How to Launch Successful Internship Programs

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workforce.com February 7, 2008

This Week: How to Launch Successful Internship Programs Implementing a Job Rotation Plan That Is Fair to All Determining Whether a Not-For-Profit Organization Should Use Incentive Pay Changing Problem Behaviors of an Otherwise Good Employee Please, feel free to share this information, and forward this newsletter to a colleague! If this newsletter was forwarded to you, get your own copy—FREE!

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How Do We Launch Internships and Ensure They Won't Be a Wasted Effort? What are the elements of a good internship model? We are trying to create one from scratch. Any insights on how to design our selection process and accompanying training programs would be especially helpful. —Starting From Scratch, HR consultant, services, Sydney, Australia   Internships are a popular way to attract new talent to your organization, with some estimates showing about one-fourth of all new hires from campuses are sourced through employers' own internship programs. In a tight talent market, a strong internship program can be a significant way to attract new hires. It also provides many benefits to the interns selected. Students know that a successful internship can be the ticket to a great job. And the relationships built during an internship can be the basis of a professional network that helps launch a successful career. Once you've decided to use interns in your organization, it is important to take the time to carefully plan for an effective program. Here are the key elements you should consider: Think of the big picture Chew over your organization's needs well in advance of launching the internship program. Consider areas where your workload needs support, where you anticipate projects that can be assigned to a new hire, and the supervisors you can assign to manage the intern. In your planning, consider also the timeline for screening and selecting qualified interns, as well as the payroll budget, office space and computer. Before you roll out the internship program, it's a good idea to create the job description, eligibility requirements, compensation structure and the ways the intern will be evaluated at the conclusion of the program. Give interns a meaningful assignment Setting aside the right projects for interns is a key step. Having an intern shadow other employees without producing specific results—or work on menial assignments that guarantee boredom—will not help build your company's reputation as a great place to work. You'll need a sharp eye to identify projects with just the right amount of challenge. Projects should be meaty learning opportunities with a definite business payback. Clarify those objectives As with other positions, it is important that you develop clear accountabilities for the intern, with measurable goals and objectives. This helps to reduce the likelihood of misunderstanding or disappointment on the part of the intern and the company. Tap your best supervisors An intern can require a fair amount of supervision, so your internship program needs to take that into account. Select a supervisor who understands the importance of the internship program and who will work effectively to ensure the person is both learning and doing. Plan and budget While some internships are unpaid, many are not. It's a good idea to do some research in your area to see what other employers are doing, so you have a program that attracts the talent you want. Internships also can be designed to offer academic credit; if so, your program must have strong documentation that shows the educational value and learning objectives. Pay attention to selection and onboarding Just as with other positions, you should select interns carefully and provide them with the same orientation that you give to other new hires. Be clear about company expectations, work rules and protocols, since interns must adhere to the same policies as other employees. Some interns are new to the world of work, so a solid orientation improves the odds of success. Be clear about who the intern can go to for assistance, and help the intern get a sense of both the formal and the informal communication processes. Evaluate performance An effective internship delivers on the goals established at the outset of the program. People should be evaluated at the end of their internships on strengths and achievements, as well as areas that need improvement. Start with the end in mind, by setting goals for interns and measuring their ability to meet those goals. That will give the best shot at creating a high-quality internship program. SOURCE: Patsy Svare, the Chatfield Group, Glenview, Illinois, January 10, 2008. LEARN MORE: Learn how to build an intern inventory. Return to Top

