Going Off Programme

I’m now in the final stages of getting my off programme role. So, as well as finishing up my current rotation, I am also sorting out the details for what happens next after my final ECLP Conference in July. For me, the process has been fairly smooth. During my second and third rotations, I worked on emissions and energy efficiency projects for GE Transportation. As a result of this work and a general new trend in the industry my business wants to create a new role looking at these issues in Europe. I started working on ideas in January with Transportation’s Chief Marketing Officer in terms of what this role might look like, and now we’re just finalising the last details.

It’s exciting to be finishing ECLP and creating a permanent role in a key area of my business. Over the last two years on programme I’ve learned a lot. For example, my first rotation focused heavily on market segmentation – how to understand and analyse the public sector market in a key city and identify the profitable segments, and how to then identify appropriate value propositions for those segments. My second rotation covered pricing – how to put together a bid for a new customer in the rail space and price it correctly so that it opened the door to a wider market in the future.

Now, getting a role off programme feels like the chance to implement all the great new tools I’ve learned.

When I started the ECLP programme, my first assignment leader described it as ‘doing another MBA; only this time in a practical, hands-on way, as opposed to sitting in the class room learning from case studies.’ And I agree. The programme really felt like I was putting dry MBA skills into real-life use on small, eight-month-long projects. Now that I’ve shown I can execute on a small scale, the placement in a permanent role gives me the chance to execute on a much larger scale.

There is a lot about the programme I will miss. Certainly getting the chance to network with other ECLP colleagues and friends twice year was a fulfilling experience, professionally and personally. I also loved that, on programme, I constantly learned new things and enjoyed the excitement of starting a new project every eight months. But everything must come to an end…and I’m ready to sink my teeth into a new role in such an exciting and important area.

Posted by Adrian