Barrier:
Scarcity in the Gift of Roots and Wings to the Generation Y (Yer’s) from Corporate Management
The mass retirement of organisations’ current leadership over the past few years, has and still is putting pressure on organisations, to re-examine their recruiting strategies to ensure that the a high caliber of graduate applicants are attracted and retained, so that a leadership pipeline can be actively maintained to eliminate capability barriers.
The shift in the recruitment game, illustrates a discontinuous innovation, whereby organisations have had to enter unfamiliar territory (unknowns) to part take in the war for young talent and present them with: (1) the gift of roots, signifying the fundamental comprehension of working in that organisation, potential for growth, opportunities for learning, critical skills development, and, (2) the gift of wings, signifying the readiness to soar by means of meaningful work and career advancements opportunities.
This discontinuation has been incrementally addressed in the form of a process innovation, namely the Graduate Recruitment Programmes (GRP) which are aimed at addressing the
above-mentioned gifts; developing much needed skills, and grooming them to become the future backbone of an organisation.
However to what extent has corporate management (specifically in the banking industry) really managed to effectively, structure and strategically utilise the GRP, as a resourceful mechanism to present these scarce gifts to the Yers?
The four processes of experimental learning, as illustrated in the Kolb cycle, best describe this capability barrier.
In retrospect (reflection) the concept of the GRP in i.e. the business banking unit, transpired into a non-rotational role whereby one is appointed into either the sales or credit stream role, and is informally paired up with an experienced banker, who feels imposed by the Y’ers eagerness to learn about banking. As over and above their call of duty, they are supposed to coach you on what is banking all about; provide training on the banks operating systems and mold you into a business banker over a period of approximately 12 months. Due to the time and resource constraints experienced from either side; the graduate eventually embarks on an unstructured GRP, as neither role specification guidelines nor measurements are put into place therefore the work given is unchallenging, insufficient and bears no tangible growth prospects. Additionally the lack of a knowledge sharing culture is experienced as the veteran bankers fear, that they’ll lose their jobs to this techno savvy generation, causing some waves of uncertainty. Thus reinforcing the capability barriers that the Y’ers, and subsequently the organizations, have to face as corporate management continue to ineffectively experiment with the GRP, thus resulting in a scarcity of these gifts, to present to this generation.
The scarcity of these gifts to the Y’ers has stymied the progress on the moon shots tagged above, as: Corporate management is not truly embracive of capturing the advantages of diversity, as i.e. the staff complement demographics of a typical bank comprises of approximately 75% generation X’s and baby boomers of which majority of the roles are male dominated. The lack of sharing, learning and collaboration amongst employees, lead me, a Y’er, to create a basic guide for new employees on one of the banks systems, as other departments would not share theirs, illustrating the costs of information hoarding, due to the prevention of creating a democracy of information. Furthermore, the Y’ers are not being adequately equipped with practical and critical “organization specific” skills training on the GRP as corporate management has not been able to effectively create internal markets for ideas, talent and resources such as legacy programs to impart with the banks preserved operation processes and practices.
The GRP does not provide structured learning opportunities such as knowledge marketplaces, in-house training interventions; feasible development and advancement opportunities i.e. funds to study further; meaningful work that is challenging rather than not routine-based\monotonous. Not overcoming the abovementioned barriers could lead to the detriment of the organization, as the Y’ers will shift their attention to other industries.
This barrier can be surmounted by transforming the GRP into a formally structured and rotational legacy program addressing aspects such as: an overview of banking regulations; practical skills of the processes and practices of branch (retail) banking, the credit and sales stream of business banking. This solution will bestow the Y’ers with the roots in the banking industry. However wings are an imperative complement in the form of bursaries to further studies and career advancement opportunities, because “opportunity for learning is a top priority for the Y’ers when choosing an employer”
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