What are the challenges your company have faced having a trainees program to strengthen your talent pool for future positions? I'm interested in doing some benchmark.

Hi ,

There are a number of key challenges that you have to overcome.

First Its quite often the case that businesses will start a trainee program without applying any measures  as to what successful looks like . The reason why the business case needs to really be understood is that these programs are quite often cut first  since  Companies will do them because they are right thing to do rather than solving a issue.

Next  Understanding  what the future positions that are going to be .  If you are a really substantial organisation then you can have a generic trainee scheme across functions that allows  for a certain proportion of your roles to be filled as the scheme develops over time .

 For  SMEs  that is a less viable option you  will quite often need some work done now and  a supply of internal candidates to certain higher turnover roles . 

For example I worked at a B2B  SaaS business where they lost a significant number of inside sales people  at the career junction of moving to field sales.  It was clear that the highest performing Field sales people were internal for at least the first 2 years after which it was level performance between internal and external candidates. So in order to have enough inside Sales people at the right level . We had to estimate  the number of Trainees who entered at the Telemarketing entry level .  Because you would lose trainees at various stages of the career path.   

If you overestimate the number of new trainees then you might be in a redeployment situation  which  has an additional knock on effect ( ie you end up loosing to many) if you underestimate then you will end up externally recruiting with the additional costs of recruitment and potential revenue (in the case of the Field sales example above)

For technical roles  part of the challenge is ensuring that the training  is to a recognised standard ,  you cannot get them to a known standard  then it will bring the reputation of the scheme internally and externally in to question . 

That said having a sustainable , long term trainee schemes can create significant benefits over the longer term for both the Trainees and for the employer . But to do it successfully takes effort and a focus on what the strategic intention is of the scheme .

The biggest challenge can be designing a trainee program, and in that program, you need to make sure that all areas are covered. Apart from that, you need to understand and do research to determine whether that program is up to standard or not.

Expanding a talent pool through trainee programs can present several challenges that I ah e experienced, including identifying and attracting top talent, retaining trainees, and managing a multigenerational workforce.

To overcome these challenges, companies can focus on creating a strong employer brand, offering competitive salaries and benefits, providing opportunities for career growth and development, and creating a positive work culture

Additionally, developing a talent pool involves reviewing organizational strategies, assessing current talent, creating training modules, and monitoring progress

Furthermore, in the current competitive job market, organisations need to rethink their approach to talent development, from attraction to hiring for potential and providing continuous learning and development opportunities to retain top talent

By addressing these challenges and implementing effective talent development strategies, companies can strengthen their talent pool and prepare for future positions.

In summary, the challenges of having a trainee program to strengthen a company's talent pool include attracting, retaining, and developing top talent.

To overcome these challenges, companies should focus on creating a strong employer brand, offering competitive salaries and benefits, providing opportunities for career growth and development, and continuously reimagining their approach to talent development.

I am happy to discuss over teams or zoom call on how I managed the challenged.

A trainee or grad program is not to be underestimated and for now, I  have not yet put this in action as it is about allocating a dedicated resource, very good mobility support and budget.