1. impact
A total reward approach
to finding and keeping
the right graduates
We’ve been doing lots of research on the topic of young
people in work recently (including “Talking about
their generation” and “Managing a multi-generational
workforce: The myths vs the realities”). In this month’s
IMPACT, we take a look at the role reward can play in
attracting, keeping and getting the best out of graduates.
What are graduates looking for from their reward package?
And how important are non-financial rewards in keeping
them happy?
we take a look at the
role reward can play
in attracting, keeping
and getting the best
out of graduates.
As part of our research, we interviewed three of our major
clients – one of the world’s leading ICT solutions providers, a
global engineering company, and a global Brazilian mining
company. We asked them about their approach to graduate
recruitment, development and retention to find out what
they’re offering.
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.
Finding the right graduates can be difficult. Keeping them can be more difficult.
When we conducted a survey of managers last year, 86 per cent said that retaining
graduates with people skills was a concern.

2. These factors have not only meant an increased demand
for graduates, but an increased need for them to have
“soft” people skills and international experience (or to be
able to gain them quickly).
Some organizations are finding that they’re attracting
more interest than they need, with hundreds or even
thousands of applicants for each position. These
organizations increasingly need to make sure that the
applicants they select are the right ones. They need
graduates who will fit their culture and stay with them
in the future, helping to fill their leadership pipeline.
But on the other hand, many other organizations are
having difficulty attracting candidates. As one global
engineering company said when we asked them about
changes in graduate recruitment, “it is becoming harder
to recruit graduates in the electrical engineering or IT
areas, so we’ve focused on recruitment marketing that
targets graduates in those areas, to raise awareness”.
As a result of this, organizations are taking new
approaches to help them find the right talent. More
and more employers are going out of their way to meet
graduates on their own ground, using online recruitment
methods and advertising on social media. The leading
global ICT solutions provider we interviewed told us
they’re increasing their investment in Wechat, Weibo
and other online advertisements, to “cater to the new
generations’ styles”. This is just one example of the way
organizations are willing to change how they approach
recruitment and retention.
More organizations are beginning to use competency
and values testing as part of their graduate recruitment
selection programs to help improve retention. As the
Brazilian mining company we spoke to described it, “We’re
looking for graduates with entrepreneurial spirit. However,
this spirit must be aligned with our company’s values.”
With 53 per cent of graduates we surveyed saying that
they “considered leaving their job because they didn’t ‘fit
in’”, making sure that their values and your values are
aligned is vital. This is where employee value propositions
can be really useful – helping your graduates to clearly
understand where and how they can align. And with the
growth of the individualization megatrend, we’re seeing
more people basing their life and career decisions on their
personal motives, rather than just economic necessity.
FINDING THE RIGHT GRADUATES
– FAMINE OR FEAST?
With megatrends like digitization affecting work and management, the number of
complex jobs has been increasing. Leadership and management roles increasingly
involve juggling multiple skills, often on an international basis.
“we’re looking for graduates with
entrepreneurial spirit. however,
this spirit must be aligned with
our company’s values.”
A Brazilian mining company
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved. 2

3. top performers
are 127 per
cent more
productive,
yet only a
third of the
difference is
down to
hard skills;
the rest is
down to
emotional
and social
competencies.
where are the soft skills?
As Daniel Goleman found, "Top performers are 127
per cent more productive, yet only a third of the
difference is down to hard skills; the rest is down
to emotional and social competencies.” And these
soft skills are currently perceived to be lacking. In
fact, 81 per cent of leaders we surveyed said that the
current state of people skills in their graduates and
entry-level professionals made them concerned for
the future of their business. And all the companies
we interviewed in this article agreed that soft
skills were important to them, with the global ICT
solutions provider describing them as “integral”.
Organizations are placing more value on graduates
with experience, who are likely to have gained
some of these soft skills already. Since universities
and colleges tend to concentrate more on the
technical side of their skills, more and more
graduates have been taking on intern work where
possible, trying to gain experience before applying.
Another approach is to develop these emotional and
social skills as part of helping new graduates settle
into your organization. Remote and e-learning can
resonate with young people. Eighty two per cent of
graduates want to learn at their own pace, and 85
per cent are downloading apps to help them learn.
Moving graduates between new and challenging
roles is also key to building their learning –
especially as 70 per cent of learning is experiential.
These are some of the reasons we’ve developed
our Journey app, which helps graduates and new
starters to develop. As they make their way through
the virtual journey, they’ll use gamification to learn
how to build and improve their soft skillset.
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved. 3

