Mind Mapping Exercise for Candidate Engagement

Challenge & Selection:

I work for an organisation which focusses on learning and professional development in financial  services industry. Our flagship program requires a candidate to complete 3 levels of rigorous exam.  Post clearing the exam, a candidate needs to fulfil certain criteria and apply for membership of the  organisation, this will allow them to use the official designation against their name. The challenge we  have come across in certain developing markets is the growing number of candidates who did not  get their designation even after spending on an average 3+ years to complete the program.  In order  to address the challenge, a cross functional team was put together to come up with potential  solutions. ‘Mind Mapping’ was identified as an appropriate tool to work on the challenge. The tool  was selected to identify the ‘What is’ by exploring insights from reviewing multiple sources of  information including past surveys, third party research, candidate registration demographics, and  other data from direct engagements. The team formed colleagues from candidate strategy, business  intelligence, professional learning, employer engagement and marketing. The team felt mind  mapping would be helpful as there are multiple data sources that can be reviewed, and it is  important to link them together to gather insights and behaviour trends of the candidate community  before a solution is explore.

Application:

The team of six was divided to review different pieces of existing data sources and produce their  own insights on the problem through the source they have reviewed. To keep the effort focussed,  we decided to only look at data for one country to begin with. The feedbacks were saved it to a  common file for others to review. This task was conducted virtually as the team was present across  multiple offices. Each individual then supplied their thoughts on the insights provided by their  colleagues. All views were gathered together by the project lead. The next step was to cluster the  insights into common trends and look for connection between them to establish criteria for ‘What if’  stage.

Insight & Approach:

There were some key themes which emerged from the exercise. Some of them include candidates  do not have relevant work experience to fulfil criteria for membership, they don’t understand the  value of membership, cost vs benefit was evaluated by many, support from employers in paying  dues of candidates, conversion trends better among recent passouts, etc. The trends confirmed  some of the hypothesis the team had thought of before starting on the research work, data only  proved that we are on the right track. Once the major challenges were identified, the team came  together to work on 2 or 3 challenges to be addressed in the first instance. Careers was a key ask  among those who had recently completed the program, so a team was put together to come up with  a project to identify potential solution to the challenge. Among those who had 3-4 years of  experience, it was important to keep them engaged and articulate the value of membership. This  was done by putting together some ‘napkin’ pitches on direct and online communication, which did  not involve significant finances and can provide quick feedback. The implementation is now at its  initial stage and the feedbacks are reviewed fortnightly to identify if we continue to move forward or  drop the idea.


Mind Mapping Exercise for Candidate Engagement Challenge & Selection : I work for an organisation which focusses on learning and professional development in financial services industry . Our flagship program requires a candidate to complete 3 levels of rigorous exam . Post clearing the exam , a candidate needs to fulfil certain criteria and apply for membership of the organisation , this will allow them to use the official designation against their name . The challenge we have come across in certain developing markets is the growing number of candidates who did not get their designation even after spending on an average 3 + years to complete the program . In order to address the challenge , a cross functional team was put together to come up with potential solutions . ‘ Mind Mapping ’ was identified as an appropriate tool to work on the challenge . The tool was selected to identify the ‘ What is ’ by exploring insights from reviewing multiple sources of information including past surveys , third party research , candidate registration demographics , and other data from direct engagements . The team formed colleagues from candidate strategy , business intelligence , professional learning , employer engagement and marketing . The team felt mind mapping would be helpful as there are multiple data sources that can be reviewed , and it is important to link them together to gather insights and behaviour trends of the candidate community before a solution is explore . Application : The team of six was divided to review different pieces of existing data sources and produce their own insights on the problem through the source they have reviewed . To keep the effort focussed , we decided to only look at data for one country to begin with . The feedbacks were saved it to a common file for others to review . This task was conducted virtually as the team was present across multiple offices . Each individual then supplied their thoughts on the insights provided by their colleagues . All views were gathered together by the project lead . The next step was to cluster the insights into common trends and look for connection between them to establish criteria for ‘ What if ’ stage . Insight & Approach : There were some key themes which emerged from the exercise . Some of them include candidates do not have relevant work experience to fulfil criteria for membership , they do n’t understand the value of membership , cost vs benefit was evaluated by many , support from employers in paying dues of candidates , conversion trends better among recent passouts , etc . The trends confirmed some of the hypothesis the team had thought of before starting on the research work , data only proved that we are on the right track . Once the major challenges were identified , the team came together to work on 2 or 3 challenges to be addressed in the first instance . Careers was a key ask among those who had recently completed the program , so a team was put together to come up with a project to identify potential solution to the challenge . Among those who had 3 - 4 years of experience , it was important to keep them engaged and articulate the value of membership . This was done by putting together some ‘ napkin ’ pitches on direct and online communication , which did not involve significant finances and can provide quick feedback . The implementation is now at its initial stage and the feedbacks are reviewed fortnightly to identify if we continue to move forward or drop the idea .