The Purpose
With the awareness of the importance of attracting and retaining young talent for the continuity and evolution of organizations, and the consequent dynamism, companies have been feeling the need to implement strategies and have a certain positioning that allows them to attract this specific generation.
One of our clients, in the energy sector, has recently gone through a carve out process of a consolidated structure with a strong brand in the market. They had the challenge of becoming autonomous and creating the rebranding, positioning, and transformation of their own brand. 
Thus, with the purpose of strengthening the company's pipeline of young talent, contributing with an active role to the transformation phase of the structure, which operates in a market with constant challenges, this client approached Argo with the objective of creating the company's first Trainee Program. The focus was to hire 10 trainees nationwide, from various areas, especially Engineering.

The Way
This process went through essentially 4 axes:

1) Structuring
In a first step, it was necessary to structure the value proposition and communication of the Trainee Program.
Through individual meetings with key members of the client and Focus Group, a set of relative information was collected:

• The past and future of the organization;
• The strategic challenges expected in the coming years; 
• The experienced company culture and values; 
• The desired role and necessary characteristics of the young talent in the organization.

Through the understanding of this information, Argo built a competence matrix to be analyzed throughout the process. 
In line with the construction of the Value Proposition (EVP) built jointly between the client and Argo, a Communication Plan was defined and developed, as well as a publicity and targeting strategy.

2) Attraction
Having in mind the defined target - young graduates from various educational areas - an Employer Branding campaign was defined, focused on partnerships with Universities from North to South.

3) Seletion
Screening
Considering the requirements defined for the trainee profile, and with a total of 458 applications, a screening of the different interested profiles was made. To make a ranking of the candidates, in a complementary way to the hard skills screening defined, an application form was created with screening questions that allowed to create different priority levels.

Online Assessment
After the screening phase, psychometric inventories (verbal, numerical, logical reasoning, and English) were applied to be able to apply another lens of observation of the candidates in process.  

Business Challenge
To complement the information that was previously collected, and after analyzing the psychometric tests, group dynamics were conducted among 5 to 7 participants. The main objective was to observe a soft skills component more focused on interpersonal relationships. It was also an opportunity to promote the brand and clarify doubts about the company.

Argo Interview
Individual interviews with the objective of assessing the following parameters:

• Key skills under analysis - Collaboration, Interpersonal Relationship, Audacity, Resilience and Critical Sense;
• Candidate's strengths and development points;
• Relevant experience and learning;
• Motivation for the challenge.

Final Board
After candidate validation, a report of each one was delivered in order to support the decision making.
The trainees had the opportunity to listen the Managers of different areas and, later, to make a pitch to present their personal and professional/academic background. 
After this analysis, the client selected 10 trainees to join the Program.


4) Integration
Argo played a crucial role not only in the process of attracting and selecting trainees, but also in the strategy of the entire program itself, including the integration and follow-up of trainees throughout the first year.

It was necessary to delineate:

• The Trainee Journey over the period of a year; 
• The trainings to be given to trainees and tutors; 
• The definition and structuring of an annual project to be developed as a group; 
• Pillars of the new performance management model; 
• The creation of the reception manual.

The Impact
The implementation of our client's 1st Trainee Program allowed it to hire 10 young talents, enthusiastic about sustainability and energy transition. In addition, it was possible for them to advertise and position their own brand more effectively after the rebranding process they were going through.