Do you work with people on grad schemes?

[viknow]

At the beginning of last year, I started a grad scheme in finance. It was made clear to me that they expect grads to see things with a new perspective and make changes where necessary.

After being in my role for a while I've developed the understanding and confidence to challenge certain practices. BUT I'm constantly being shut down or told so and so is working on that. It's really disheartening and it makes me feel incompetent/useless.

It's really bringing me down (also adjusting to living up north doesn't help)

I would love to hear from those who work with grads on their teams - do they really improve the way you work? Law of diminishing returns comes to mind.

Yes I work with grads and while it is great that you are trying to think differently I think challenging certain practices when you are a new grad will rub people up the wrong way.
How are you making these challenges?
Have you done any courses on landing change or changing culture?
Have you spoken to your manager about it?

It was made clear to me that they expect grads to see things with a new perspective and make changes where necessary

If you are expected to make changes presumably you were given the authority to do so? If not then perhaps find out more about the process for suggesting and implementing changes where you are.

Be aware that saying things need to change can often be taken as criticism of those who have been doing things that way. You have to take human nature into account.

And yes, I work with new graduates. They bring enthusiasm, different knowledge and many many positive things. They all, without exception, have needed to learn soft skills such as persuasion, how to communicate ideas etc.

Can you talk to someone you trust and ask why your ideas are being pushed aside.

I'm constantly being shut down
I've done roles where I've managed grads and others. You are being shut down as you haven't worked out the people issues around your solutions.

or told so and so is working on that
That means you have identified something that other people have identified as a problem, and they have probably spent a few months to a year talking to the right people before being able to start implementing their changes.

I make sure that I am as tactful as possible.

Last week I spent a lot of time speaking individually to my team members (all 25 of them) about ways I could improve a forecasting tool that is used. I compiled a report and presented to the relevant person and was told X is already on it and not to waste my time.

How are you making these challenges? I compiled a questionnaire and had 1 on 1 interview which I condensed into a report and showed my manager.

Have you done any courses on landing change or changing culture? No but would love to! My company is very generous with funding training. Would love to hear any suggestions.

Have you spoken to your manager about it? I have a meeting this week where I think I will be a bit more direct.

I understand people can be slightly offended and make sure to act appropriately.

It's taken me some time to run up to speed (didn't do maths or accounting at university) so I fear time is running out and I've contributed nothing - it gives me anxiety just thinking about it

I've had plenty of new grads working for me, and like a PP they've all needed to learn soft skills like influencing, communicating with impact, negotiating etc. It might not be what you're saying but how you're going about it. Of course, they might be just stuck in their ways too - hard to know from your snapshot.

With regards to stuff others are working on already - can you try to broaden your understanding of the wider picture? Maybe arrange catch-ups with people from different areas? Or mention that you'd like to help if someone's doing a project that interests you and you have time/they need resource.

This would be seen as you showing initiative and drive in my company.

Hate to bring up the ‘s’ word, but are they the same with male grads?

Do you know anything about stakeholder analysis? (I'm asking as I don't know what area your degree is in).
Whenever I am implementing a change at work I use a stakeholder analysis tool (I like the Johnson et al (2008) Power V Interest Matrix). It helps me to think about everyone who would have an interest in or be affected by the change I am implementing. Then the matrix helps me to think who has the most interest in what I am doing and who holds the most power to support/resist my change.
It would help with the situation of people already working on the same problem, as consulting with people prior to starting the change would reveal this info upfront. It also helps to understand who could be your allies in getting the change through successfully and who will resist. With the resistors, you can perhaps engage your allies to help?
It sounds complex written down here, but it actually only takes half an hour to think through and then helps you get started with a better view of the situation.

It was made clear to me that they expect grads to see things with a new perspective and make changes where necessary

You need to spend more time analysing people.

Who told you, and why?

Scenario A: a new head of department hires 20 young grads while pushing deadwood out the door in a performance management sweep. Expects hungry go getters to make him look good and improve productivity.

