Tuning into new ways of working

Three Ireland’s recently announced graduate recruitment programme has been designed to meet the needs and expectations of the new generation of workers. Instead of moving into an area directly related to their degree, the #3Grad programme recruits will work on three different eight-month rotations during the two-year programme giving them exposure to a much more diverse range of experience.

They also get to work on a charity project and benefit from a personal mentor and a specially designed training and development plan.

"We are very excited about it," says Nicola Mortimer, head of business products, marketing and operations with Three. "It's our first graduate programme in Ireland and we will recruit at least 15 graduates on to it. What's interesting about it is that, when I left college, I joined a very specific engineering graduate recruitment programme. Now it's about transferable skills. It's not just about subject matter expertise, it's about acquiring skills across a broad range of areas including communications, presentation and sales and marketing."

Digital transformation

This innovative programme is a response to some of the changes happening in the world of work, she adds. “The workforce of the future is going to change and skillsets acquired in university may not be utilised. We are already seeing the digital transformation of work and jobs and the #3Grad programme will prepare them for that. We are on the hunt for graduates at the moment and the response has been great. The students are superenthusiastic about it. They are really interested in getting out and getting a job.”

The new intake will be good for the company as well. “It’s great to see new people coming in,” says Mortimer. “It will give us more diversity – cultural, gender and age diversity. It will also bring in new behaviours. The generation they are coming from has grown up with mobility. They are used to working wherever they are and in a much more social environment. Many university libraries now have coffee shops and collaborative spaces, for example. They are not the silent places they were in the past.”

They are also much more flexible and adaptable and this will prepare them for the workplaces of the future. “The jobs that people leaving college now will be doing in 10 years’ time may not exist yet,” Mortimer notes. “We don’t know what part of our jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence and robotics. We don’t know what new jobs will be created either. We have to think about what the workplace of the future will look like. We may all have robotic PAs at our desks. It is said that about 50 per cent of the jobs people do today can be automated. That will free up time to do other things. The future will be all about adaptability and agility, and transferable skills and mindsets will be at a premium.”

Working patterns

Working patterns will change as well. “The whole 9 to 5 approach will come to an end,” she continues. “It won’t quite disappear but it will change greatly. Technologies like the cloud, mobile computing, virtual meetings and so on will be used to enable people to work where they like and when they like. If you look at our own statistics data is showing 39 per cent year-on-year growth. It’s even higher for SMEs who are showing growth of more than 50 per cent. SMEs can really benefit from the increased productivity that the technology can offer.”

Employers will need to adapt to this new reality, she believes. “Work will be wherever you are at that moment. Work will be wherever you and your employer agree it is. But that will require cultural changes on the part of employers. The new generation of graduates is expecting that and employers will have to respond.”

Benefits

Those expectations also relate to benefits which extend beyond the traditional salary and financial packages to learning and development and wellness programmes. “We have developed a complete online learning centre for our employees. They can use it to acquire new work-related skills as well as softer skills in other areas. Staff can learn whenever and wherever they want to on their laptops, tablets, mobiles or at their desks. Continuous learning programmes like this will be key in the future. The other thing you are seeing is that companies are providing holistic wellness programmes with things like Pilates, yoga classes and mental wellbeing services being made available to employees. We are doing that too. We are trying to create an environment that is a positive experience for people to work in.”

That positive experience will be critical when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, she concludes. “The new generation also wants to define their own careers. They don’t feel the need for fixed term or permanent contracts. They will map their career on to their lifestyle instead of building their lives around a 9-5 job. I can see this happening already. Some people on my team would never dream of having a permanent job.”