Organisations are being too utilitarian in their approach to graduates and should move away from the system of sponsorship and stop making so many assumptions during the milk round, it was claimed today.
Talking to HRG about his upcoming book, The mismanagement of talent, professor Phil Brown from the University of Wales said that HR departments needed to change their approach to graduate recruitment:
'One major problem is the sponsorship model. Organisations need to move more towards a contest model. Companies are not utilising the full spectrum of talent. At 24 years of age you do not have much to go on in terms of future potential of fresh graduates.
'Companies still have a very elitist approach to graduate recruitment. Their investment only goes into a few eggs in the basket which they perceive as being the best, leaving many often potentially more talented people out in the cold' he said.
Figures to be released on Monday suggest that industry loses around £12 billion a year through letting the wrong people in the door, a situation that could be fixed through a greater use of objectivity in the hiring process, it is claimed
A study of graduates released this week suggested that many can take up to five years to find a good position, although 85% said they were happy with their career path with many earning 'graduate level' earnings. However, Brown found that many graduates are still earning below £20,000 by the age of 30.
He believes that this is more to do with elitist employers than a sign of the devaluing of the degree. However, he warns that the Government has failed to manage the aspirations of people currently entering the ever expanding area of higher education:
'As a civilised society we can well manage to send 50% of young people through university, we just need to manage their aspirations. A degree gives people a lot of personal growth but employers do not see this.
'Graduates will eventually get a better paid job than non-graduates but they will struggle. We are in danger of the wider sense of education being lost to feed the economy. A good career is not the only reason to take a degree and firms need to realise this' he said.
