Last week we had our annual Graduate Development Day-an all day workshop/catch up between the Australian and New Zealand Sales & Marketing graduates. Between the two neighbouring countries we had 18 graduates (quite an exponential growth when you consider that 18 months ago there were only 5!)
Our Kiwi counterparts flew to our shores for the day and we kicked off with an evening out at dinner with the Australian Sales & Marketing directors. It was a relaxed and informal opportunity for the newest recruits to the RB business to pick the brains of the most experienced leaders of the business.
Friendly rivalries and sporting bragging rights aside- dinner conversations topics flowed thick and fast and ranged from Harpic toilet cleaners to working overseas and even midnight karaoke sessions!
The next day included graduate presentations on current roles and experiences, a presentation from our Sales Director on business performance and his own career advice and an information session on succession planning and improving personal development.
RB employees not only work hard we also bake hard! The day coincided with the inaugural BAKE OFF (a fundraising initiative for the Save the Children Foundation) All RB Sales and Marketing employees volunteered to bake a cake or other goodies to bring in so everybody from the business could for a small donation come and feast on as many sugary treats they could stomach.
The graduate day ended with a challenge for the graduates to brainstorm the development of real life RB case studies, which will be presented to marketing students in both Australian & NZ universities – a fabulous opportunity for graduates!
Our RB competitive spirit or perhaps sugar high (?) kicked in and both teams devised interactive and informative ways of presenting real life RB marketing issues and ways to encourage budding account managers or marketeers to think of innovative and viable solutions.
You can thank us later for making your university lecture much more interesting!
If you want to learn more about a graduate career at Reckitt Benckiser, read more posts on this the official RB blog, chat with our Twitterers or visit the RB jobs site.
Tags: Australia, bake off, brainstorm, Challenge, Commercial Graduates, graduate program, graduate recruitment, Marketing, mentoring, networking, New Zealand, Sales, Save the Children, University
