Is Your Door Opened or Closed?
Have you considered the benefits of opening your door to work placement opportunities? There
are so many students and young people looking for an experience to help steer their course of life
in a direction that feels right to them.
Work experience placements are one of the great ways that employers can support our younger
generation which offers the opportunity for maintaining an enriched skills pool. Whether it be a
high school or university/college student, or program participants from neighbouring
organizations looking to find employment in a field of interest to them. The rewards are high.
Having a young student within the business provides you with several benefits:
▪ The ability to test out your staffs coaching and mentoring skills. This enables some of
your staff to practice their supervisory skills. This in turn could also boost their morale.
▪ The students bring creativity and innovation to the business. When looking at a
challenge, they have an “out of the box” thinking on the subject matter as they have no
preconceived ideas. They can expand themselves without constraints. It adds diversity to
the business.
▪ An extra pair of hands in the business to support some of the activities.
▪ It does not cost you anything. You would however in return give them valuable
experience by the end of the experience.
▪ It can form part of the recruitment strategy the business has. It allows you as the
employer to assess the student with a view to a permanent role in the future.
▪ At the end of the work experience period, you could encourage the student to provide the
team and yourself with a short presentation of their learning and time within the business.
This allows them to gain presentation and communication skills within a working
environment.
Employers new to work experience need to have a structure in place to support the student. The
schools and colleges are well versed in organising health and safety and other consent forms, but
business insurance needs to be reviewed to ensure you are able to have a student in your
workplace.
- Think of this as a long-term recruitment strategy.
- You could be missing out on some potential candidates for your workforce.
- New faces bring new ideas!
What better way to embrace our workforce of tomorrow than by welcoming our youth into a
supportive and kind place of business for an experience that could change their lives, and yours.
For more information or to continue this discussion, feel free to contact me at: 902-201-5954
Email: tracy@futureworx.ca