Graduate talent firm, Grad Mentor, is helping to bridge the divide between graduate and employer expectations in the financial services industry, revealing the key drivers of successful relationships in its latest research, The Perfect Marriage – The Graduate and the Firm.
Managing Director and author of the Grad Mentor research, Alisdair Barr, says the intention of the research is to provide key insights and a best practice management framework to mitigate the negative outcomes often experienced in graduate resourcing.
“Attracting, retaining and engaging the next generation is vital to the future of the financial advice profession and so building successful and enduring relationships between the graduate and the firm is key,” said Barr.
Research from The Perfect Marriage – The Graduate and the Firm reveals the seven major ‘Drivers of a Successful Marriage’ that impact the relationship between the firm and the graduate and offer a clear pathway to the ‘payback’ point, where a firm’s investment in the graduate returns cost.
“One of the drivers that we uncovered from the research that may be quite surprising to industry professionals is that remuneration is not an important factor for graduates when they’re considering which firm to join”, said Barr.
“To remain competitive, firms need to take a fresh approach to compensation that reflects new values, attitudes and lifestyles of graduates.
“A better, more efficient outcome for both sides will focus on the ‘softer’ types of remuneration which include flexible working styles, business improvement and innovation, ongoing professional development, and providing a sense of social purpose.
“Values are an important driver of workplace performance and success in employer/employee relationships, and while they can often be interpreted differently between generations, at their core, they are actually very similar.
“By helping professionals truly understand the ‘what’ and ‘why’ around what graduates value in their career opportunities and providing the framework on how to communicate their own values and expectations clearly, high performance and trust can flourish.”
A full copy of the research is available from Zurich.
SOURCE: Grad Mentor.
