Graduate Development

GAP  Graduates as professionals

Bridging the gap from learning to earning

Graduates arrive at their new employee with a variety of strengths and potential weaknesses. The quicker that these can be identified developed and corrected the sooner they will become more effective, in every sense.

This award winning development programme is designed to give feedback to individuals and provide them with the core skills to manage themselves and communicate with colleagues and clients more effectively. Without these core skills and an honest assessment of the individual, graduates will not develop the confidence or the motivation to progress at the rate that they and their employee require.

The conference can be run for up to 200 participants and consists of two parts. Both involve actor/feedbackers who facilitate groups of ten.

Part one is about behaviour and communication skills. Part two is about personal feedback, analysis and organisation.

Course objective

The objective of this course is to accelerate the development of a graduate from the raw talent to a more polished and rounded professional.

By the end of the course the graduates will have increased their confidence, organisational and communication skills. They will also have a clearer understanding of what is expected of them.

Day one content

Listening and empathy

  • The problems
  • The physical side. Role-play in groups demonstrating the effect of negative strokes.
  • Different levels of listening.
  • Building empathy and trust. Dilemmas exercise  and the power and practice of empathy.
  • Interactive listening exercise.  Exercise  demonstrating the importance of precise instruction.

People and the different ways they approach decision making

  • The framework and the difference between observable and judgemental opinion.
  • Interpretation. Analysis of 3 individuals.
  • Interpersonal flexibility. Input and individual feedback.

Assertiveness and impressions you create with clients

  • The spectrum of behaviours.
  • Non verbal cues. Group exercise.
  • Saying no and making difficult requests.
  • CPI steps and building rapport. Actor demonstrations with delegate input to create best practise.

Making meetings work

  • Where they go wrong. 
  • Client perceptions.
  • Effective behaviours.
  • Action minuting. Individual exercise.
  •  Meeting simulation. An interactive exercise with facilitated feedback.

Negotiating skills and resolving differences

  • The process. Negotiating exercise 1:1
  • Fundamentals, expectations, results and strategy.
  • Preparation. Discussion and negotiating exercise 2:2
  • Negotiating steps. Negotiating exercise 2:2
  • Concession trading. Role-play scenario with actors and individual feedback.

Persuasion and getting people round to your way of thinking

  • The different styles.
  • The soft sell in practice. Actor-to-actor demonstration, with delegate input.

Telephone, emails and social events

  • The problems.
  • The etiquette.
  • Social event rules.