A bi-weekly column introducing key trainee programmes
The Jardine Matheson Group, with a history dating back to the early 1830s, has its fair share of time-honoured traditions. One of the longest running is the Jardine Executive Trainee Scheme (JETS), which traces its origins to the early days and is regarded as among the best programmes of its kind in Hong Kong.
Recruits for the scheme are taken on from countries where there is an established business presence. The aim, of course, is to give successive intakes of management trainees the skills to be future leaders of business operations with an extensive international reach.
According to Ritchie Bent, the group's head of human resources, the average intake of trainees is eight per year, with a maximum of 10. Competition for places is fierce as only about 1 per cent of applicants are successful.
Mr Bent said that JETS offered more than comparable programmes run by other multinationals. During the three-year training period, there are opportunities to work in different group companies, to have an overseas posting, to receive guidance from five experienced mentors and to qualify as a chartered management accountant under the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) programme. Each trainee is expected to complete this qualification, which is part of the structured development of leadership and general management skills.
'Other multinationals may offer any combination of these, but not all of them,' said Mr Bent.
