Every organisation will take a different approach to graduate development, so what exactly does it mean at Centrica?
Christina Davis
Every organisation will take a different approach to graduate development, so what exactly does it mean at Centrica?
Centrica follows the well known 10-20-70 view of learning, whereby 10% of learning is formal (i.e., classroom based), 20% comes from feedback in working relationships and the remaining 70% comes from doing a job. As our graduate blogs discuss the 20-70, I thought I’d run you through my recent experience of a 10% example.
Although I say the 10% is usually classroom based, this particular example was actually a two day event hosted at a Hotel local to both Centrica and British Gas’ head offices. The event was designed and delivered by K2 (the “Human Prformance Experts”!) also known for their coaching of Britain’s Olympic Rowing Team, amongst other clients. K2 focus on areas of core development, which is split across the first and second year of all graduate schemes.
Having met at the Induction Week, (to then be relocated across the UK), we all arrived at 8:30am for an opportunity to catch up before a 9:00am start. As some of this group are 4 months into their first placement and others only a month into their second, this was a great chance to share our experiences so far; from “This is what I’ve been working on” to “Does anyone know if I’m submitting my expenses correctly?!”
As we are all on the first year of our graduate programmes, our sessions focused on our own personal strengths and development areas.Thetwo days weren’t presentation heavy; made up of a series of talks and group workshops followed by a short, reflective feedback session after each activity. We also met our own Performance Coaches, (employees of Centrica and British Gas), whom we will meet with at least 6 times a year to establish personal goals and identify how we will go about achieving these. We also had a visit from Jill Sheddon (Group Director of HR) who provided some contextual information as to where Centrica is as a business, her own experiences of working in Centrica (having been recruited as part of the graduate scheme!) and a Q&A session, driven by ourselves.
Overall, my experience of the day was fantastic. These sessions have already flagged some areas that I am looking to develop in order to become a more rounded performer. It was purposeful, but fun and informal (perhaps this was something to do with the sprinkling of Christmas jumpers...); and I am looking forward to my first coaching session.
Until next time!