Herman Trend Alert: A Turnkey Approach to Internships

A recent study by The Internship Institute demonstrated that a single intern supervisor can gain up to 225 full workdays of productivity annually by using their time to manage and mentor instead of doing everything themselves. The Herman Group has long touted internships as a way for organizations to create and reinforce a pipeline of able graduates. With the right program, interns will stay with the company upon graduation. While many companies have internship programs, the few that focus on quality of experience and intern retention enjoy the best returns on investment.

From "Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists

GREENVILLE, SC — A recent study by The Internship Institute demonstrated that a single intern supervisor can gain up to 225 full workdays of productivity annually by using their time to manage and mentor instead of doing everything themselves. The Herman Group has long touted internships as a way for organizations to create and reinforce a pipeline of able graduates. With the right program, interns will stay with the company upon graduation. While many companies have internship programs, the few that focus on quality of experience and intern retention enjoy the best returns on investment.

Though internships have been popular for years, until recently no one had developed a model to help companies capitalize on this valuable resource.

Launched last summer, the Intern Toolkit offers a turnkey approach, providing forms for every internship-related administrative need you can imagine and more, including tracking timesheets, sample contracts, offer letter, interview questionnaire, applicant evaluation form, sample recruitment flyer, pages of best practices and even advice about addressing poor performance. There’s also a companion resource, an instructional video called “The Blueprint for Internship Success” which details their methodology for structuring, managing and improving the internship experience.

The brainchild of Matthew Zinman, a four-time intern with a background in marketing, advertising and branding, his background is evident in the quality and professionalism of the materials. About 50 companies currently use the toolkit.

Thinking about an internship program? Take their free assessment to determine the feasibility and profitability for creating your own program. When you’re ready, the toolkit will save you money and time. It would be impossible to replace all the time, effort and expertise that went into the development of the kit for its low cost. If you already have a program, you probably don’t know how much more profitable you could be. Visit www.ZUniversity.org for more information or call 877-982-4769. (Enter the code “Herman” and enjoy 10 percent off.)

Internships are a profitable instrument for workforce development, when the organization follows best practices. As the labor market tightens further, expect to see more companies embracing internships and more start-ups to help them recruit and retain interns.

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