Fully utilize your summer student employees

It is the time of year when summer students begin to start their work sessions with companies.  Surprisingly, many companies do not properly prepare for the arrival of their summer students and in doing so, fail to maximize the return on their investment.

Summer students are hungrier for opportunities more than ever, they are more inclined to satisfy vs. summer students in past decades and with a better grasp on technology than older employees, they are often able to bring new skills to companies.  Make sure to spend some time planning the work that you want to accomplish over the next 4 months and start to take advantage of those resources. 

Make sure to engage each division unit on the work that they would like to accomplish over the summer as we'll as any challenges that they expect to face.  Challenges are usually related to delivering mandates with less employees as the vacation season begins.

Late summer is also a great time to soft launch unpopular or difficult projects or process change projects.  As many employees go on vacation, it allows for a smaller executional risk . Technology implementations or portions of an SAP initiative are perfect to launch at this time.  Be sure to have all ducks in line this summer before a late summer launch, and summer students are ideal for setting the table for these projects.  Data collection, administration, record organization and other areas are ideal for summer students.  Anytime I.T. and other project stakeholders are able to reduce their workloads for projects such as these can often lead to better feelings about the projects as well as increased efficiency.

It is also important to remember that summer students are a surprisingly strong marketing vehicle for the company. A good summer experience leads to positive reviews for a company and this contributes to employee morale, prospective employee interest and increased productivity. The keys to good experience for a summer student usually start with engaging them as though they are a regular employee as well as reiterating the importance of their contributions.  Clear communication allows expectations and work load to be best managed.

Be sure to provide entrance and exit meetings for the students as it will reiterate the professional approach of the company. This helps both sides in determining what was accomplished versus set goals, and highlights progress for both sides which establishes a sense of accomplishment. 

The last tip is to stretch these summer students. They are often more skilled than people give them credit.  It is common to hear of a summer student who drastically increases productivity by applying a technology process that reduces the amount of time vs. a long established process.  Sometimes students are hesitant to suggest change so as to not "rock the boat", but let them know that their opinions are valued.

Don't be the executive at the end of the summer who comes up with a great project idea to only then realize that their underutilized summer student is now going back to school.

Farewell,

Mike