How Do We Implement Job Rotation That Serves Both Top Performers and People Who Have Hit a Performance Plateau? How do we apply a job rotation policy to provide opportunities for both "star performers" and "plateaued employees"? What should be the ideal duration for a rotation? —Fair-Minded, assessment manager, technology, India   I think your issue goes deeper than figuring out a job rotation policy. You want to keep giving the right opportunities and challenges to your stars. At the same time, you want to help your "plateaued" employees find opportunities that put them back on the path to stardom. We all want two things from our jobs: opportunity and positive support. The key is to find the right opportunity for each employee or manager. Some people want to become leaders or managers. Others value the chance to be more creative, while for others the motivation is making more money. Every employee or manager, from entry level to the CEO, wants opportunity from their job. The second thing we want from our jobs is positive support. We want to feel appreciated. When an employee or manager receives both, it is absolutely amazing what they can accomplish. And what happens when we don't receive opportunity and positive support? We are not very happy. We might come to work, but we aren't happy. We have become a "bye-bye" person. These people are everywhere. They tend to hang out with the grumpy zombies, infecting young, energetic employees with their negativity and constant whining. You can easily spot them at work. They tend to hang around vending machines, break rooms and smoking areas. If they work on a computer, they play solitaire. At least once a week they will have a dentist appointment, sick dog, outpatient elective surgery or jury duty. They play a lot of sudoku during the day. Here are a few ideas that will help you make the right choices. Talk to both your stars and those who have reached a plateau. Find out about the opportunities they are seeking. Have them write down what it is they want from their jobs. Give the employees ownership of the rotation policy. They should be part of the process. When we have ownership and responsibility for something, we start to care. When employees start to care, the next step is passion. Your ultimate goal is for all your employees to develop passion for their jobs. Communicate with your employees about the rotation policy. What are their ideas? What works for them? What works for you? As a manager, ask yourself one question: How can I make the other people around me more successful? As you put the rotation policy together, answer that question and act on it and you will have a very successful team. If you don't care who gets the credit, and if you learn to support and take care of the person next to you, the entire work environment will quickly change. Don't be afraid to change. If you try one rotation policy and it is not working for everyone, then try something different. Sometimes we have to admit we made a mistake. We must slow down, reassess and then try a new path. Teach your employees to take ownership of their happiness and passion. Too many times, employees let other people's actions or words determine their happiness. Help your employees understand that happiness is a choice. We have no control over many issues in the workplace. We always have control of our attitude and how we react to those issues. We do have a choice to wake up every morning happier and more energized. Help your employees and managers make the choices in the job rotation policy that will create the right opportunities for everyone. SOURCE: Joel Zeff, author, Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative and Productive Work Life, January 8, 2008. LEARN MORE: Please read how BAE Systems uses job rotation to encourage organization-wide learning. Return to Top

How Do We Know Whether Our Not-For-Profit Organization Should Use Incentive Pay? How could we develop and implement an incentive compensation plan for our not-for-profit organization? We aren't sure it even makes sense to do this, but are mulling whether it would be more effective than paying people only with salaries. Advice? —Clamoring for Insight, budget director, nonprofit, West Kingston, Rhode Island   Just because you are a not-for-profit organization, don't make the assumption that an incentive program won't work. All not-for-profits, including charitable organizations, must operate as any other business in some very basic ways. Recruiting and retaining effective employees is a good example. This is a fundamental business need that will significantly affect decisions, such as whether to implement an incentive program. Your organization should consider two parallel approaches in determining this need. First, assess the demands of the specific labor market in which you operate. A not-for-profit organization that recruits talent from, or loses talent to, for-profit companies will need to make sure that employees are paid competitively. Use the data from any labor-market or pay evaluation to analyze both base pay and total cash compensation for all positions. It does not necessarily mean that you have to provide incentive pay to employees (or even to all levels of employees), but you will need to make sure that your pay levels are within striking distance of total cash compensation in the labor market. Otherwise, you risk losing talented employees. A second approach will consider your organization's mission, culture, business strategy and human resources strategy. For example, many not-for-profit organizations today use balanced scorecards to manage business success. Scorecards are an ideal device for supporting incentive programs, since they are predicated on achieving specific performance goals in four critical areas of business performance: customer service, financial, operational, and learning and development. If pay for performance is a part of that strategy, incentive pay may be a vital part of how your organization achieves business success. In any case, it is critical to ensure that an incentive program makes sense within the context of your organization's business strategy. Once you decide to implement an incentive strategy, your work is only beginning. In terms of plan design, there are a large number of factors to consider, including performance measures, levels of participation/payout, alignment and weighting of various performance measures, measurement systems and others. Alternative designs should be examined and tested before implementing the full program. Employees should understand why the plan is necessary, how it works, and what they must do to succeed. These decisions are more easily made in light of a sound and well-defined business rationale that combines your findings from the two approaches outlined above. SOURCE: Bob Fulton, the Pathfinder's Group, Naperville, Illinois, January 3, 2008. LEARN MORE: Please read more on how to link performance measures to pay. Return to Top

