Returning talent to the workplace
18 December 2015
Global financial institution Bank of America Merrill Lynch is extending its Returning Talent programme, which helps people who have had career breaks get back into work, by offering 10-week work placements
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 | By Sarah Marquet
Returning Talent, now in its fifth year, selects about 60 highly skilled, experienced people to attend a one-day conference. Of those attendees, a smaller group is offered a further two days of coaching. The 10-week placement initiative would be a third offering.
Attendees, mostly women, are briefed on changes that may have happened in the workplace in the time they have been out, bank head of Europe Middle East and Africa infrastructure staffing Natasha San Juan (above) tells Recruiter. But they are also shown how their skills are still relevant, as confidence is one of their biggest barriers to returning.
She says the 10-week placement programme is still very much in its infancy and therefore will initially only be run on a small scale. Before returners are chosen for this extra programme, the bank’s business lines will be quizzed as to what skills they need and what types of roles they have in order to offer a returner a tangible experience.
“We want to give them real work to do,” San Juan says.
The number of people offered this experience is yet to be confirmed. Applications for the Returning Talent programme are now open, with the conference days set to take place in February.
She adds the programme could eventually be extended to the bank’s Chester and
Dublin sites, as “we’re aware that it is very London-centric”.
FROM JANUARY 2016'S RECRUITER MAGAZINE
Global financial institution Bank of America Merrill Lynch is extending its Returning Talent programme, which helps people who have had career breaks get back into work, by offering 10-week work placements.Returning Talent, now in its fifth year, selects about 60 highly skilled, experienced people to attend a one-day conference. Of those attendees, a smaller group is offered a further two days of coaching. The 10-week placement initiative would be a third offering.
Attendees, mostly women, are briefed on changes that may have happened in the workplace in the time they have been out, bank head of Europe Middle East and Africa infrastructure staffing Natasha San Juan (above) tells Recruiter. But they are also shown how their skills are still relevant, as confidence is one of their biggest barriers to returning.
She says the 10-week placement programme is still very much in its infancy and therefore will initially only be run on a small scale. Before returners are chosen for this extra programme, the bank’s business lines will be quizzed as to what skills they need and what types of roles they have in order to offer a returner a tangible experience.
“We want to give them real work to do,” San Juan says.
The number of people offered this experience is yet to be confirmed. Applications for the Returning Talent programme are now open, with the conference days set to take place in February.
She adds the programme could eventually be extended to the bank’s Chester and
Dublin sites, as “we’re aware that it is very London-centric”.
