Summer employees, an investment.
At least in Finland, summer employees are common figures in many organizations. They come to substitutes some people and to help when the regular employees are taking their annual leaves.
We know that a summer job is a great opportunity for any employee to gain experience and develops his/her skills. For the company, this is a fantastic chance to create the "right employee for the future" and to show them all the opportunities they might have in the organization. But, what happens when the summer employees are abandoned on the new role? Or when the induction is poor because “they will be working for us only couple of months”?
Well, the truth is that employer branding has no summer holidays. Keep in mind that if you decide to take an employee to help you during the summer, you need to be committed to take care of this person. If things work well, the employee might want to stay in your organization, might get very motivated to continue developing his/her skills and even recommend this place to his/her school classmate and friends. However, if things are handled poorly during this period, the employee's results might be unsuccessful and he/she might not be willing to come back to the company. You all are losing your time (and your money).
Taking care of your employees:
If you are having summer employees this year, remember these basic things to consider when the person comes to the company:
- Prepare the initial paper work. Make sure that your employee has the contract, work permissions and all the documents that are needed to start the job.
- Arrange the tools which are needed for the role e.g. a working place or desk, computer with proper software, office keys, ID cards, uniforms, safety equipment, appropriate clothes, cellphone, etc.
- Arrange the appropriate orientation for the hires. In addition to the proper training related to the job, you should have some training on the company and the industry. Remember to show the place where this person is going to work and introduce him/her to the team and other units. If you are counting on somebody to take care of the training, you need to make sure that this person is available during the summer or at least during a reasonable amount of time. List the things the new employee needs to learn and schedule the training. Remember to let some "extra air" just in case the training takes longer than expected. Based on my own experience, I recommend you to plan some "training review" few weeks after the initial training in case the employee has some questions or doubts. You cannot digest all the information at once.
- Describe the role clearly and agree together on the tasks and goals. Especially if you are having young employees who are working for first time, you might want to offer some structure to the job. It will be useful to clearly share what does this person need to do, when does he/she need to get it ready, as well as how the results are going to be measured. If needed, define the processes and tools that employees should use to get the job done.
- Make sure that you deliver the information to the other units, too. This might be very useful if for example, you need to get email accounts open by another team and salary payed on time.
- Offer the right challenges to the right people and if your summer employee develops quickly, remember to offer tasks in which he/she can develop even more. For many students, the point of getting a summer job is to find out their real interests and passions, to learn more, and to develop their skills. If the job is not challenge enough, they might move forward to another role just after the summer.
- If you find the diamond, try to keep it. If you have the resources and the need to hire somebody after the summer period, make sure you are retaining the top talent on time. Do not wait until the last minute to inform him/her that you want him/her to continue. You just invested your time and your money, so make the most of it.
- If you need to let go your summer employees, prepare suitable exit programs which will give the best impression of your company. It is recommended to have exit interviews with your employees. You can get constructive feedback to develop your processes in the future. Make sure that you deliver all the documentation needed for the exit such as payments receipts and certifications.
- Remember to communicate often. Make sure that things a clear and this person receives support during this working period.
