Graduate development programmes that build leadership skills at the start of a career
You have hired bright, ambitious graduates. In their first year you want them to grow in confidence, communicate well and start leading themselves and others. Our full-day sessions build those skills for groups of 8 to 20 graduates, at your offices or virtually. We have run Kimberly-Clark's UK graduate programme since 2023.
- Running Kimberly-Clark's UK graduate programme
- Since 2023
- Graduates in a typical group
- 8 to 20
Your graduates are bright and ambitious. The early-career challenges we see most often are the human ones: managing self-doubt, handling feedback and building resilience.
Our graduate development programmes accelerate the mindset, communication skills and confidence of your brightest early-career talent. Graduates develop real-world skills and practise them in real-world situations, with the rest of their graduate group alongside them.
Each programme is built with you, around your graduate scheme, and we will happily weave our sessions in around what your organisation already runs.
Our work with Kimberly-Clark's UK graduate programme
We have run the UK graduate programme for Kimberly-Clark since 2023, with a new intake of graduates every year.
Each year the graduates spend a small number of full days with us. Topics have included personal brand, growth mindset, Everything DiSC (understanding personality styles), courageous conversations and feedback, negotiation and decision-making, resilience and managing imposter syndrome.
“The trainings have been effective in addressing some of the common challenges we see in early careers, such as managing self-doubt, navigating feedback, and building resilience.” Evita Casno, EMEA Procurement Manager, Kimberly-Clark.
What the graduates say about the training
“I had an amazing experience with the Inner Leader sessions as part of my graduate scheme at a Fortune 200 global company.” Andrea Supit, graduate, in her Google review.
The sessions are conversational and practical, so graduates spend most of the day talking, practising and working with each other, and the group gets to know each other on a more personal level.
When organisations bring us in to train their graduates
- Capable graduates who hold back in front of senior colleagues
- Self-doubt and imposter syndrome in the first years of a career
- Feedback that is avoided, or taken personally
- Graduates who need to influence people they have no authority over
- A graduate scheme that needs practical people skills alongside the technical placements
Who this is for
This work is built for:
- HR, talent and early-careers teams running a graduate or early-talent scheme
- Groups of roughly 8 to 20 graduates
- Schemes that want a small number of full days spread across the year
It is not the right choice for:
- One-off motivational talks with no follow-through
- Technical or product training, which your own specialists will do better
How it works
Discovery
We talk with you about what you want your graduates to be able to do, and agree the outcomes and how you will measure the success of the programme.
Designing it together
We build a programme of sessions with you, to your timeline and budget, that covers the skills and topics you want.
Delivery
We organise, schedule and deliver the sessions, and fit them around the other parts of your scheme, such as presentations to your leadership team.
Follow-up
Once each group has finished and the feedback is in, we meet with you to go through the learning, the impact and ideas for the next intake.
Our graduates are providing consistently strong feedback on the sessions for being engaging, practical, and thought-provoking. They strike the right balance between theory and application, which is especially important for early-career talent. The facilitator Tim is great in understanding how to connect with graduates and create a safe space for reflection and growth.Evita Casno, EMEA Procurement Manager, Kimberly-Clark
Outcomes you can expect
- Graduates who speak up with more confidence and less self-doubt
- Better handling of feedback, both giving it and receiving it
- More resilience in a demanding first role
- A graduate group that knows and supports each other
- Loyalty and commitment from graduates who can see the investment in them
How it runs
| Format | In person at your offices, virtually or a mix of both |
|---|---|
| Group size | Typically 8 to 20 graduates |
| Duration | From two days a year to a 12-month programme |
Questions
What is a graduate development programme?
A graduate development programme is a series of training sessions that builds the people skills of graduates in their first years at work: confidence, communication, handling feedback, influence and resilience. Inner Leader, a leadership development consultancy based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, builds each one with you around your graduate scheme.
What topics does graduate training cover?
It depends on your scheme. Topics we have run for graduates include personal brand, growth mindset, influencing, communicating with impact, Everything DiSC personality profiling, courageous conversations and feedback, negotiation and decision-making, resilience and managing imposter syndrome.
How long is a graduate development programme?
Most schemes run two to four full days a year, spaced out so graduates can use what they learn between sessions. We can also run a longer programme across 12 months.
Can the sessions fit around our own scheme?
Yes. We will happily weave our sessions in around the other parts of your programme, such as placements in different departments, projects or presentations to your leadership team.
Do you run graduate training in person or virtually?
Both. We run sessions in person at your offices, virtually or a mix of both, for groups of typically 8 to 20 graduates.
Can you include Everything DiSC in a graduate programme?
Yes. Inner Leader has used Everything DiSC since 2020 as an Authorised Partner, and it is one of the topics we have run for graduates, alongside personal brand, growth mindset and courageous conversations. We are big advocates of Catalyst, the online Everything DiSC platform, which lets graduates see their own DiSC style and their colleagues' styles, with practical tips for working well with each person, long after the session.
How is this different from your leadership development work?
It is the same way of working, built for people at the very start of their careers. Most graduates are not leading a team yet, so the focus is on leading themselves: confidence, communication, influence and resilience.
Further reading
Are leaders born or trained?
Are leaders born or trained? Most leadership qualities can be trained. What good leaders share, what training develops and what a good programme includes.
10 presentation skills tips to ace your team’s next presentation
Ten presentation skills you can use straight away, covering how to know your audience, structure the talk, design slides, rehearse and close well.
The four DiSC personality types and what they mean
The four DiSC personality types are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. What each DiSC style means at work and how to work with all four.
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Let's talk.
Running a graduate scheme this year? Tell us about this year's graduates and what you want them to be able to do.
We’ll reply within one business day.