Abbas Master, Associate Director - MI&A Assessments, CRISIL is leading the analytical team at Assessments Business of CRISIL which encompasses gradings, due diligence, and assessments across sectors such as Education, Real Estate, Microfinance, SMEs, and Automobile. With close to two decades of experience, Abbas Master has extensive domain expertise in credit ratings, credit underwriting, risk assessments, sector research & consulting, and data analytics. He has played a key role in the development of grading framework across sectors, platform development and works closely with various regulators in policy and decision making.

Binaifer Jehani, Business Head - MI&A Assessments, CRISIL is spearheading the Assessments Business of CRISIL which encompasses grading SMEs, conducting various due diligence initiatives, and assessing and measuring the effectiveness of social impact programs, initiatives, and policies. With over two decades of experience, Binaifer has tracked more than 25 sectors and has extensive experience across practices such as strategy, research and consulting, monitoring and evaluation, and data analytics. She has played a key role in the development of rigorous sectoral and financial frameworks with a key focus on evidence-backed analysis. She has been a prominent speaker at various industry forums.

In this article let us look at the four steps for B schools to boost engagement with former students, and how to benefit from it.

Word-of-mouth is an effective mode of publicity for educational institutions. In fact, it is more impactful than any big advertising or marketing campaign. This is true with all disciplines, from engineering to medicine to law to management. The reputation of an educational institution rests on better student outcomes. Hence, the alumni become one of the key stakeholders for these institutions.

They are considered the brand ambassadors and their success in their respective fields adds immensely to the reputation of their alma mater. For business schools in India, which operate in an intensely competitive environment, the alumni will come in handy in their efforts to boost their brand.

However, during our grading assignments, we have observed that only higher-graded business schools in the country (A and above) have an active alumni engagement program that offers any tangible benefits to the institution.

The benefits range from strong recruitment relationships to alumni sponsorship for student ventures and the setting up of research chairs. That said, there are schools, both older and younger, that hold annual alumni meetings, publish newsletters or provide institute updates for the alumni, and invite alumni as guest speakers and admission panel experts as part of their efforts to engage the alumni.

However, not many younger programs/institutes have frequent meetups of regional alumni chapters.

Here are four steps that domestic business schools can take to better harness the potential of their alumni networks.

Create a strong alumni community that is beneficial

Most business schools have an alumni association with an on-campus coordinator maintaining an active database and regularly sending out updates, including through social media. But these functions hold only a nostalgic value. To make it more beneficial for the members, the community must have some other engagements, too, to bind them together. For instance, some of the top reputed schools have career forums on their websites. They organize classroom programs or webinars for continuing education, and alumni clubs and interface with faculty members for guidance or knowledge sharing.

They also offer directory services which can be used to reach out to any registered alumni in a given city or organisation. Some of the schools have also set up job forums, functional clubs, and life-long learning avenues for the alumni.

Young institutes in India can also devise similar programs for their alumni. For instance, they can conduct a day-long management development program for alumni with at least five years of professional experience.

Keep track of alumni performance and success

This is a practice some of the top Indian business schools follow as part of their alumni recognition program. Tracking alumni performance means actively seeking recruiter feedback to build alumni equity. For one, the schools can strengthen their relationships with companies where the alumni are doing well, get industry projects for students, and seek opportunities for faculty interaction.

For most of the top institutes, their deep-rooted recruitment relationship with companies is their USP.

While older business schools have alumni in senior, influential positions, younger programs/institutes need to actively find well-performing alumni and engage them to strengthen their relationship with the company. The schools can invite them to hold guest counseling or motivation sessions for the students.

Involve alumni in student admissions

Many top business schools ensure that they engage their alumni to influence the admission decisions of eligible students in the country.

This is a strategy that younger programs or institutes in non-metro locations in India can use. During our grading discussions, we have seen students making their admission decisions based on locational preferences or because of financial constraints.

For institutes looking to admit students from across India, getting alumni members to vouch for their program will be of immense help.

However, most of our top-graded institutes have alumni members in their interview panels as experts. This makes sense for institutes that have a large pool of applicants to select from.

While for younger programs the prospective student pool may not be that wide, it will be advisable to engage the alumni members to gauge the potential industry-readiness of candidates.

This will help the institute have a better understanding of the students' strengths and weaknesses and prepare them accordingly.

Instil the idea that alumni are stakeholders right from the beginning

Students need to feel that they are also responsible for the development of their institution right from Day One on the campus. This will encourage them to make a whole-hearted contribution to the institute once they pass out. Many top business schools have alumni-sponsored campus events, entrepreneurial ventures, and research cells.

Most of these institutes have students at the forefront of managing campus amenities (mess, transport, and hostel funds) and important events such as placements. Student accountability is, therefore, an area that requires improvement. It will also make them responsible alumni.