AGR currently runs five task groups which have been set up to support the association’s activities in specific areas. Each group is chaired by an AGR Board Member who reports progress to the board every quarter, and to the wider AGR membership at the annual general meeting (usually in November). Members of the task group agree to undertake specific actions or small projects to increase AGR’s ability to undertake certain projects. The five task groups are:
- Conference Planning
- Development
- Education and Training
- Membership
- Research and Information
The following sections contain more information about each group, along with contact details for the AGR officer responsible for the group. If you are interested in getting involved with a group please contact the AGR in the first instance.
Conference Planning
Navjot Singh, Shell (Chair)
Ella Wilkinson, JP Morgan
Hannah Berry, SAS
Helen Bostock
Jayne Cullen TMP Worldwide
Natalie Hildon, Merrill Lunch
Tim Lotherington, Euro RSCG Riley
Tracy Shah, Venture Marketing Group
Mandate
Planning of AGR’s annual summer conference, including review and selection of presentations for the event.
Areas of activity
This group convenes towards the end of every year to coordinate the planning activities that lead up to AGR’s annual conference.
They tackle all elements of the process, from the selection of the overall conference theme, planning the timetable, suggestions for keynote speakers, selection of seminars and workshops following the annual “call for presenters” and of course the social aspects of the conference.
Contact: Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive, AGR,
carl@agr.org.uk
Development
Bob Athwal, RWE nPower, (Chair)
Alyson Challans, UK National Grid
Jill Pennington
Julian Bell, Diagio
Justine James, Talent Smoothie
Scott Hobbs, Amey
Simon Reichwald, Bright Futures
Sonja Stockton, PwC
Mandate To guide AGR’s approach to offering services to Graduate Developers, with a particular focus on strengthening the links between graduate recruiters and graduate developers.
Current areas of activity
The Development task group has made great progress in recent years with a number of initiatives. The group was responsible for the design and development of “The Fifth Element” — part of the AGR Standard which focuses specifically on graduate development with a dedicated two day expertise session and half day master class.
In 2008, the group introduced a new award at the AGR Conference. The Graduate Development award is designed to acknowledge the employer who has demonstrated significant achievements in graduate development during the year.
Finally, the group has developed the The National One Day Conference which focused on graduate development in 2008 and 2009, and this is fast becoming a cornerstone of our events schedule.
Contact: Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive, AGR,
carl@agr.org.uk
Education and Training
Anglie Johns, Waitrose (Chair)
Alison Heron, KPMG
Ashley Hever, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Iain Heath, Centrica
Jillian Burton, Lloyds Register
Katrina Rostrup, Gradweb
Monica Deshpende, University of Westminster
Natasha Glaves, Stafford Long
Rachel Burlton, Common Purpose
Sam Fox, AGR Trainer
Sam Marchant, McKinsey
Tessa McEwan, AGR Trainer
Mandate
Development, delivery and evaluation of training services including the AGR Standard. You can find more information about the AGR Standard here.
Areas of activity A full programme of training courses is underway, ranging from The Overview of Graduate Recruitment through to specific expertise sessions and master classes on engaging with higher education, marketing, selection, development and evaluating programme effectiveness.
The group continually reviews the content of AGR’s courses on a rolling basis to ensure that they remain up to date, and that they tackle the issues which are most pertinent to graduate recruiters and developers.
The task group also explores what other development needs graduate recruiters have, including the more experienced professional
Contact: Gary Argent, AGR Operations Manager,
gary@agr.org.uk
Membership
Donna Miller, Enterprise Rent-a-Car (Chair)
Alex Foster, The Guardian
Alice Bertin, Danone
Allan Brown, Graduate Prospects
Dan Hawes, The Graduate Recruitment Bureau
Emma Hardaker-Jones, BP
Jayne Cullen, TMP Worldwide
Jessica Davies, Accenture
Liz Burton, GlaxoSmithKline
Lucy Orfeur, Barkers
Paul Clark, GTI
Sara Reading, KPMG
Tom Chesterton, Work Communications
Mandate
- Membership growth and retention
- Service development and monitoring
- Satisfaction surveys
- Industry Sector Focus Groups
Areas of activity
The Membership Task Group is currently working on ways of expanding the influence and membership of AGR beyond its traditional boundaries; including careers services, SMEs, local authorities and employers from outside the UK.
The Membership Task Group wants to make recruitment of new members a responsibility of all members and has established a permanent member-get-member scheme in collaboration with Red Letter Days - updates available through the website.
Contact: Gary Argent, AGR Operations Manager,
gary@agr.org.uk
Research & Information
Marina Aldridge, Audit Commission (Chair)
Ben Jackson, GradWeb
Claudine Love, The Guardian
Emily Wilton, Cancer Research
Gordon Chesterman, Cambridge University
Hannah Berry, SAS
Kerry Jarred,Jarred Consulting
Leigh Lafever-Ayer, Enterprise rent a car
Mark Donmall, Logica
Rachel Forrester, Bank of America
Sophie Best, Watson Wyatt
Darren Harris, aia
Mandate
- Publications strategy and delivery of the AGR website
- Editorial Board for Graduate Recruiter
- Briefing/hot topic papers
- Research
Areas of activity The group are currently working on AGR's major research project for 2009 There are also a series of new AGR briefings to be launched over the coming year, and they continue to be responsible for the development of the AGR website.
Contact: Tracy Nolan, AGR Information Services Manager,
tracy@agr.org.uk