If they do not change their attitude however their businesses are bound to sufferRoger Trapp

If they do not change their attitude, however, their businesses are bound to suffer”Roger Trapp. Age: Four as a university

How many lives? Many and various. Formed in 1993 out of a marriage between Glasgow Poly and Queen’s College, Glasgow. They have become complacent about the need to satisfy their employees’ aspirations. Not any more.”This change in the insurance employment climate has caught employers by surprise.

“At that time, people working in the insurance industry were happy just to have a job. Jonathan Wren’s Andrew Hurren says: “The survey confirms our experience over recent months that employers urgently need to be more concerned with the career aspirations of their employees if they want to retain and expand their staff.” Mr Hurren, the consultancy’s account development director, adds that employers can no longer expect the most ambitious people, who also possess the necessary qualifications and experience, to join them “just because of who they are”.Instead, they need to realise that they must sell themselves to applicants because such people are now in a position to pick and choose among employers.”Generally speaking, employers in the financial services sector had an easy time recruiting in the early to mid-1990s,” he adds. Eighty-eight per cent of senior insurance personnel are confident that their organisation is either “definitely” or “probably” living up to their staff’s expectations, according to a survey by Jonathan Wren & Co, financial recruitment consultants .
Moreover, about two-thirds of bosses surveyed for the report published last month thought that their staff spent less time planning their careers than five years ago.But the study found that 90 per cent of staff in fact spend more time thinking about and planning their career paths than five years ago.Such a variation of opinion suggests that this is an industry with plenty of opportunities for specialists in internal communications to make hay.After all, there must be plenty of other areas of misunderstanding in organisations where about half of staff believe that their employers have the power to reward them financially for outstanding work and pretty much the same proportion of managers say they have “little or no flexibility” to increase salaries on the basis of productivity.More importantly perhaps, such realisations indicate a morale problem that is probably beyond easy fixing. What with the continuing spate of scandals in the financial services industry, the casual bystander probably does not find it surprising that half of all employees in the insurance business are disappointed with their careers But their bosses are surprised. We generally take on two to three Kingston graduates every year.” Building up a long term working relationship with potential employees is “much less of a risk than trawling around the degree shows and thinking, great show, great dress, and giving someone a job on the strength of it”.While last week provided graduates with a chance to let their imaginations run wild,in the coming months many will put away the outrageous hats, the aluminium foil skirts and Star Trek outfits and knuckle down to high street work. We get to know the students over three years and during their placements can assess how well they would fit in with the organisation, if it is the sort of work they are totally suited to and if they are team players. Not only can they spot talent, but fashion students can keep them abreast of what’s exciting and new and can provide a fresh eye.”Michael Terry, Dewhirst’s design and product development director, says: “We have built a long-term relationship with Kingston University and we know and understand the culture there.

It also helps students to understand how to work within a large organisation.”And it not only helps students. Nigel Luck, fashion course director at the University of Westminster, says: “Industrial placements can also help the companies taking part. Some end up in fashion related fields such as fashion buying, public relations and journalism.But increasingly what all fashion graduates have in common, whether they are concentrating on designing or on becoming a fashion publicist, is that they have at some point during their course come into contact with the real world of fashion through an industrial placement.Kingston University has had a relationship for the past seven years with Dewhirst, a company which produces clothes for firms such as Marks and Spencer.”Industrial placements help students to understand their market and to understand the customer,” Griffiths says “It’s not about design egotism. “The employment record has been pretty good and I’m thinking of doing the course myself if it could get me a job at Gucci,” Wilson says.Not all fashion graduates become designers. We have not expanded the way that some other courses have, but have kept numbers down to enable us to pick the best potential students.”Of the students on Central St Martins MA course, around 87 per cent each year find a job in the fashion industry. The London College of Fashion has an average of 600 applicants for every 40 places.Colin Renfrew, fashion course leader at Ravensbourne College of Design, says: “We only take around 30 students a year and we are fortunate that within six to 12 months of graduating, 85 to 90 per cent are in full-time employment in the fashion industry.