4. The global engineering company we interviewed has an
international program for graduates with high leadership
potential, allowing them to build up their network and
knowledge of different business areas more quickly.
It’s important to remember that career planning and
development is a key part of a graduate’s total reward
package. It shows new graduates how you think they’ll
fit into your organization, how they can be successful in
their role and what the future might hold.
Most young people are trying to build their CVs quickly,
looking for interesting and challenging experiences
– undertaking what Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn calls
“tours of duty” to boost their CVs. If you’re not providing
the potential for these experiences, they’ll likely look
elsewhere – and with the arrival of digital recruitment
and social media, it’s easier than ever for them to find
something else.
Pay is obviously an important part of the reward package,
but it’s more of a hygiene factor. If the pay isn’t right, it’s
likely to be a problem. But it’s unlikely to hold them if
they don’t feel like the job is the right fit. As the global
ICT solutions provider points out, “They’re not only
satisfied with material abundance, so we’ve offered more
flexibility in the selection of positions and locations to
suit those needs.”
This flexibility also shows how more organizations
need to change in order to make themselves more
attractive to graduates as well. Flexibility isn’t just
about the hours they work, or the role that they
perform either. It’s also about how they work, and how
they are managed and developed. The key points are to
treat them with respect, take their views into account,
and focus on their development.
TAKING A TOTAL
REWARD APPROACH
As organizations become larger and more complex, many develop more of a need for their
high potential graduates and future leaders to gain international experience quickly.
most young
people are trying
to build their cvs
quickly, looking
for interesting
and challenging
experiences.
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved. 4

5. 5
As well as listening, you should be clear about how you
communicate the total value of your reward package,
from clear career-pathing to an explanation of the
employee value proposition and a breakdown of the
benefits you offer. This is particularly important with
younger people, as without much experience of the
workplace, they may not have a strong understanding of
various benefits, and will feel more valued once they do.
The organizations that are most likely to retain the
graduate workforce they want will be those that view
employment more as a partnership. That means people’s
personal aspirations and values are considered, and they
can select the career path that works best for them. At
the start of their careers, this needs to be considered most
strongly. The organizations that do this best will be those
that are clearest about communicating the value they
place on their graduates, listen to them and act on what
they hear.
COMMUNICATING THE
TOTAL VALUE
Using online survey tools and new starter forums can help you find out how your
graduates are adapting culturally and socially. Acting on the results shows that you’re
listening to them as well, helping to improve your employer brand.
you should be clear
about how you
communicate the
total value of your
reward package
using online survey tools and new
starter forums can help you
find out how your graduates are
adapting culturally and socially.
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

6. 1 client interview 2
We interviewed a global Brazilian mining company.
How many graduates are you recruiting this year?
Roughly around 150.
What are you looking for in your graduates?
We’re looking for graduates with entrepreneurial
spirit. However, this spirit must be aligned with our
company’s values. A key one is to respect and value
people and people management.
Also, we’re looking for intercultural and international
vision. We value experience in other countries.
Language – especially English – is key.
Do you have a specific reward program for
graduates?
There is no specific reward program. Graduates
go through the same assessment, appraisal and
recognition processes as the rest of the company.
Do you consider soft skills with regard to reward?
They’re considered in our talent management systems.
How do you onboard and career path your
graduates?
Along with mentoring, they rotate jobs and areas
and are given clear projects and challenges, such as
project management or six sigma. They also receive
specific training in hard and soft skills to accelerate the
development.
Over the last few years, what changes have you
noticed, and what changes do you expect, with
regards to graduate recruitment?
In the last two years, there were changes and
improvements. Future changes are hard to predict, but
as the market and companies face huge change and
dynamics, changes or improvements may come – for
instance, even more involvement of top management
in the program.
1 client interview 1
Based in China, this is one of the world’s leading ICT solutions providers.
How many graduates are you recruiting?
We recruit about 10,000 graduates each year.
What are you looking for in your graduates?
We look for those graduates with good qualifications
and with related academic background. We’d want
them to be part of our talent pool for the next five to
ten years.
How do you reward your graduates, and what’s the
thinking behind it?
Graduate compensation starts from RMB 10,000 to
11,000. Undergraduates receive around RMB 1,000
less*. Most jobs will vary to about another RMB 3,000
on top of that – the final interviewer will have the
right to decide. They’ll also have benefits that include
legal items and additional insurance policies such as
accidents and casualty.
(*These figures are highly competitive in the Chinese market).
Do you consider soft skills with regards to reward?
Yes, we do consider soft skills, such as communication
skills and logical thinking, integral parts to consider.
How do you onboard and career-path your
graduates once you’ve hired them?
Firstly, there’s a one-week culture orientation for fresh
graduates to get an overview of the company’s basics,
and to understand its core value and culture.
Secondly, for sales, services and research and
development positions, we will have specific trainings
to equip fresh graduates with the essential knowledge
and skills they need.
Once they start in their new positions, internal
mentors will be arranged at departmental level to
guide their routine work until they have passed their
probation. After that, they will enter into the common
career path designed for all employees. They can apply
for promotion once they’ve met the qualifications and
they will also have the opportunity for internal mass
training and e-learning.
Over the last few years, what changes have you
noticed, and what changes do you expect with
regards to graduate recruitment?
With the rise of social media, we have enhanced
our investment in Wechat, Weibo and other online
advertisements when recruiting. At the same time,
we will consider more innovative contents in campus
recruitment to cater to the new generations’ styles.
Another change is on the graduates’ side. The new
generation has shown more diversified needs. They are
not only satisfied with material abundance, so we’ve
offered more flexibility in the selection of positions
and locations to suit those needs.
6

