MTP TERMINOLOGY DECODED

Management training programmes (MTP) are riddled with jargons that often make little sense to fresh graduates aspiring to a trainee’s role. We demystify some of the more common terms used in such programmes to help you navigate the inner world of MTPs.

MANAGEMENT TRAINEE

As a management trainee, you are a potential talent on a fast-track career path that eventually leads to a leadership role. Training usually comes with the end goal of equipping candidates with technical, general as well as people skills for a specific time period. Regular assessment by a mentor or department determines the candidate’s level of competency.

ROTATION

To expose fresh graduates to the job scope and to discover their strengths, they will be placed in various departments, carrying out different job specifications.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

A process that requires fresh graduates to learn by doing, observing and interacting in a real-time environment. Studies show trainees who are given the chance to practise what they have learned retain up to 75 per cent of the disseminated information.

SIMULATED LEARNING

This is a role-play process that imitates real-world operations. Scenarios are enacted to put trainees’ knowledge and skills to the test in a simulated situation closely resembling reality.

CLASSROOM TRAINING

Considered as the most affordable way to impart an organisation’s values, goals and culture to a large number of staff at the same time, classroom training is a big part of the corporate learning culture, in MTPs and beyond.

ON- AND OFF-JOB TRAINING

On-job training takes place during operational hours where a trainee is given an overview of the department and job-related instructions while rotating between departments. Off-job training may require trainees to attend lectures, audiovisual conferences, or discussions and complete case studies after working hours.

GROOMED TOWARDS MANAGEMENT POSITION

Candidates with significant potential are often taken under a senior executive’s wing, which promises better exposure although there are no guarantees that the candidate will be given a manager’s position at the end. In Japanese culture, such partnerships are revered, and require loyalty and years of dedicated service before assuming position.

SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITION EXPERIENCE

With the understanding that fresh graduates are like empty canvases ready to be filled, school-to-work transition programmes are designed to prepare trainees to meet the demands of working life. The goals of such experiences are to ensure fresh graduates emerge more matured, more responsible, and better motivated to face the challenges of working realities.

SOFT-SKILL TRAINING

While excellent academic results are crucial stepping stones to a successful career, so are social graces. Fresh graduates are usually given additional training in areas such as negotiation skills, time management, business etiquettes, and methods of fostering team spirit.

CRITICAL THINKING AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS

In grooming future leaders, programmes will offer ideas on the tools and practices that will help trainees in decision-making through analysis, empathy, integrity, and fair-mindedness.

INTERNAL WORK PROCESSES

This refers to the inner workings of an organisation, which may include product design and delivery, customer support, supply chain management, and other daily operations that will involve the workforce, customers, and result in profits.

WORK AND ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

A set of qualities that is a product of the company’s history and values that is set up by an organisation for employees to embody. Its function is likened to a blueprint as to how everyone should coordinate their actions to achieve the company’s goals.

REGIONAL EXPOSURE

A trainee may be given a wider outlook on what is happening at the organisation’s operations in other states or countries within a specific boundary to familiarise themselves with the variety and scope covered by an organisation.

MENTOR

A role taken on by a more senior colleague to guide a trainee’s career and personal development. This often involves constant dialogue on the programme, and related challenges and assignments.

INTEGRATION

Integration aims to connect trainees to their real-work situations by introducing placements that are in line with the talents and strengths through links between training providers and employers.

PLACEMENTS

Defined as the assigning of a rank and responsibility in accordance to candidate’s qualifications, it basically means that a trainee is employed as a staff in an organisation.

CORPORATE ORIENTATION

A familiarisation procedure where a trainee is given a background of the organisation’s history, work culture, hierarchy, regulations, disciplinary actions, and so on.

TEAM BUILDING

In team-building exercises, activities are designed to improve bonding between individuals in a group. The objective is to create better understanding and develop a united focus towards common goals.

FAST-TRACK PROGRAMME

An accelerated management training programme that is designed to prepare an individual for a leadership position within a short period of time. Usually reserved for high-performing candidates as programmes like these usually take on a dizzying pace.

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT ROLE

A role that requires one to take on challenging assignments that can take place at any location around the globe. The roles are varied and trainees are required to be flexible, especially when the need for travel arises.

CUSTOMISED TRAINING PROGRAMME

Tailored to an organisation’s unique needs, topics cater to the message the management wants to impart to its trainees.

CRITICAL THINKING AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS

In grooming future leaders, programmes will offer ideas on the tools and practices that will help trainees in decision-making through analysis, empathy, integrity, and fair-mindedness.

INTERNAL WORK PROCESSES

This refers to the inner workings of an organisation, which may include product design and delivery, customer support, supply chain management, and other daily operations that will involve the workforce, customers, and result in profits.

WORK AND ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

A set of qualities that is a product of the company’s history and values set by an organisation for employees to embody. Its function is likened to a blueprint as to how everyone should coordinate their actions to achieve the company’s goals.

REGIONAL EXPOSURE

A trainee may be given a wider outlook on what is happening at the organisation’s operations in other states or countries within a specific boundary to familiarise themselves with the variety and scope covered by an organisation.

MENTOR

A role taken on by a more senior colleague to guide a trainee’s career and personal development. This often involves constant dialogue on the programme, and related challenges and assignments.

INTEGRATION

Integration aims to connect trainees to their real-work situations by introducing placements that are in line with the talents and strengths through links between training providers and employers.

PLACEMENTS

Defined as the assigning of a rank and responsibility in accordance to candidate’s qualifications, it basically means that a trainee is employed as a staff in an organisation.

CORPORATE ORIENTATION

A familiarisation procedure where a trainee is given a background of the organisation’s history, work culture, hierarchy, regulations, disciplinary actions, and so on.

TEAM BUILDING

In team-building exercises, activities are designed to improve bonding between individuals in a group. The objective is to create better understanding and develop a united focus towards common goals.

FAST-TRACK PROGRAMME

An accelerated management training programme that is designed to prepare an individual for a leadership position within a short period of time. Usually reserved for high-performing candidates as programmes like these usually take on a dizzying pace.

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT ROLE

A role that requires one to take on challenging assignments that can take place at any location around the globe. The roles are varied and trainees are required to be flexible, especially when the need for travel arises.

CUSTOMISED TRAINING PROGRAMME

Tailored to an organisation’s unique needs, topics cater to the message the management wants to impart to its trainees.