3 secrets to graduate happiness in the workplace
Let’s think of graduates as well-educated seeds ready to be planted in the newly bedded company garden. From seed to sapling and beyond, how can employers cultivate graduate happiness in the workplace? I spoke to a handful our clients at Sanctuary Graduates across a range of sectors to try and determine what is best-practice in graduate development.
Three areas emerged from my discussions with HRs and graduates themselves that play a pivotal role: personal development; positive company culture and having a supportive employer.
1. Personal Development
Personal development is something that featured often when discussing the pastoral care of graduates with our clients. Things like assigning a performance manager to every graduate from the moment of onboarding or implementing a flat hierarchy to encourage ’learning by osmosis’ are just a few ways graduate development is nurtured in companies ranging from global law firms, leading patent attorneys and one of the big four.
In a recent discussion with our client Network Rail, I spoke with their HR team to ask how they looked after their graduates from the point of offer, all the way to onboarding and their first year in the business. Something that proved integral to each and every graduate scheme they offered was the opportunity for personal development. Their most recent campaign being a prime example, focusing on the applicant themselves and what they can achieve at the company, leading with the strapline, ‘the difference is you – a career as bright and unique as you are’. Former Senior VP of Google’s People Operations, Laszlo Bock, springs to mind in this instance. In his book ‘Work Rules’ he explores the idea that,
‘only when companies took steps to give their people more freedom did performance improve.’
Freedom, in this case, meaning room for personal growth in the workplace. To all my horticulturally minded friends reading, think roots, think bigger plant pots. One of Network Rail’s recent electrical engineer graduates, Inge-Sarah Andersen, championed this freedom, explaining that, ‘you can diversify whatever you do.’ Perhaps one of the most relevant examples of this is the forging of ‘Fast Trackers’, in which Andersen was a project manager of a team created by graduates. It’s main objective, to encourage and secure early engagement in STEM subjects across North West Yorkshire. The £1 million project was so successful that they will be running it again on a wider scale in the upcoming year. Network Rail’s employee-centric culture offers room for growth and flexibility not only for their graduates but throughout the business. With a strong focus on personal development it’s refreshing to hear from graduate, Annabel Downing, that there ‘really is a role for every type of personality.’
2. Positive Company Culture
A business that provides an enticing company culture with plenty of office perks, perhaps unsurprisingly, contributes to the maintenance of happy graduates. Ruffer, a leading investment management firm, is a great example. They promote themselves as a healthy and positive company to work for. Various perks include fresh fruit in the office; a weekly onsite GP, access to yoga, pilates, bootcamp and they even run an annual sports day for staff in the summer. In her article, ‘Promoting Employee Happiness Benefits Everyone’, Camille Preston, PHD, PCC and CEO of AIM Leadership writes,
‘employee happiness has increasingly become an imperative in business.’
More and more companies are taking on this initiative, starting from the very beginning with their graduates, including ourselves. Here at Sanctuary Graduates nearly our entire workforce came into their role as a graduate and this summer we were all treated to a weekend away, a welcomed perk of working for a small business and a great way to keep our graduates happy. Organised fun of course was in abundance, (please do feel free to click here for a quick snapshot of our fancy dress challenge and let us know who pulled it off best?) Other companies such as SoftCat also promote a young, friendly, sociable environment that often seems to be so popular with graduates. This, bolstered by charity events, Summer and Christmas parties, a May Ball, Mums & Dads club, not to mention holiday trips to places like Barbados, all contribute to a company culture perfect for an outgoing and hardworking graduate who yearn for a fun company culture. Ultimately a business that rewards their employees makes them feel valued, and a person who feels valued is often happier and therefore more productive in the workplace.
3. Employer Support
Providing a supportive environment within the professional arena is also an important element to recognise when thinking about graduate growth and happiness. The technology company, L3TRL, help their graduates find accommodation when first joining the company. This is a common practice for quite a number of large companies. Firms such as JDE (Kenco Coffee) also provide a relocation bonus for their students, which seems so simple but really does help, especially for those making the move far away from home. I know when I first moved to the big smoke, this financial support from Sanctuary Graduates made things so much easier. Empathy in my mind therefore goes and hand in hand with providing support. When a company can put themselves in the shoes of their employees and assist where necessary, the level of trust and understanding required can lay the foundations for a stronger workforce. Another great example of this is one of the leading patent attorneys Sanctuary Graduates work with, offering flexi-hours. The ability to determine your own working hours can make such a positive difference to productivity and help establish a healthy work-life balance. Network Rail’s Campaign Specialist, Amarvir Munger, explained how employees, including graduates, work flexible hours and have their travel costs subsidised. Alongside this, something that stood out however was the multitude of different peer networks available throughout the company. This capacity to offer both professional and personal support in the workplace is yet another way graduates are able to flourish.
So, with all this in mind, how do you make your graduates grow? Whilst I’m tempted to reply with ‘sugar and spice and all things nice’, I would also suggest throwing in some personal development and freedom to grow, a company culture with a sizeable sprinkling of fun and of course, the provision of care and support within the workplace.
If you’d like to hear more insights from clients or campus, please drop me a line on constance@sanctuarygraduates.co.uk ; 020 3813 7971
