Millennials want opportunities for meaningful work from the start of their employment. They are ambitious in their professional development and look to the workplace to build their community and network.
Many companies are successful at providing Millennials with meaningful internships so that they convert to full-time hires. However, these same organizations often fail to retain their Millennials as employees, because the full-time employment experience differs too greatly from the intern experience.
This is why Millennials love you as interns and leave you as employees:
- Interns are urged to meet new people and explore the company, while full-time hires are discouraged from actively networking
- Interns receive messages such as "our doors are always open," while full-time hires hear "know your place"
- Interns enjoy explicit career-pathing guidance, while full-time hires receive little or no career development
- Interns work for managers invested in their experience, while full-time hires report to whomever has headcount, regardless of that manager's people skills
Intern programs are costly and must have a high return on investment to prove valuable. To succeed, and to create competitive advantages in their industries, companies must create a seamless transition and experience from intern to full-time hire.
For strategies on effectively managing this transition, download my white paper, "The Rocky Transition from Intern to Full-Time Hire," or contact me directly.
Amy Hirsh Robinson, Principal, Interchange Group
Workforce Strategies for the New Economy
