AGENDA FOR TODAYWelcome – Simon Rogers

The economic forecast – Bryan Finn, Business Economics Ltd.A comprehensive analysis of the macro economic factors currently affecting graduate recruitment.

Apprenticeships – Philip TaylorThe BBC TV’s The Apprentice star will talk about the benefits to businesses and the support available

in the development of a programme based on his work in the City of London Corporation.

Graduates versus apprentices – Marcus Body, Head of Research, Work Group

An exploration of the business rationale for graduate schemes and apprenticeship schemes, relative to each other and to standard lateral hiring.

The world turned upside down or simply rebalancing? – John Morewood, Senior Apprenticeships and Qualifications Specialist,

HSBC Bank plcA few years ago graduate recruitment was all the rage. Apprenticeships were dismissed as relics of a bygone age.

Now apprenticeships are enjoying a resurgence – some ‘experts’ say they could replace graduate schemes in a few years. Who is right?

TARGETjobs high flying!

• The fastest growing graduate recruitment website – finalists using targetjobs.co.uk grew by 10% this year with 90% finding it useful

• Career Service Guides used by the highest quality students – Cambridge guide read by 65% of finalists

• Our specialist sector titles continue to be the most useful publications on campus for finalists

• TARGETjobs GET Directory finalist readership is 6% up

Source: The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2012 produced by High Fliers Research

UK economy: GDP growth

Annual % change

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

UK economy: recruitment cycleAnnual % change

-60%

-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6% GDPRecruit

World economy: growth rates

-10%

-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

Annual % change

World economy: oil prices$ per barrel

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

UK economy: share pricesFTSE 100

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

5,500

6,000

6,500

7,000

UK economy: retail salesAnnual % change

UK economy: house pricesAnnual % change

-25%

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

UK economy: consumer confidenceBalance

-40

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

UK economy: unemployment% of workforce

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

9.0

UK economy: graduate unemployment

UK economy: job vacancies000s

400

450

500

550

600

650

700

750

UK economy: job vacancies by sectorAnnual % change Nov 2011–Jan 2012

-2.0%-1.5%-1.0%-0.5%0.0%0.5%1.0%1.5%2.0%2.5%3.0%3.5%

20122013

Apprenticeships: growth trends

Presswork : 1997–2003

Presswork : 2012

The value of my apprenticeship...

The evolution of….

City of London apprenticeships

Employer support

Our partners

The big picture

Eg engineering functions• Finite resource• Hard to recruit

• Finite resource• Hard to recruit

(and it’ll get worse…)

The case for inexperienced hire

For employers:– Cheaper to recruit– Lower salary cost

For existing staff:– Opportunity to supervise– Greater promotion prospects

And the drawbacks:– More uncertainty– More training needed– The ‘Gen Y/Z’ thing…

Generation P

‘The contempt of risk and the presumptuoushope of success, are in no period of life more active, than at the age at which young people choose their professions.’

Apprentices vs grads

Apprentices Graduates

Marketing cost £ £

Hiring cost £ £

Salary cost £ ££

Training cost ££ ££

‘High potential’ ? ?

Apprentices, grads, or both?

Tricky question #1:

Unless graduates stay longenough to achieve it, why islong-term ‘potential’ a factor?

Apprentices, grads, or both?

Tricky question #2:

Do all your ‘inexperienced’ hires need a degree at all?

Apprentices, grads, or both?

Tricky question #3:

Could you just cross out ‘graduate’ and recruitwhoever passes the tests?

Apprentices, grads, or both?

Tricky question #4:

Could there actually bean argument for gettingyoung people out of theeducation system sooner?

The education debate

What is education for?

Introducing Seth Godin…

• Yoyodyne(1995-1998)

• Squidoo(2005-)

• ‘Stop stealing dreams‘ (2012)

The history of education (UK)

Education Act (1870): Reading, writing and arithmetic (primary)

Balfour’s Act (1902): LEAs - some secondary provision

Education Act (1944): Secondary education for all

Western economy jobs

Then:Repetitive, disciplined, and formulaic

Now:Machinery, MS Excel and off-shoring

Jobs have changed.Has education?

Employment and education

‘We are educating people out of their creativity.’Sir Ken Robinson

‘The majority of technical skills being taught in schools and universities will be defunct by the time young people are 10 years into their careers.’

Gavin Patterson

Education and employment

Why go to university?

Cardiff University: ‘1: To improve career prospects.’

Direct.gov.uk: ‘Graduates tend to earn substantially more than people with A levels who did not go to university.’

You are at the centre of the case for higher education.

Not a ‘second best’ option

Tricky question #5:

Are employers helping to maintain the need for a degree?

Couldn’t they offer young people something better?

The big question:

Is ‘graduate recruitment’ a helpful idea?

