A well known Business School in the National Capital Region was keen to not only impart good quality management education, but also enhance the quality of its summer placements, final placements and admissions to its PGDM programs. It had seen waning numbers after the pandemic and a new Management team that had taken over at its helm invited The Winning Mantra to transforMentor its 1st year students, right from the Term 2 trimester. The brief given was to get the students to move from a Fixed Mindset to a Growth Mindset, and to improve their chances of corporate success. The Management was willing to invest in a well designed customized training right till Term 5, with 15 hours of engagement per trimester for the 3 sections in the batch.
Objective:
The primary objective of the intervention was to inculcate a growth mindset among the students right from the beginning of their PGDM journey and to enhance their chances of converting their Summer Placements into Pre Placement Offers, leading to even better performance at the Final Placement season the following year.
Scope:
The 160 students in the batch were to be divided into 3 sections at the beginning of the Term 2. They were all given the same training through that term, in a hybrid mode of (15 + 30), where they spent 15 hours in the term physically in the classroom workshop sessions and 30 hours working outside it on individual and group assignments and exercises. Based on their performance across this intervention, and in Individual Mock Interview sessions held after Term 2, they were to be recategorised into 3 new groups in Term 3, and given differential transformational treatment. Technology tools and techniques could be deployed as necessary, in close consultation with the Corporate Relations Centre.
Design & Delivery Process:
The Winning Mantra conducted secondary research on the post-pandemic impact on corporate expectations, distilled them and created Session Plans for Term 2 and Term 3. The design methodology and expected outcomes were iteratively discussed with the B-School Management. Upon approval, The Winning Mantra finalized the Session flows, including the assignments and quizzes to be administered. The assessment rubric was also designed and shared with the students on Day 1. The Google Classroom interaction schedules were designed keeping in mind the other engagements of the students, so as to give them enough time to submit thoughtful and well constructed assignments. The Mock Interview & feedback process was designed to be efficient and effective, and was conducted in parallel so as to cover all students in 3 days. Based on the performance of the students in Term 2 and the Mock Interviews, 3 new recategorised batches were created. The pace and emphasis on different areas of improvement was moderated for these newly categorised students. The Google Classroom was used to supplement learning, through triggers and stimuli in the form of TED Talks, inspirational videos, Individual as well as Buddy group assignments and suitable Group Discussion (GD) topics.
Outcome:
The impact of the 10 sessions (of 3 hours each) conducted across Term 2 and Term 3 was seen in the quality of Summer Placement offers converted by the 1st year PGDM students. Some students even reported getting 2 to 3 offers from different well known companies. The Corporate Relations Team reported up to 50% higher conversion rates for Summer Placements. The admissions for the next batch were also positively impacted, and the B-School was able to fill all its seats 6 weeks before the normal deadline.
