Internship programs are growing very popular as fresh graduates look forward to enhancing their skills and experience. According to a survey, companies are expecting to hire more interns i.e. by 22.6% in the following year.
Interns can be an excellent source of talent channel if they are well-nourished. The internship program helps connect with the community by providing them with an opportunity to grow and learn in a professional working environment.
An effective onboarding plan for an intern can help make a difference for them. This will set a tone for the remainder of their day with the work team. They will know what is expected from them and how to behave in a professional working environment.
What is Intern Onboarding
Intern onboarding refers to the process where interns are integrated into the organization. It is a well-structured plan where interns are briefed about the organization, its policies, culture, mission, and vision. They are also given a tour of the company and introduced to the relevant managers and team.
Why Intern Onboarding is important
Organizations tend to only give importance to new employee onboarding process. They don’t pay attention to intern onboarding. This can be very damaging. Following are a few reasons which indicate why we cannot ignore intern onboarding:
- Intern onboarding helps in creating a productive and positive experience for all interns.
- Satisfied interns gives their level best which will help organizations in the longer run.
- It will help interns quickly settle in, be more confident, and be adaptive in their work.
Furthermore, companies must not think that they are wasting their time on interns. According to a survey, 70% of interns get job offers for the same company they have interned for. This investment can benefit companies in the future.
Best practices for intern onboarding
Onboarding interns can play an effective role in making them a dynamic team player in the department. A good onboarding process will make sure that they behave in a professional manner. If organizations put some effort into onboarding interns, then they themselves will benefit from it and will avoid any unnecessary conflicts in the future. Following are some of the ways through which organizations can effectively onboard interns:
Talk to interns
It is very important to have a conversation with the selected intern on call prior to their joining. They must be informed about their joining date, relevant documents required, timings, dress code, and more. All this information will help them prepare for their internship.
Inform managers
The managers must also be informed and reminded about interns’ arrivals. This will give them enough time to managers to prepare a schedule and challenging work for them. They can also make arrangements for a temporary workstation for the intern
Set up their emails
The human resources must also inform information technology regarding their joining as well. They should send basic details of the intern so that they can assign them laptops, open their accounts, and set up their emails. This proactiveness will avoid unnecessary mismanagement on their first day.
Give them a warm welcome
The human resource and relevant departments should collectively make sure to give interns a warm welcome into the company. Organizations must provide them with a welcome kit . Moreover, they must set up a one-on-one welcome coffee meeting with the team.
Clarify expectations
It is very significant for both interns and managers to have their expectations clarified about the internship before they start. The manager should know what is expected from the intern and the intern should know what is expected from this internship. They must draft a success criteria for both.
Give them a tour
HR or the assigned person from the team must give them a complete tour of the organizations. They must also be given a brief about departments, their managers, and what does they do. This tour will help them in understanding the culture, dynamics, and ethics of the organization.
Orientation session
Orientation session are equally important for interns. This detailed orientation session will make them aware of the company’s mission, vision, goals, objectives, policies, top management, culture, and more. HR will share a road map planned for them during their internship.
Keep them fully engaged
The HR should ensure that interns are fully engaged during their internship. Assignments of challenging tasks and involvement in activities will help them improve their communication and coordination skills. This engagement will make his internship memorable.
Gather feedback
Lastly, after the successful onboarding of the interns, HR should gather feedback regarding their process. It is important that this feedback is anonymous so that they provide their honest opinion. This will help HR improve their onboarding process.
Final thought
Organizations must take the onboarding of interns as seriously as they take of employees. This process will ultimately help them as a lost intern will keep bugging employee whereas a well-briefed intern is professional with his work assignments. In the end, they will learn something and sharpen their skills.
