The 6 key questions to evaluate your graduate recruitment strategy

Management guru Peter Drucker is famous for having said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

Irrespective of where you sit in this modern “chicken or the egg” debate, there’s no denying the impact this intricate interplay between culture and strategy has on organisational success. As the official 2023 graduate recruitment season rages on, and 2024 programs launching preliminary planning, there is a strong chance that [your] culture might be going hungry, with your graduate program lacking the fuel necessary to sustain peak performance in the longer term.

Why? Quite simply, for better or worse, there may not be any strategy to ‘eat’.

68% of organisations lack a clearly articulated graduate talent strategy (Hudson Graduate Diagnostic Report, 2022)

Despite the current War for Talent, our own research shows that most organisations can’t define the strategy behind their graduate talent program. This is ironic given the number of graduate application and interview questions that specifically ask candidates to articulate their career objective! And yet those ultimately responsible for the success of these programs – the talent acquisition specialists, graduate recruiters and entry-level program managers – often lack the support of a clearly defined and measurable graduate talent strategy. Without an actual graduate workforce strategy or purpose, how can they then define, measure, and ultimately improve success rates?

Food for thought (pardon the pun).

In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing a series of articles, which together will help form the foundation of a successful end-to-end graduate offering. The aim is to empower those running 2023 (and preparing for 2024) graduate programs and help you navigate the incredibly tight market for top graduate talent.

Apologies in advance for citing another famous quote here – but it’s certainly on point. Albert Einstein defined insanity as, “Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results”.

We are in unprecedented times when it comes to graduate recruitment. Many organisations have entered into the graduate market for the first time, whilst most existing graduate employers increased their intake volumes substantially. Graduates are acutely aware of market conditions, capitalising on the broader talent shortage. From increased salaries, to bypassing graduate roles altogether, this is a golden era for graduates entering the workforce. Add to this the stymied flow of international talent, and record low unemployment rate forecast for the next 2 years.

“We expect the unemployment rate to hold at 3.5% until June 2024” (RBA, 2022)

Given the profound impact of this ‘perfect storm’ on the graduate recruitment landscape, many organisations are focussed on surviving rather than thriving. Reacting to market conditions and doubling down on tactics to deliver on the current 2023 graduate drive, is compounding the lack of a malleable, higher order strategy, inhibiting the ability to stand out from the crowd and lure the best graduate talent.

55% increase in the number of graduate positions per employer YoY (AAGE, 2022)

With the competition for top talent perhaps being more aggressive than ever before, the decline in the volume of applications, the increase in the number of offers being turned down or reneged, and the rise of ghosting (graduates who, for whatever reason, simply choose not to even show up), what (if anything) are you planning to do differently to secure your graduate talent?

A clear, purpose-driven, measurable graduate talent strategy is your north star. That said, building a strategy then solidifying it in concrete is almost as bad as not having one. If you don’t re-frame your strategy, or adjust your upcoming program with the national workforce trends ahead of us, you’re likely to lose out on the best talent to your competitors (and your internal stakeholders will be the first to let you know about it!).

80% of respondents acknowledged their Graduate Workforce Planning is based on short term future demands and an FTE availability focus, vs a long term demand and capability focus, where FTE is a planned workforce strategy investment (Hudson Graduate Diagnostic Report, 2022)

Hopefully you are not embarking on a graduate recruitment drive to simply build a relatively cheap pipeline for getting bums on seats. Taking the time to factor in forecasted capability gaps within the business and being closely aligned to the broader organisational workforce plan is critical.

Where to from here? Ask yourself, are our graduate recruitment goals directly linked to the organisation’s or department’s business goals? Can we easily articulate what a successful grad hire (or grad program) looks like for us? Are we able to effectively demonstrate the value or purpose behind the program itself? If you can’t answer all of these with conviction - don’t stress, you’re a part of the majority!
Fortunately, it’s an easy fix! There’s still enough time to tweak your plan and get ahead of the game for 2023 and beyond. So, before launching your next graduate talent campaign ask yourself:

1. Does our graduate talent strategy consider our broader talent framework and/or people plans?
2. Are we filling current vacancy potholes or projected capability gaps (2-3years from now) informed by our workforce planning?
3. Do we have an objective view of the current and future market conditions to inform our graduate talent strategy?
4. Is our approach malleable each year to fluctuating market conditions?
5. Do we have a succinct definition and efficient measure of ‘quality of hire’ and program ‘success’?
6. Is our graduate headcount for the next 2 years loaded into our talent budget? Or is it simply reactive to FTE availability in the moment?

There’s no point simply doing ‘more of the same’. And given that you probably want to feed your culture to thrive not just survive, it’s important to have a strategy in place.

Coming up next is debunking Attraction & Sourcing in this unprecedented time.

In the meantime, if you’re unsure on any of the above, or if you’re keen to understand how your graduate talent program stacks up to the market via our GP Diagnostic, or want to explore solutions, lets connect.