Wellbeing for Graduates Workshop: What you need to know:
📖 New: The First 100 Days Framework: The first 100 days of a graduate scheme quietly shape every career that follows. We’ve written up the 12-month graduate wellbeing framework HR teams use to structure a serious programme — plus the five wellbeing challenges every cohort faces. Read the guide.
The practical workshop most clients book for day one of their graduate intake. Built for the year that shapes every career that follows.
Why graduate wellbeing matters more than employers think.
The first year of work shapes every career that follows. Therefore, the wellbeing habits — or the wellbeing damage — built in year one tend to compound. Specifically, the patterns young joiners build around stress, boundaries, sleep, social comparison and asking for help are the patterns they carry into senior leadership.
The data is sharp:
- Mental health concerns are higher in 18-24 year olds than any other working age group — by a clear margin
- The first 6 months of a graduate scheme is when most early-career attrition happens — and most of it is preventable
- Graduate intakes are increasingly diverse in background, neurotype and lived experience. As a result, the one-size-fits-all induction doesn’t work the way it did for previous generations
- The transition from student to professional is genuinely disorienting — new identity, new responsibilities, new financial pressures, new social patterns
However, most graduate programmes onboard with the legal and operational essentials (HR, compliance, systems, tools) and skip the human transition. As a result, the wellbeing capability that should be the foundation of a 30-year career gets left to chance.
This workshop changes that.
🖥️ Also available on demand, perfect for onboarding new joiners and young talent throughout the year.
What the workshop covers
A minute practical session for graduates, interns and new joiners. Specifically:
- The transition from student to professional — what changes, what doesn’t, what people don’t tell you
- Identity at work — being a beginner in public, asking for help, managing imposter feelings
- Energy management — the habits that sustain you across a 40-hour week (and beyond) when you’re used to a different rhythm
- Boundaries that protect early career trajectory — saying no, managing workload, protecting recovery time
- The social side — work friendships, work culture, work-Slack-and-after-work-drinks navigation
- The first signs of stress and burnout — what to watch for, who to talk to, how to ask for help before things escalate
- A one-page personal wellbeing plan — every participant leaves with practical habits to use that week
Every graduate leaves with the language and frameworks to navigate their first year more deliberately. Furthermore, the workshop signals to your new joiners that your organisation takes wellbeing seriously from day one — which is itself a meaningful retention signal.
When to book this workshop:
The best moment is day one or week one of the graduate or intern intake. Specifically, most clients book this as part of the induction programme, alongside the HR / compliance / systems content. Therefore, the wellbeing foundation gets laid before the workload pressure starts.
Other natural booking moments:
- Induction week — the strongest moment
- End of first quarter check-in — to address what’s actually surfaced
- Mid-scheme reset — typically 6-9 months in, around the time first-year fatigue hits
- End of scheme transition — preparing for the move from scheme to substantive role
One accountancy client booked us in for day one of their new intake last September. As a result, by the end of the first quarter they were tracking measurably better retention and self-reported wellbeing than the previous cohort.
Delivered by Sally Lovett — STC founder, 17 years building corporate wellbeing for UK and global employers
Built for graduate schemes, internship programmes and early-careers cohorts
Often booked for day one of a new intake — week one of induction works particularly well
Who delivers the workshop
This workshop is delivered personally by Sally Lovett, founder of Stretching the City. Sally has spent 17 years building workplace wellbeing for UK and global employers, and personally leads the graduate workshops because the audience matters — the first impression of “wellbeing at work” the cohort gets often comes from this session.
Sally is a qualified yoga teacher, wellbeing entrepreneur and senior facilitator. Specifically, she’s delivered hundreds of workshops to UK and global teams across finance, professional services, tech, healthcare and the public sector. Furthermore, the founder-led delivery is part of why the workshop lands — graduates respond differently to someone who’s built the work than to a contracted facilitator.
What clients say
Much welcomed, timely reminders of the things to do for a healthy life.
The feedback from your session was so positive and I know how beneficial the team found it!
Thanks so much for being part of our graduate induction. The workshop was really well received, and I know I have definitely taken away some tips.
How this workshop pairs with others
Graduate wellbeing is the foundation. Therefore, the workshops that pair most naturally are:
- Imposter Syndrome Workshop — for the end of the first quarter, when graduates are starting to compare themselves to peers and feel inadequate
- Boundary Setting in the Workplace — for the 6-month point when workload pressure typically peaks
- Stress Management Workshop — for the mid-scheme reset
- Mental Health Training for Managers — for the line managers receiving new graduates
Many clients build a year-long graduate wellbeing programme bundling several of these. Therefore, worth scoping a signature wellbeing programme if you’re committing to graduate wellbeing across the year.
Wellbeing for Graduates & New Joiners: FAQs
Is this workshop only for graduates, or does it work for other new joiners too?
Both. Specifically, the workshop is built around the student-to-professional transition, which most directly serves graduate schemes, internships and early-careers programmes. However, the content also works for any new joiner cohort — career changers, apprentices, return-to-work programmes. As a result, the same workshop can serve different first-year audiences with light tailoring.
When in the graduate scheme should we book it?
Day one or week one of the intake is the strongest moment. Specifically, the workshop sits naturally inside the induction programme alongside HR, compliance and systems content. Therefore, the wellbeing foundation is laid before the workload starts. Other natural moments are the end of the first quarter, the mid-scheme reset (6-9 months in) and the end-of-scheme transition.
Can it be tailored to our sector?
Yes. We adapt scenarios, language and the action-plan template to your sector — particularly useful for finance, professional services, tech, healthcare and the public sector. Furthermore, tailoring usually adds two to three days to the delivery timeline.
Do you offer a version for the managers receiving new graduates?
Yes. A 45-minute manager-only add-on covers what’s specifically different about supporting young joiners — the developmental angle, the wellbeing signals to watch for, and how to set new graduates up for sustainable success. Furthermore, many clients book the graduate workshop in the morning and the manager add-on the same afternoon.
What does it cost?
Pricing depends on cohort size, format (in-person or virtual) and any tailoring. Multi-workshop graduate programmes are priced more favourably than one-offs. Book a discovery call and we’ll send a clear quote within 48 hours.
