As employees across the country return to in-office work, thousands of college students and young professionals are starting summer internships.
In my last column, I shared five tips to help interns maximize their summer experience. Now, it’s time to flip the script. A good internship program isn’t a zero-sum game, it’s an equal value exchange where both the employers and interns win.
Here are five tips to help companies improve their internship programs and get the most out of their summer interns.
Pay Your Interns
Paid internships are critical to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In recent decades, internships have become a necessity for nearly every entry level job. But if you’re a college student or recent graduate who is struggling to make ends meet, how do you afford to get the requisite experience to nab that coveted first job? If the only people who can afford internships are those with means, we’re at risk of creating a two-tier system that exacerbates outstanding inequalities.
Not only does paying your interns strengthen DEI and build a richer, more culturally diverse workplace, it also articulates value. Compensating interns sends a signal that your company appreciates their work and reinforces the notion that they are truly part of the team. Lastly, it pushes managers to assign meaningful work and treat interns in the same way they would treat full-time employees.
The bottom line: Pay your interns—it’s both the right and smart thing to do.
Facilitate Mentorship Opportunities
One of the best ways to provide value to your employees and your interns is to create a strong mentorship culture. Building quality bonds between interns and staff isn’t hard, but it does require some strategic intention that begins with operations. If your interns are huddled in the back corner of the office, or stuck in cubicles far away from the action, you’re isolating them from the rest of the team. Interns should be woven into the fabric of every workplace. Give them a seat at the table and you’ll be amazed how much they learn and grow just by watching.
Assign every intern a “buddy” or mentor who will help guide them throughout their time at the company. Before their internship begins, have every intern participate in a prospective mentee survey, which should also be completed by prospective mentors. Analyze the data and find quality pairings. Look for mentors and mentees who have similar personalities, backgrounds and areas of interest. If there’s an intern who is looking to improve their writing skills, pair them with an employee who is a great writer.
Don’t assume that every pairing will be a match made in heaven–and sometimes you may need to adjust on the fly and switch partners. Creating lasting relationships requires thought and time, but the end result is worth it. A decade from now, your interns probably won’t remember the projects you gave them, but they will remember their mentors. By creating a strong mentorship program, you’re fostering a constructive work culture that benefits all employees regardless of seniority.
Assign Meaningful Projects
It may seem obvious, but getting the most out of your interns requires giving them actual, meaningful work. Not every task has to be fun, but there’s no better way to kill productivity–and morale–than assigning repeated administrative and clerical tasks. Stretch projects that last the entire internship are great ways to keep your interns engaged, excited, and productive on slower days. Try assigning group projects that force interns to collaborate across teams and with different departments to advance shared goals.
Every year, I ask our (RED) fellows to complete a year-end project that encapsulates everything they’ve learned throughout their time at our organization. Fellows are then asked to present their findings in an all-staff meeting. Unsurprisingly, these projects have generated some ingenious ideas that we’ve actually pursued and implemented.
Entrusting interns with real work requires companies and managers to relinquish some control and empower others. Yes, we’ve all heard horror stories about an intern who tweets something they shouldn’t and it instantly becomes news. But these instances are few and far between. The immense value of giving your interns real work far exceeds any potential danger. Allowing young talent to wilt on a vine poses a far greater risk to your company.
Create Feedback Loops
The best part about having summer interns in the office is their dynamism, energy, and ideas. To get the most out of their internship, you should be intentional about creating strong feedback loops.
Interns are a great bridge to better understand today’s culture and trends. Tapping into this knowledge requires companies to listen and implement certain practices that facilitate information gathering. When you hold a brainstorm meeting with your team, invite the interns and ask for their ideas and opinions first. If you start soliciting viewpoints from your senior leaders first, you increase the potential for groupthink.
Executives should get in the habit of meeting with their interns regularly, even if they aren’t direct reports. These candid, one-on-one conversations are a great opportunity for leaders to hear unfiltered information on what is and isn’t working at the company.
Finally, be intentional about your internship exit interviews and surveys. Positive comments are nice, but constructive comments help your company improve. You’d be amazed just how much knowledge your interns will accumulate in just a few months and the ideas they come up with. The obligation is on you–the employer– to create the right environment and culture where interns feel comfortable sharing their true feelings and insights.
Play The Long Game
Internships aren’t a limited term engagement, they are a long-term investment.
Your company will likely spend weeks recruiting and interviewing potential internship candidates, who will then spend months working and learning at your company. You shouldn’t just allow this talent to walk out the door forever at the end of the internship. Successful companies adopt a Hotel California approach to keeping past interns in the family.
Your company should invest in creating an alumni network that enables past and present interns to stay connected. This could be as simple as a LinkedIn group, email list or an annual in-person gathering. Having an established network not only makes your internship more appealing to prospective candidates, it also creates a valuable echo chamber for your company’s work. The next time you need help spreading a message, packing a room, or recruiting candidates for a hard-to-fill job opening, it helps to have an established network of young people who are passionate about your company.
You should also make it clear to your employees that when good interns are preparing to end their internship, it’s an expectation that the company and its leaders will do what they can to help those interns progress forward in their careers. Creating a workplace where staff proactively offer to write letters of recommendation or give career advice should be the norm, not the exception.
People talk. Companies with great internship programs attract great interns. Invest in a strong internship culture now and you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.
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