As the corporate world struggles with the new millennial workforce, many employers are experiencing great success with rotational programs. Originally pioneered by a number of large corporations to train engineers, the programs now are used in all areas of business from IT to Finance. These programs satisfy Generation Y's need for travel, new experiences and training through a number of four to eight month rotations in different businesses, locales and departments.
The advantages of these types of roles become quickly evident when you realize that breadth of knowledge, cross-departmental and cross-business, that can be obtained in an incredibly short period of time, two years for many of the programs. Program participants roll off with a great amount of diversified knowledge that may take 5-10 years for someone else to gain in a standard role. Sounds amazing right? It is but, whether you are a participant in one of these programs or a employer managing them, you need to make sure you don't get vertigo from the accelerated spin of rotational programs. Here are a few tips to help you avoid vertigo:
1. Avoid Over-Diversification
The biggest strength of a rotational program is the opportunity to diversify but, it can be dizzying as well. Many people skip from rotation to rotation without focus, similar to the way some college students do between majors. Then, when they get to the end of their program they have had a number of great experiences but are left to wonder, now what?
Many college students have to stay in school for another year or two, which is not an option for those in a rotational program and can cause you to take a default role off-rotation that you may not like. After your first rotation or even during, start to figure out what you like and take rotations that will aid you in your end while still providing a good set of diverse skills.
2. Be Humble
From the time you enter a rotational program to when you roll off, at least in most programs, you will be told you are an elite subset of your peers. Expectations are high and so is the pressure to succeed. This elite message and constant pressure has caused problems for kids who are tagged as “gifted” early on and it can have the same effect on people in a rotational program. Avoid these by remaining humble and treating everything as a learning experience.
In addition, the teams you will work in all expect you to be the next CIO/CEO/COO, with an attitude to match your future title. Prove them wrong, stay focused on your goals, treat everyone with respect and concentrate on what your learning and you'll go much farther than your peers with attitude.
3. Lead the Leaders
Everyone expects you to lead in your rotation. After all, most rotational programs are leadership programs. These high expectations are tough to exceed, the only way to do so is to volunteer for everything you can (you wanted lots of experience) and lead where others have not before. Many leadership programs look for examples of this type of behavior on your college resume even before you got in. Lead service efforts, lead social efforts, take the lead in your training groups, it will all be noticed by not just your peers but your managers as well. Even more importantly, lead where others have not before. Innovation is everyone's favorite buzzword but, in actuality, it's just the act of leading your group outside of the box, past what you did last year and on to the next big thing.
I believe rotational programs are the best way for any company to attract and retain top talent from Generation Y. They are great tools to educate and inspire new employees within their new corporation but, as with any system, there a pitfalls and opportunities for improvement. By avoiding the tendency of our “ADD” generation to over diversify, remaining humble and leading even amongst leaders you can maximize your rotational program experience.
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