Up to speed: make the most out of college grads and interns.

• Author: Ritter, Patrick
• Position: Workforce: Staffing and Benefits

Recent college graduates and student interns can bring ambition, enthusiasm and fresh ideas to your company. However, transforming new, inexperienced employees into productive team members doesn't magically happen overnight--it requires planning and a great deal of mentoring. Most executives, recruiters and college internship coordinators agree that providing a supportive atmosphere where less experienced members of the group can learn the corporate culture and their primary job functions is essential.

Interns, in particular, will benefit from a little extra hands-on supervision and mentoring. Internships are a valuable platform for students to gain industry experience before their graduation.

"We've found that requiring our students to perform an internship capstone to their program is a great way to introduce them into the job market, where they can network while they're honing their skills." says Connie Cluff, internship coordinator for Brigham Young University.

But supervisors need to go the extra mile to make sure the experience is beneficial for the intern--and not just a way to get all the drudge work done. "Internships should be an integral part of a development program aimed at creating a pipeline of new hires for the organization," says Mike Caldwell, director of Westminster College's career office.

PERSONAL TOUCH

A well-rounded orientation and initial training regimen is essential for a new employee or intern to familiarize them with the organization's goals, systems, policies and procedures. With proper attention to the first days of employment, the energy, enthusiasm and out-ofthe-box thinking new employees and interns bring with them can enhance any organization.

Many companies also provide a mentor to the new employee, giving them a valuable resource to help guide them through the first difficult weeks on the job. Mentoring allows a more personal and informal means to get new hires up to speed on their job tasks. Mentors can help the newly hired employee integrate into the culture and become more productive sooner. Feedback from mentors also helps smooth initial feelings of discomfort and ignorance, which most new, inexperienced workers feel upon placement.

Formal training and mentoring programs have become standard practice, according to a study...