7. 1 client interview 3
We spoke to a global German engineering company about their graduate approach.
How many graduates are you recruiting?
We don’t publish specific numbers regarding graduates,
but we recruited 2,000 employees in 2014, of which a
high number were graduates.
What are you looking for in your graduates?
First of all, we’re looking for soft skills like
communication skills or the ability to work in a
team, as well as the professional knowledge they’ve
gained through their studies. That professional
knowledge is particularly important in areas like
electrical engineering or IT. Internships and practical
experience can be a big plus as well.
Finally it’s important that graduates can think outside
the box. We consider interdisciplinary thinking as the
basis of creativity and connection, and we want to
keep innovating.
How do you reward your graduates, and what’s the
thinking behind it?
When allocating the level of reward, we don’t consider
the final degree as an important criterion. In particular
this means that it does not matter if a graduate has
completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree – the pay
will be similar in the long run. In contrast to that
the evaluated value of the job plays an important
role when allocating a graduate job to the pay grade.
Although profit sharing is in place for graduates, a
classic incentive plan is not.
Do you consider soft skills with regards to reward?
If not, is it something you’re considering for the
future?
We consider soft skills to be essential, but it doesn’t
play an important role in reward. We have a collective
wage agreement, and rewarding soft skills could have
some equality issues.
How do you onboard and career path your
graduates once you’ve hired them?
We introduced two different onboarding processes
– one for international trainees and one for direct
entrants. The international process is for graduates
with high leadership potential, and allows them to
work in different locations over 15 months. It also gives
them a chance to build up their network and their
knowledge of different areas.
The onboarding process for direct entrants is rather
classical, concentrating on their own departments and
the departments which they’ll be working with. We
want to make sure they understand the importance
of interconnected departments.
Career paths are important for us. Graduates
can pursue careers that are either specialist or
management. The work experience they gain is an
essential factor for them to progress for either path.
What changes have you noticed with regards to
graduate recruitment?
All in all the most successful recruiting channels have
been established focusing on graduates who have
completed internships or done project work with us.
Our recruiting channels for graduates are the most
successful we have, but we have still noticed changes.
For example, it is becoming harder to recruit graduates
in the electrical engineering or IT areas, so we’ve
focused on recruitment marketing that targets
graduates in those areas, to raise awareness amongst
graduates who might not have considered us yet – not
all of them know we employ about 1,200 people in the
IT area.
What changes do you expect with regards to
graduate recruitment?
In the future, graduate recruitment will become more
international. We already see international diversity
as an important part of recruitment as the market is
becoming more competitive.
Also lifelong learning is becoming more and more
important. We target this issue by establishing a
targeted talent management program, and building
up talents from the inside out.
Do you need help to communicate the total value of your reward package? Are you
hoping to improve how you on-board graduates? Talk to one of our reward experts
at rewardservices@haygroup.com to find out more about how we can help.
Want to help graduates develop the soft skills they need? Our new Journey app can help.
© 2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

8. Hay Group is a global management consulting
firm that works with leaders to transform strategy
into reality. We develop talent, organize people to
be more effective and motivate them to perform
at their best. Our focus is on making change
happen and helping people and organizations
realize their potential.
We have over 4000 employees working in 86 offices
in 49 countries. Our insight is supported by robust
data from over 125 countries. Our clients are from
the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, across
every major industry. For more information please
contact your local office through
www.haygroup.com
©2015HayGroup.Allrightsreserved.
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