Scenario B: head of HR in London hires a glut of new grads. And ships them off to regional offices after waterboarding them with the corporate kool aid (unfortunately, HR person doesn't actually know what the widget makers in regional offices actually do). Regional heads of department are on the receiving end of this operational surge for improvements, but they're more worried about churning out the widgets than making radical, risky changes based on a few weeks or months of zealous but inexperienced observations by a new grad. And anyway, there's no budget sign off for anything significant anyway.

We don't have enough information to know if you're in A or B or somewhere in the middle.

I've been the new grad like you in that position, basically scenario B... My suggestions, years later with hindsight, were inappropriate... And the recruitment process wound us all up like toys then pinged us in the direction of overworked underthanked local managers.....

Last week I spent a lot of time speaking individually to my team members (all 25 of them) about ways I could improve a forecasting tool that is used. I compiled a report and presented to the relevant person and was told X is already on it and not to waste my time

It's great that you are showing initiative but it sounds like you wasted a lot of time duplicating work that someone else is already doing. The first thing you should have done before taking on a project off your own back is find out if the work is needed. You have wasted time your time.

You are also trading on people's toes. You are frustrated that you come up with ideas and are told that someone else is already dealing with that. Look at it from the other perspective. How would you feel if you if you were working on a project and someone less experienced decided to start their own project doing the same thing without being asked?

Your enthusiasm is admirable though. As PP have said, you need to work on your soft skills. Good luck!

Viknow, the example you've given suggests you met with 25 people to discuss an idea before you discovered the work you were proposing to do had already been picked up on and allocated to someone else. It sounds like you need a critical friend / mentor to run ideas past, who knows more about the wider work plan in your office.

It was made clear to me that they expect grads to see things with a new perspective and make changes where necessary

Were you told this at interview / induction to the scheme? And was it from the people you directly work with now or someone else?

Just in my experience grad schemes are often set up by 'Head Office' or a central function like HR and they do the selection process so they sell it with lofty promises about what you will be doing, no doubt to attract the best graduates. But then when you are placed out in the business, the experience can be akin to being a spare part doing boring work that does not match up to what you were promised. Ofc this is a failure of how the scheme is set up.

Have a catch up with your manager and ask if there is anything you can work on that you can own by yourself and come up with an improvement idea on. Ask for a run down of what other team members are working on as well so you don't duplicate work of others. Sounds like the whole team isn't communicating well if they let you do a presentation to them tell you that someone else is doing that piece of work!

I don't work with new grads in my current role, but I've done so quite a bit in the past.

I think the problem here is that you should be being more closely managed. It's silly for you to have spent so much time and effort on this last week, only to be told that X is already working on it. Maybe you should have spoken to the relevant person first, and suggested your idea before you actually started? New grads can provide good ideas, but there's no point 'reinventing the wheel' if someone has already looked into something. You can't be expected to know that by magic, so someone needs to tell you!

I manage grads in finance and banking - feel free to PM me if you have questions. However, in my experience, the feedback you received seems to suggest you are working in silo and don’t understand or have visibility of the professional work in your area. I am currently having this problem with my grads too - for example I told one of my grads to create a presentation for a meeting and they spent a week reinventing the wheel to get their name on a powerpoint when they knew a professional colleague in another team had already created better quality work. So much politics!

Thanks for your feedback.

Hollycatberry - It's been continuously mentioned (induction, mentor etc).

The person whose toes I stepped on is not actually in my team but he does work closely with some of my team members. I outlined what I was doing to 4 of my team (standing around for coffee) and they all thought it was a good idea.

My manager doesn't work in the same office as me and I am very much left to my own devices. i guess I was unlucky as he also away on annual leave last week- a lesson for the future I suppose.

Interestingly, I am the only female on my team but I don't think gender is a factor really. I am convinced everyone thinks I got my job due to some quota though which makes me feel awful.

GrumpyHoonMain - thanks a lot. I may suggest creating some sort of topology to show team members how our work interrelates with those around us to avoid this happening. Will run it past my manager of course!

