The Bridging Role of Graduate Placement Programmes in the SME Workplace Padraig Gallagher 8/11/2013

The Small and Medium Enterprise Sector (SME) employees 99% of all businesses across Europe Complex broad and diverse sector – size, product, service, ownership and stage of development Owner managed/small team Lack of skilled labour/resources Focused on the short-term/survival

Graduates and SMEs Dependent on small scale studies on graduate employment in the sector Relatively low up take (market issues on demand and supply side) Rely on ad hoc or direct entry recruitment– in contrast to traditional milk round route Recognised that the transition is challenging with limited resources to support graduates - induction, opportunities for formal learning, expectation miss-match

Graduate Placement Programmes Concern about the low up take of graduates Extension of human capital perspective Government/agency led e.g. The Teaching Company Scheme, The STEP programme General characteristics Little published information or evidence of impact – practical issues in accessing SMEs

Methodology The research looked at the role of graduate placement programmes in bridging the gap between HE and the SME sector. The research design was exploratory, in depth and qualitative in nature Multiple case study focusing on seven graduates with a science, engineering or technology background Interviews – three perspectives 5 Manufacturing, 2 service based companies

The FUSION Programme All Island Programme launched 2001 by Intertrade Ireland – 450 placements to date Technology/developmental based projects – 12 to 24 months Project management and steering group Academic support Structured training support – Diploma Business and Management Funding -100% academic costs, 50% graduate salary and 100% for training

Planning Recruitment & Selection Financial support Formalised structure “it was very fair and open and the advice that I was given was quite sound” “The amount of paperwork involved was crazy” Graduates also positive “the hiring of one individual would be so important”

Internal Supervision & Appraisal Owner manager - busy “I often see the graduate running around the floor after me, trying to chat with me and I am trying to do something else” Lack of other support “if there were breakdowns the majority of times I had to try and fix the machine myself” Drifting from project “you get pulled around the place as well and you have to address other areas as and when they arise” Company B “He has a tendency to be there when he is required, let that be from an emotional or personal or work viewpoint”

Academic Support and Mentoring Mixed reaction from companies and graduates “I think his role was important in the early days ……. his role probably waned as I became more in-meshed in the company” “ in our case he identified that what we needed was a design engineer” Academic “it is really a mentoring role…. ” “my objective was to learn as much and be involved as much as necessary and to make it worthwhile doing the journey up and down the country”

Business & Management Aimed to address perceived skills deficits “it was a different type of learning experience for me coming from an engineering background to do a business diploma” Difficulty in transferring knowledge “once you step out of the classroom into the workplace it’s hard to bring what you’ve learned with you” Mixed response from companies “ I wanted him to go to other exhibitions and the time wasn’t available because that two day thing was on every so often”

Conclusion/Recommendations The study showed that graduate placements programmes such as Fusion can help to bridge the gap between HE and the SME sector, increase graduate employability and help graduates to negotiate the transition to the SME workplace (5,1,1). The study confirmed that the impact of graduate placement programmes on the transition of graduates to the workplace can vary according to factors such as – the nature and complexity of the graduates’ projects – the ability and commitment of the academic – attitude of the owner and ability of the companies to provide mentoring support – the nature of the relationships and interaction between the graduates and the academic.

Conclusion/Recommendations This means that such programmes need to be sensitive to individual company contexts, needs and expectations when placing graduates and allocating academic mentors to support graduates in the workplace. – SME – Academics – Post Graduate courses – Communication – Post placement – Policy makers

Conclusion/Recommendations Future research – Findings replicated in other graduate placement programmes – The motivation and role of academics – The preparation of graduates for the sector – Learning processes and socialisation of graduates in the workplace.