As the electrical industry continues to evolve, the emphasis on training and talent development continues to grow. In a recent move to expand its employees’ capabilities, Legrand, a global manufacturer in power, light and data solutions with U.S. headquarters in West Hartford, Conn., launched its inaugural talent development program designed to train its next generation of sales and marketing professionals.
The program will place seven recent college graduates within the Legrand sales and marketing teams for a two-year, in-depth training program that will seek to lay the foundation for their future success. The development program will immerse participants into Legrand’s diverse product lines, with the goal of providing the tools, knowledge and experience needed to be successful in an independent sales or marketing role.
The full-time, rotation-based program exposes participants to a variety of roles, with the added benefit of direct mentoring and developmental guidance from seasoned Legrand employees, including direct access to senior leadership. Another component of the rotation will allow trainees to learn the customer side of the sales channel by placing them with a variety of distribution partners.
“The goal of this new program is to cultivate the skills necessary to best serve the varying needs of our customers and markets,” said Steve Schoffstall, Vice President of Marketing for Legrand, North America. “By offering motivated young professionals a structured environment, where they are able to absorb the knowledge of mentors from each of Legrand’s business units, we can be assured that these future leaders are well-versed in the legacy, heritage and values of the company.”
Schoffstall also said Legrand hopes to glean insights from the Millennials in its program to help the company forecast the future of its operations and development.
The 2014 class is: Alexander Getty, Jillian Young, Ryan Trotter, Andreanna Johnson, Alexandra Kimball, Kyle Smith and Phillip Hill.
Once this inaugural class completes its first year, Legrand said it will assess their strengths and interests to determine a more focused program for the second year that prepares each participant for their permanent role within the organization.