process, such as the formal assessments, while managing the rest of the process yourself internally.

For more information on the selection and assessment of graduates please see our website www.resourcingmatters.com or contact janet.cowell@resourcingmatters.com. You can also advertise your graduate positions for free on our graduate community website www.1st-step.co.uk