‘Skilled hire’

• Lateral hires• Graduates with a specific ability

‘Entry hire’

• Apprentices• All other graduates• Career changers

‘The world turned upside down’ Yorktown 1781

The world turned upside down?

‘It seems to me that the disaster was the event that not only made the world rub its eyes and awake but woke it with a start and kept it moving ever since. To my mind the world of today awoke April 15th 1912.’ Jack Thayer

The world turned upside down ?.

‘457,000 people started an apprenticeship programme in 2011- a 64% increase on the previous year.’

‘Apprenticeship frameworks exist for specialists, managers and

can be the equivalent of degree and master degree

level.’

‘Our ultimate goal remains to see apprenticeships go beyond parity

of esteem with university graduates. That an apprenticeship

place is as valued as one at university.’

Rebalancing?

‘There is much to be learnt from the past and much to be gained from sharing experiences and ideas on coping with today's new world. The AGR Annual Conference has always provided the best networking and sharing experiences in the graduate calendar and this year will be no exception (2011).’

HSBC current position – graduate schemes• Internships – first year/penultimate year• Executive trainee programme• Graduate development programmes for key business areas

(commercial, retail, operations, investment banking)• International management programme• National Graduate Recruitment Award: Sector Winner : Banking,

Insurance and Financial Services 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Overall sector winner 2010

The case for change

.

‘We believe there is significant commercial value in us having employees who are more capable than average and who fully commit to lifelong learning and applying their knowledge to help us build stronger relationships with our customers.’

‘We should recruit from the communities in which we do

business.’

‘We believe the benefits will be improved customer service, productivity and morale and

ultimately a reduction in the need for external recruitment.’

‘Are our graduates more interested in commercial, Head Office, investment banking and our

international operations than providing the leadership of our

retail bank?’

An answer?

What we wanted Apprenticeships

Increased professionalism

Increased customer service

Increased employee productivity

Increased staff motivation

Increased staff retention

Improved customer referrals

How are apprenticeships structured?

Functional skills

Competence-based qualification

Knowledge-based qualification

Employment rights & responsibilities

Pros and cons

• No bank had done this before.• How was it to be delivered?• Who could help?

Apprenticeships at HSBC…Current position340 people currently on programme Direct entry level staff in retail banking, commercial and operations70% of current apprentices have worked for HSBC for less than 5 years

Feedback88% of learners after 6 weeks on programme said they believe the programme will upskill them.

Line managers observe improvements in customer service, productivity and morale.

‘I have seen improvements with all my team’s capabilities since enrolling on the programme. They have more understanding around customer service as a whole, why it is important to deliver superior customer service and get it right first time.’

‘I think the apprenticeship programme is working really well. I really do not think you can improve on what you are doing.’

Could it fit into an emerging talent strategy?

On completion of advanced apprenticeship can move on to expert elements of internal learning. Additional development activities and qualifications

New staff after 3/6 months probation and existing direct entry staff

Progress into :•other roles in same business area•other roles in different business areaStay in same role

Advanced apprenticeships

Branch network

InternshipsGraduate development programmes

Call centres

Commercial

Operations

Could it fit into an emerging talent strategy?

On completion of advanced apprenticeship can move on to expert elements of internal learning. Additional development activities and qualifications

New staff after 3/6 months probation and existing direct entry staff.

Progress into :•other roles in same business area•other roles in different business areaStay in same role

Advanced apprenticeships

Branch network

InternshipsGraduate development programmes

Call centres

Commercial

Operations

Work experience scheme

Work experience.

‘We had run work experience schemes in the past but this wasn’t uniform, structured or tied into our recruitment strategy.’

‘We believe a structured, well designed programme, accessible by more students

from a range of diverse backgrounds, linked in to our recruitment strategy will allow us to

source better candidates for our apprenticeship and graduate development

programmes.’

Work experience – how does it work?Financial Skills Partnership – monthly communication to 3,500 schoolsand colleges in UK

Work experience- how does it work?

New website on•Apprenticeships•Work experience•Graduates

Recruitment process•Online•SHL test •Telephone interview by grads

Structured development•Workbooks, projects

In the future

A more motivated capable talent pool with a professional development structure

Higher apprenticeships for managers?

Quicker progression?

A culture of professionalism

A bank people trust

Advanced apprenticeshipsfor direct entry – employees creating higher capability and a greater culture of professionalism

InternshipsWork experience scheme:-More diverse, motivated, loyal, capable employees

Graduate development programmes – further developed

The future

Come and work for us – get a career, get paid, get a degree, get no student debt

Forecasts sometimes do come true

In 1898 a novelist Morgan Robertson wrote a story about a superliner which was:• considered practically unsinkable• the largest ship afloat• had new watertight compartments• sank after striking an iceberg on a calm April night with great loss of life.He called his ship…………………

• The Titan