Emerge, lead and progress.

• Author: Ahmed, Khalil
• Position: Attracting and keeping the younger workforce

Byline: KHALIL AHMED

SSGC's ELP an initiative to create opportunities for attracting, retaining young workforce

Syed Imran Ahmed, A-DGM (Corporate Communications) SSGC shared the following with PAKISTAN and GULF ECONOMIST

Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, and who will not settle for the routine. - David Ogilvy

Keeping the tradition of nearly ten years alive, SSGC will soon welcome with open arms another batch of young talented graduates who will step into SSGC offices from Karachi to Quetta for first-hand exposure as trainees in engineering, finance and other disciplines. Besides getting hands-on experience, these trainees will be mentored by seasoned professionals as part of the SSGC Emerging Leadership Programme (ELP). In short, the ELP programme will be an exciting opportunity for fresh graduates to develop leadership skills in their areas of focus during a two-year training period.

Primary aim: ELP was launched by SSGC in 2013 as an initiative to create opportunities for attracting and retaining young people from varied backgrounds in the Company's workforce. The main objective behind the programme was to ensure a talent pipeline of high-performing future managers for critical business roles. ELP is a long-term approach that builds and nurtures a high-quality workforce for the Company.

The programme provides young engineering and business graduates a chance to gain the requisite experience to bridge the academic and industry gap and learn the right skill sets to emerge as future leaders. To date, more than 300 trainees have been enrolled. Considering the technical nature of the Company's core businesses, on average 70 percent of the trainees are from engineering or technical, while 30 percent are from the management background.

Young ELP trainees at SSGC get a chance to be enrolled on a rotational basis in a wide and diverse bevy of areas that include projects and construction, transmission, distribution, information technology, customer services, human resources, corporate communications and finance and accounts. A programme as ambitious and progressive as ELP provides young professionals with the following opportunities that would help them throughout their potential career:

Development of leadership aptitudes

Continuous training with experienced professionals

Development of functional and managerial skills through On" and "Off"...