Career Development is Key to Recruiting and Retaining New Talent

Career Development is Key to Recruiting and Retaining New Talent

Buzz at AGR Conference 2007 highlighted issues of finding new high calibre talent often rests on career development programmes

Diane Alger of A2B Development, the arm of Acorn that deals specifically with graduate development, recently attended the prestigious Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) annual conference and spotted an interesting trend.

Graduate recruitment at present is a 'candidate's market' with more firms having to compete to secure and retain the best calibre talent. A key factor in tipping the balance in favour of one organisation over another is proving to be the employer's commitment to structured, ongoing training and career development.

"We had discussions with many senior HR managers at this year's AGR conference who highlighted the current difficulty in attracting and retaining high quality graduate talent," said Diane Alger of A2B. "Several of our existing clients are happy to acknowledge that since offering new talent a structured and ongoing training and development programme to help their career progression, their graduate retention levels have improved significantly. In addition, they now find that when they find a good graduate and make an offer, the graduate will often have several other offers to consider. In most cases, the graduate will accept the offer with the best training and development programme.

"Graduates are certainly being offered higher salaries, but in addition to money, they are looking for an opportunity to make their mark on the world through career progression and advancement. A well structured and planned development programme not only helps organisations secure a commitment from new talent, it ensures that graduates stay around for long enough to add value to the employer's business.

Diane Alger added, "The Generation Y theme at the conference highlighted some of the issues and problems facing employers taking on new talent in the 21-25 age group. These young people are looking for more than just money and perks, they want to feel they are making a real contribution to the organisation and that their work matters. Good development programmes are vital to this process."

If you would like more information on how A2B's graduate development programmes can help your organisation, please call Diane Alger on 01539 741511 or email diane@a2bdevelopment.com

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