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Program Invests in Recent Grads
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HP has been focused strategically on new college hires, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Technology Solutions Group (TSG) Americas organization in Marlborough. In the past few weeks, 19 recent grads have joined TSG Americas and completed a three-week training program. They are among the 250 new college grads who have joined the company and completed training this year, bolstering HP's spot on CollegeGrad.com's list of the Top 50 Entry Level Employers for 2008.
Launched at the start of FY08, the Graduate Investment Program is designed to foster best-in-class college hiring and to infuse new energy into HP's talent pool. New grads are immersed in HP culture with a three-week "on boarding and training" program designed to give them the tools they need for success.
According to Helen Lum who leads the program, the first week is devoted to learning about the company from a global perspective-its history and culture, its organization, its products and people. During this phase, senior managers from the major businesses speak to the students about their organizations.
"In the second week we drill down into the TSG business," Lum said. "The third week we focus on professional and development skills, such as effective presentations, negotiation and project management-all areas that are important in any job in any organization."
As part of the program, each new hire is assigned a mentor within the company to help them get off to a fast start and to ensure overall job satisfaction, and thus, retention. "The mentor should not be the person the new hire reports to," Lum explains. "It should be a person he or she can talk to as they are making their way through the career process-someone they go to for guidance, coaching, advice, or just to provide a sounding board.
Lum joined HP 20 years ago and has worked in sales and marketing as well as consulting. Her enthusiasm about the Graduate Investment Program is evident. "It gives me great joy to see these eager young people coming on board. Many of them have the potential to become managers and an opportunity to demonstrate leadership within the company," she adds.
She is quick to add," This is not about replacing seasoned employees with new hires. When a senior-level person retires or leaves the company, or when someone progresses to a new level in their job, there is a domino effect, as people within the company move ahead to fill the vacated position. Ideally, this creates room for new entry-level jobs."
Liza Sichon, vice president, business Human Resources for TSG Americas, says the program "enables us to recruit highly motivated new graduates into our workforce. It's imperative for HP to continue to build and sustain a strong, diverse workforce, and recruiting graduate hires is an important part of that effort."
30 October 2008
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