Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products, began her career with a summer internship at Bloomingdale’s. Former intern and Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns, became the first Black woman to head a Fortune 500 company. Many of our most celebrated leaders began their careers as interns, including Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Oprah.

Attracting top talent is the primary reason companies create internship programs. In a tight labor market like we have today and will have tomorrow, a carefully planned intern program can ensure you have the people you need to succeed.

As business leaders, it’s our responsibility to welcome young professionals to our communities and help develop them into the next generation of leadership. Put yourself in your intern’s shoes and create the experience you would like to have had.

AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR FUTURE

Internships benefit companies of all sizes and in every industry. They provide a less expensive way to support your people and protect them from work overload and burnout. While finding and keeping great people is the most important reason you should establish an intern program, there are numerous other ways internships can help you overcome today’s talent challenges and position you competitively in the future. Internships are valuable in:

  • Creating a pipeline for future hires and leaders
  • Saving overall hiring and training costs
  • Increasing productivity and revenue
  • Reducing burnout and creating better work-life balance for employees
  • Increasing job satisfaction and retention
  • Driving innovation
  • Leveraging technology and marketing efforts
  • Building community
  • Enhancing your employer brand
  • Establishing valuable relationships with possible future leaders and customers

WE OWE IT TO OUR YOUTH AND COMMUNITIES

Vince Lombardi said long ago, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made.” As today’s business leaders, it’s our responsibility, and privilege, to train and develop the leaders of tomorrow. Internships are a valuable and important way to help “make” young professionals the best of the best leaders and give back to our communities.

Internship programs create a win-win environment. While learning experientially on the job, these young professionals can play a key role in meeting your company’s current and future business needs and simultaneously advance their careers to a place they can thrive in life and work.

But there’s a caveat. Depending on how you structure your program and how you treat your interns, these programs can either strengthen or diminish your company image.

Interns live essentially the same experience working with you as employees do. In today’s world, every interaction with your company, whether employee or customer, and whether positive or negative, can be the source of online posts. Because they are young and adept at internet communications, interns are likely to share their experiences working with you online. Companies enhance their reputation by putting careful thought into how they make people feel. By showing employees, including interns, that you value them, you are doing the right thing and protecting your employer Brand.

CRAFTING AN IDEAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

If you have a people-centered culture, use it as a guide to develop a successful internship experience or enhance an existing one. Based on his own experiential learning, my colleague and friend, Sean Taylor, CEO of Smith + Howard, offers his insights on internships. Sean, who began his career at the firm as an intern 29 years ago and was named CEO in 2019, has made the internship process a primary way to find and develop talent at his firm. Under his leadership, Smith + Howard is recognized as a top workplace year after year.

In making this statement to me recently, Sean unwittingly defined his leadership style: “Don’t delegate and dump the emotional intelligence aspect of people management on HR. Have more impact as a CEO by leading with EI and expecting all team leaders to do the same.” He advises that leaders be deeply involved in developing interns. Here’s what that means for him:

  • Be transparent, which helps make it safe for everyone else to be transparent. This is the best way to find people who are aligned with you.
  • Make a special effort to be flexible in meeting the needs of strong women leaders, which we’ve learned more about since Covid.
  • Spend personal time with interns to understand their career path and help them break down their big goals into smaller, achievable ones.
  • Don’t expect supervisors and mentors to know how to support interns. Train them.
  • Give interns constructive feedback and reward those who contribute to the business.
  • Conduct exit interviews yourself, asking each person the same questions about their experiences at your company.

When you help interns develop professional competence and confidence, you’re not only adding value to your company; you’re equipping our next generation to make a difference no matter where they apply their talents. In that way, you are making a difference, too.