In an extremely tight labour market where skills and qualifications are at a premium, competition for graduates is intense. “Many graduates have a choice of employers,” says Jenny Hayes, head of the Ibec Academy. “Employers want to get the brightest and the best and hang on to them. They know if they are not happy, they will leave. That’s why employers are looking more at proving career paths and learning and development for their people. That helps them entice people to join the business. As well as that, newly qualified graduates are the future leaders of the business, and they want to develop them.”
The importance of learning and development was highlighted by an Ibec HR survey last year that looked at the top priorities for HR managers. Number one was learning and development which was cited by 66 per cent of respondents as the top priority. This was followed by leadership development, talent strategy, talent acquisition, and structured learning opportunities for new graduate recruits.
The Ibec Academy works with companies to design and deliver customised, impactful and highly relevant learning and development programmes. “They are designed to transform the organisation’s people, performance levels and overall results and are based on leading industry knowledge, expertise and real-world experience,” Hayes points out.
“Companies with structured graduate recruitment programmes come to us for the external education aspect,” she adds. “We design bespoke programmes tailored to meet the specific needs of the business. People from the organisation are often involved in the design and delivery of the programmes. For example, finance people might come in to discuss some of the commercial aspects of the business.”
Of particular relevance to newly qualified graduates is the Ibec Academy CPD Diploma in Professional Competence. This personal effectiveness and leadership programme gives participants an introduction to and understanding of commercial awareness, leadership, communication skills, teamwork, career planning, performance and people, time management and handling conflict. It also looks at motivation, presentation skills, organisational behaviour, finance, decision making and self-awareness.
The programme is accredited through Ibec’s strategic partnership with TU Dublin. “Accreditation is very important and adds value as participants also gain a recognised award on the National Framework of Qualifications,” Hayes notes.
“Employers are looking for work-ready skills,” she continues. “These are often soft skills — how they relate to people, problem-solving, teamworking, collaboration, as well as time management, critical thinking, and leadership skills. We help the graduates to know what their strengths are and to build on them. Crucially important is attitude. Some people can be over-confident coming out of college and that’s very unappealing. You need to have the right balance. We had a Disney executive visit some years ago and he told us that they hire for attitude and train for talent.”
Ibec Academy programmes are by no means limited to graduates. “We offer a wide range of management development programmes in areas like leadership development, personal development, employment law, and occupational health and safety. One of the growth areas in the last year or so is AI and we have put on a number of programmes in relation to that, including AI for HR. We hope to have another AI programme accredited with TU Dublin later in the year. We also offer consultancy on AI to organisations. There is so much it can do, and it can bring many benefits but you have to be able to use it properly.”
Another significant growth area is environmental, social, and governance (ESG). “We have a new four-day certificate programme on ESG from strategy to action,” says Hayes. “It is hugely popular and has really taken off. Again, we provide a consultancy service. Companies come to us for help and advice with what they need to do in this critically important area. We advise them on practical steps to develop and implement an ESG strategy. We have also done a lot of work on training managers in diversity and inclusion, and we have a four-day certificate programme on diversity in the workplace.”
Workplace wellbeing is also growing in importance. “We primarily deal with managers,” she says. “If managers are stressed out, they aren’t much good to their teams. We have a one-day programme on creating a workplace wellbeing culture. Ibec also have the KeepWell programme that focuses on the key areas of workplace wellbeing ranging from leadership, mental health and absence management to physical activity and healthy eating. We help companies identify the gaps they need to address to achieve the KeepWell Mark.”