Doing the basics, perfectly
March 8, 2010 by ProGrad
Training, development and coaching is essential for a graduate at the start of their career. This is perhaps something that experienced people take for granted, forgetting that they too started their career somewhere and have at some point been trained and developed.
One of the key attributes that we have seen in successful managers, has been their ability to “coach”. Recruiting junior people to be organically grown into a business can be a time-consuming activity and at times there is a sense of risk in allowing the graduate recruit to complete tasks that are out of their abilities.
In managing these junior recruits, it is important to think of the word “coach”. Young people don’t necessarily want to be told what to do, and how to do it. They have been hearing this from Mum and Dad for the last 20 odd years. They are receptive however, to being coached.
Young people are hungry and driven, and willing to take direction. In coaching a new recruit you will have more success than simply “managing” them. A successful coach is able to train a person to “do the basics. Perfectly.”
Repetition is the easiest way to coach a person to become perfect at a given task. When we induct new graduates into the business (which we do on a regularl basis), we limit the number of new tasks they can complete, and increase the frequency they need to complete them. This naturally encourages forced repetition which in turn provides them with the ability to do the basics, perfectly.
A strong coach will watch them, tweaking their performance every step of the way until they are truly perfectionists at certain tasks.
Their success then becomes the success of the coach. Or manager.
ProGrad is a graduate recruitment organisation and regularly provides recommendations to companies inducting graduates into their teams. For more information about graduate recruitment, please contact the ProGrad graduate management team on 02 8235 8300.
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