Internships Add High Value to Your Organization
Have you thought about hiring an intern, but hesitated because you thought it was too much effort? Do you worry that your organization is too small to attract interns?
Fear not. Internships offer a multitude of benefits not only for interns, but for companies, nonprofits, and government agencies of all size, as well.
Here are six reasons that internships add high value to your organization.
1. Advertise Your Organization to Colleges and College Students
No matter the state of the economy, it’s vital to find ways to make your organization stand out on college campuses. Having a reputation for providing high-value internships will help you stand out in a crowded field. When interns have great experiences with your organization, they will sing your praises, making you a more attractive employer for new graduates and future interns.
2. Add Diversity
Data confirms that diverse organizations make better decisions and have higher profits. One of the best ways to add diversity to an organization is to start at the intern level, where it seems easier to find qualified candidates of both genders, and different racial make-up, ethnicities and backgrounds. It is also an easy way to add age diversity to your team.
3. Strengthen Your Vision, Values, and Processes
When your organization takes its responsibility to mentor and train the next generation of leaders seriously, you gain the benefit of getting crystal clear on your organization’s mission, vision, core values, and operational processes. Interns will often ask the questions more senior employees may not because they seek to understand the “why” behind processes. The intern enters your organization with a fresh set of eyes and hasn’t developed an attitude of “we do it that way because that’s how we’ve always done it.” You’d pay a consultant top-dollar to question your processes. Even if you cannot immediately address every issue raised due to time constraints, by the end of the internship, you will likely have a list of areas to strengthen and can build them into your schedule during your next planning session.
4. Energize Your Existing Team
With the constant drum of deadlines, challenging projects, and high-expectation clients, it can be easy to get lost in your work and just plain tired. Interns bring natural energy to the existing team through their enthusiasm and youthful inquisitiveness.
5. Create Leadership Opportunities
For interns to be successful, they need a mentor and champion. Allowing your emerging leaders a chance to mentor an intern creates a win-win. Interns benefit from the mentor’s guidance and an emerging leader benefits from an opportunity to spread her wings by leading the intern through many aspects of daily production and service, as well as reinforce her ability to effectively delegate. Just make sure to provide your selected mentor with back-up and time to focus on the added responsibility so you can set her up for success.
6. Grow Future Employees
Internships provide companies with an opportunity to evaluate prospective employees on soft skills, including fit, that are difficult to assess in the interview process. Additionally, hiring former interns for entry-level positions reduces the amount of onboarding needed and gives the former interns a head start over other new employees. Studies have shown that upwards of 40% of new employees are expected to come from former intern candidates.
Even if you haven’t had an intern before, and have no structured internship program, invest a little time to create one. Develop a list of experiences and activities you want your intern to engage in that balances some nagging items that permanent staff hasn’t gotten to with fun opportunities, so the internship is motivating and mutually beneficial. The meatier you make your internships, the better. Consider taking the intern to a sales meeting, new building job site, or existing customer check-in lunch to show him all aspects of successfully running your business. These actions will leave a strong impression of your organization in the mind of both your intern and your customers.
