Supercharge Your Talent Pipeline with Internships

By Brent Turnbull, Vice President, Talent Strategy, Klick Health

As the country moves into the post-pandemic hiring landscape with many companies expected to face a talent ‘turnover tsunami’, the war for the best employees is becoming even more heated. At Klick, we look at internships as a powerful talent acquisition tool. With good reason. Fortune-500 companies retain over 80% of their interns as entry-level hires and, according to recent data, full-time employees hired from an intern program are 20% more likely to stay over one year longer than those who don’t. 

To truly benefit from the power of internships, companies must move from viewing interns as a low-risk source of cheap labour to an investment in the future. That means applying resources (and investing time and money) to develop a robust, meaningful and mutually beneficial experience. In celebration of National Intern Day (July 29), here are some key takeaways to help grow your talent pipeline with interns.

1. It’s not an internship, it’s an extended job interview

No matter how thorough your regular hiring process, it’s not easy to predict how new team members will perform whereas internships provide a powerful “try-before-you-buy” opportunity. To get the most bang for your buck, model your internship program with hiring for full-time employment in mind. For instance, our program structures several assessment touch points to keep track of each intern's progress and provide multiple data points (like meetings with peer buddies, mentors, and managers) to help make an ultimate hiring decision. It also allows us to identify when someone needs more coaching/mentoring and help set them up for success.  

2. Look beyond “the usual suspects” 

Skills are important, but don’t stop there. Go the extra mile to get to know intern candidates as people to determine who has the full package -- namely the personal characteristics and values that resonate with (and positively add to) your culture and team members. As a people-first company that specializes in life-sciences, we look for people who are kind, empathetic, and inclusive at their core. We also look for people with non-health experiences to find talent in new places and bring greater diversity in thought to our teams.

3. Pay it forward. Literally.

It’s important to keep top talent. Canada, for instance, has long grappled with the “brain drain” that sees Canadian-educated talent flee for better employment offers. A 2018 study found one-in-four recent science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates from three of the country’s top universities were working outside Canada. According to recent data from LowestRate.ca a minimum salary of $49,545 (pre-tax) in order to live in Toronto and make ends meet, so an integral way to attract interns and then keep them for the long haul is to pay them competitively. 

4. Treat interns as employees-in-training

Roll out the red carpet and treat interns like full-time employees. That means providing them with your regular onboarding, training and skills-building courses, including them in networking opportunities and company celebrations, and giving them the opportunity to participate in brainstorms and important work projects. The more you can ignite a memorable experience and make your interns feel connected to your company and its mission, the more they’ll understand the career opportunities your company can offer them in full-time employment -- leading to higher retention rates, and more brand ambassadors for your company. As a bonus, they’ll be ready to hit the road running without additional training.

5. Make it meaningful

Make a grand gesture and give your interns a chance to shine. Beyond involving our interns in client-facing work, we created an Integrated Learning Project where they work in interdisciplinary teams developing and pitching a marketing campaign (think Dragon’s Den for advertising) for a pro-bono not-for-profit client. Mentored by our senior leaders  from concept inception to completion, they’re tackling an important challenge and getting meaningful, real-world experience while demonstrating their true potential. 

6. The difference a coffee can make

Give your interns inventive new ways to learn from the experience of others. In our organization -- even during remote work --  we provide formal mentorship (through peer buddies and direct managers) and more casually through our weekly Random Coffee program, which pairs an intern with a senior leader to connect with and share their experiences. Our interns find access to the collective experience of senior leaders invaluable and something they wouldn’t otherwise receive at this stage in their careers. And as popular as the program is with our interns, it’s just as celebrated by our veteran Klicksters who find they can learn something from our interns, too. 

7. Move ‘em or lose ‘em

You can’t always get it right the first time, so if you have any high-performing interns who are great fits/adds to your culture but weren’t placed in the right role, consider shifting them to a different team versus losing them altogether. Connect with your hiring managers throughout the program to assess how your interns are doing to transition them into the right full-time roles and set them -- and your company -- up for long term success.

Invest. Ignite. Invent (and celebrate! It is National Intern Day after all). And you just may find your company’s next crop of leaders through your internship program.

Brent Turnbull is Vice President, Talent Strategy at Klick Health where he heads up the company’s Internship Program, which this summer hired 56 interns to work in creative, user experience, project management, brand strategy, web development, quality assurance, consulting, studio, video production, project management, analytics, CRM and social roles across the company. In 2020, Klick was recognized with 14 Best Workplace awards, including Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, Employee-Recommended Workplaces, Best Workplaces for Women, and Best Workplaces for Inclusion.