As part of the induction of the 2018 Graduate cohort, graduates were required to spend nine working days volunteering in our front line retail and operational facilities. The program consisted of three days working in an Australia Post retail outlet, three days in a letters facility and three days in one of our parcel facilities. This structure aimed to provide breadth across our different front line functions, contributing to a greater knowledge of the foundation of Australia Post.

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The program was developed in consultation with business partners and heads of HR to identify key areas of need in the business where graduates could best be placed. This aimed to ensure a mutual benefit for the graduates experiencing the facilities as well as the sites themselves. This also remedied an existing perception of graduates lacking awareness of the wider operational side of Australia Post.

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Graduates visited the sites in groups of two to five, allowing for personal and professional relationships to be developed prior to entering the business in a working capacity. Here, graduates remarked upon how some of their best and most vivid memories from their induction period came from time spent out in sites.

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This initiative can be seen as an innovation on previous induction years, developing the concept of the site visit that occurred prior to this intake. The revised format of this program allowed graduates to pursue an active involvement in the day-to-day function of our operational sites, carving out their own experiences and memories from the nine days.

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Within the business, the program is already perceived as a successful case study, with plans to replicate it across multiple different talent programs.