It seems ages since I last wrote a MM and, to be fair, there have been Bank holidays and a family holiday that have taken priority. The family holiday was in Turkey this year and it was excellent. I managed to switch off from work (apart from 1 conference call from my hotel room) and I really enjoyed the time to relax and re-engage.
I did get straight back to work as soon as landed and hosted part of a 3-day conference with 51 graduates from across the world. The objective of the conference was for the graduates to network and build relationships, take ownership for their careers and to maximise the opportunity that their company has offered them.
The group was energetic and motivated, they seemed engaged and open to share ideas and they were looking forward to the 3-day event, so that was a good start. I can’t imagine how much it cost the company to arrange this conference. There were flights, hotels, meals, activities, training and development and team building sessions and time out of the business, what an investment.
Across many industries and companies, I have seen programmes (like this one) getting postponed or cancelled due to budget constraints. The fact that this organisation decided to still run the event can only mean that these graduates are worth it. I am sure there will be an expectation to get some return on investment, so I hope, that some of the key messages have a lasting impact and they do something different.
If one person becomes more confident, has more belief, takes ownership, identifies their goals and aspirations, appreciates their opportunities, makes a placement worthwhile, invests in their own resilience strategy, builds a better brand or is just a bit more positive, I think it was worth every penny.
These types of events do not just happen though. It takes a motivated, determined person to get the ‘green light’ to arrange such a big event and influence a business to spend money, when others are reducing their overheads! A visionary who sees the potential in a group of graduates and thinks that they will all add value to the company at some point. Someone who cares about the wellbeing of each graduate and has spent the past 36 years investing his heart and soul into the business. Well done GB it’s been a pleasure working with you.
If your company has ever invested in your development, how did you repay them? What was their return on investment?
A quick message for those ‘grads’ who have subscribed to this MM: “Make a difference, do something with the information and design your future!”