Sounds like the standard grad scheme waffle to me.

I did an accountancy grad scheme. Told they hire people from all kinds of degree backgrounds that are totally unrelated so they have more perspectives and thoughts for improvement etc.

In reality the way we did work was completely directed (from a technical perspective) by a central team who ensure we are complying with standards, internal quality etc. The day to day decisions on work were determined by the managers and partners you were working for.

Take it with a pinch of salt. Do the job as well as you can. If there are easy wins suggest them. If there are bigger changes have informal chats with managers about them and see if they agree or have had similar thoughts. No need to push, it's not really your place unless it's clear cut in your job description that you are to re-design/improve processes.

I work with grads and yes their feedback and fresh perspective is always welcome but you do have to make sure you are looking at the right issues and not duplicating work.
It would be better to say to your manager I'm thinking of looking at x and give them the chance to say that's a good idea but someone else is looking at it or I'm not sure that's the issue but we we're having problems with y.
Have you asked your manager what they consider the biggest issues in the department to be? Find out what problems they have they that haven't been able to solve and then you've got your challenge.

I am convinced everyone thinks I got my job due to some quota though which makes me feel awful.
That's their issue not yours, don't let other peoples perceptions change how you see yourself. You are there because you deserve to be.

"I am convinced everyone thinks I got my job due to some quota though which makes me feel awful."

This may be as much a problem about general insecurity and managing up, and less about "topologies", "stakeholder matrixes" or general perspective around graduate schemes etc.

Don't believe anything they told you as part of the marketing spiel. Then you'll understand that you're meant to be visible and vocal, but avoid going against people who have worked there longer than you. Just suck up to them and do as you're told and you'll be fine.

OP it is critical that you align your perceptions a little and ensure you are giving your more experienced team members respect.

As a former grad scheme trainee myself, I can tell you management will give you a load of lofty ideas about your importance, because they want to retain you. The reality is, the most important word in "graduate training program" is training. Learn. Be a sponge. Assume every one around you knows a lot that you need to absorb.

You will be expected to contribute more, in maybe 5 years time, not 1 year in.

In a previous job I worked with a very dynamic lady who was brilliant at drilling down to where a problem was with a process and sorting it out. But she wasn't the best communicator and could be overly direct.

However, one of the tools she used was to set up her own pilot scheme to try something out and then she could go to the powers that be and say this works, it saves money, whatever, and then they'd say lets do it.

Maybe see if you can get enough buy in for a trial?

My company is an active grad recruiter and our programme is apparently quite tough to get onto.

Some of our graduates take great offence to their ideas being shut down...because they were sold the spiel about being there to challenge the status quo, ask uncomfortable questions and inject new life into the projects/initiatives/work-streams they are involved with.

What a lot of them fail to appreciate, is that a substantial amount of their "new" or "fresh" ways of thinking have already been suggested by people in the business...because unsurprisingly graduates are not experts in the same field as those doing the job for 10+ years. This means ideas being shot down with little grace because it's all been heard before.

The good graduates suck it up and actually see it as a challenge, they take everything in and leverage what they are picking up with their new ideas. The less capable ones flounce through each placement gaining little credibility but a substantial reputation.

A decent % of ours end up being recruited into roles at the end of placement with a good salary (first job from uni on £40k sounds nice to me).

Just keep observing whilst doing your role and adjust your behaviour according to how the placement flows. You'll crack it, just be resilient and patient.

Thanks everyone, it's great to talk anonymously with people dealing with grads. My workplace is very competitive and I do feel very judged even with my mentor despite him telling me our time together is a "safe space".

I've been given some amazing advice to think about.

I am a natural introvert and my confidence is always something to be worked on. When I'm at work I have to pretend to be an entirely different person which can be exhausting. I certainly haven't been offended that my ideas haven't been taken on - I just end up questioning my own abilities.

I've arranged to meet with the person assigned the task I looked at - hopefully some of the feedback I received could be helpful. Will offer up my services.

Can I ask what do you like to see from a grad?