How Do I Change Problem Behaviors of an Otherwise Good Employee? How do you handle an employee who is basically a very good employee, but has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and whose behavior often causes problems for co-workers? Some complaints include: 1) Yells out questions without first looking for the answer himself; 2) Asks questions without providing all details; 3) Tends to ramble when making a point; 4) Feels he must do everything himself; 5) Hounds people who don't immediately reply to his requests. —Taming a Problem Child, HR director, education, Buffalo, New York   Take an employee with great attention to detail, sense of urgency and personal commitment to getting the job done; add a few interpersonal skills, and you've got the recipe for a star performer. Here is what to do: Get the facts Sometimes irritating behavior is under-reported by co-workers; more often, the story grows in the telling. One of the worst things you could do is to confront an employee with bad or insufficient information. Doing so can has a negative impact on the employees, their perception of you and your organization, and negates the effectiveness of the intervention. Get at least three specific examples of each problem behavior (this is generally an ample number to convince the employee that a change is warranted). Observe the behavior yourself, if possible. This makes it easier to describe the conduct and its impact when you speak with the employee. The employee will also be less embarrassed than if you have only tales brought to you by co-workers. It's one thing if the boss sees an opportunity for you to improve. It's another thing entirely if your co-workers are talking about you behind your back. If it is impractical for you to see firsthand what's happening, then compile specific, detailed observations (day, time, specifically what happened, etc.) from co-workers to reinforce your coaching. Prioritize and be patient In most cases, such as with the employee you describe, there's more than one distinct behavior to be changed. Only so much can be accomplished at one time. Trying to deal with too many problems at once will only increase frustration for everyone and may actually undermine your coaching effort. Before meeting with the employee, decide which behavior(s) you will work on first. Prioritize the rest and plan to work on each over a reasonable period of time. The employee above, for example, could easily be coached to hand off work to the appropriate person. Learning to get to the point quickly when sharing information may take more time and might be better done after you've had an initial success with the employee. Determine what you want Telling someone what they are doing wrong is only part of the solution. Tell the employee what you want clearly and in enough detail that they will get the picture of what desired behavior sounds and looks like. It is best to share several specific examples of each desired behavior with the employee. Tell the employee above, for example, that they should typically wait at least a full workday before repeating a request for information, and not to go to other employees unless the first person can't help. This is a specific, measurable and easily understood solution to the last issue mentioned. Meet with the employee and plan positive reinforcement Meet privately with the employee to discuss the needed change, the advantages to the employee if changes are made, and the specific behaviors you want to see—and to develop a plan to monitor those changes as they occur. Working with the employee, develop a plan to ensure that he or she gets immediate feedback when undesirable behaviors occur, as well as positive reinforcement when improvement happens. Since you may not always be available, the employee might even consider asking a co-worker for help in this respect. You should plan to meet with the employee at least weekly to discuss progress and provide additional support as needed. Time for a team checkup One final thought: If all you are hearing is complaints, it may be time to take a critical look at your team. Good teams do more than complain; they pitch in and help one another succeed. Do your employees truly understand that they are empowered and are expected to help others? Do they have the assertiveness and coaching skills needed to do so well? Enhancing co-workers' abilities in these critical areas will result in more team cohesiveness and better overall results. SOURCE: Richard D. Galbreath, Performance Growth Partners, Bloomington, Illinois, January 24, 2008. LEARN MORE: Please read more on the importance of setting job goals and managing performance year-round. Return to Top

   

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