HRANB Newsletter

Are you aware that your company is fighting a losing battle to hire, retain and ultimately develop talented employees? Organizations through Atlantic Canada are all engaged in this battle, as statistics tell us that within five to ten years a significant portion of today’s workforce will be retiring. Then what will happen?

The group presently graduating from university, labeled the Millennium babies or generation Y’s, has a wealth of options to select from after completing their degrees, including challenging employment choices, volunteer positions with agencies overseas and competitive opportunities to pursue advanced degrees. These Millennium babies, and the ones your organizations will be hiring, can weigh all their choices and make their decision based on all these variables. What should an organization in Atlantic Canada do to be considered a viable option to this group of Millennium babies?

Firms in Atlantic Canada need to be recognized by these individuals while they are still attending university. An excellent way to get on the ‘radar’ of this group of students is to hire co-op students from business, engineering or computer science programs. Co-op students are a motivated group, seeking relevant work experience while continuing to progress through their academic study terms.

Hire co-op students; hire early and often. The co-op hiring process offers companies huge advantages. First, there is no fee associated with posting a job description with a co-op program; in fact there are no costs associated with participating in the whole hiring process, except the time it takes to complete a one page job description form. The co-op office will review, assess and then provide a short list of candidates that your organization might decide to interview, or not. Once the interview process has been completed, most companies are excited to hire co-op students and provide these motivated individuals with an opportunity to ‘try out’ their skills.

Hiring co-op students means integrating a new recruit into your corporate culture, whether it be short or long term, and provides you with an opportunity to assess if the student may eventually ‘fit into’ your organization. Placements can be for 16 weeks, 32 weeks or longer so your organization will have the chance to determine if this new hire will match your company’s requirements. Do they have the skills you need in a longer term employee? What about their interpersonal skills and their relationship with others in the team? Work placements usually involve providing the student with a supervisor, mentor or coach, and this individual would be well aware of the type of employee that the firm would be looking to hire. The work term provides everyone with a ‘try out’ period and, as the weeks pass, it becomes readily apparent if the student is someone that your firm may like to commit to and, conversely, if the student will also commit to you!

Hiring co-op students to complete a specific project, finish a task that has been put on hold, or start something that has been delayed for resourcing reasons is also a unique way to contribute to the development of a student. It establishes your organization in the minds of students and places your firm in the positive position of having a campus presence. These types of partnerships will be critical in the future, as resourcing unfilled positions becomes more challenging. Developing a succession plan with local co-op programs might be one method to ensure continuity in your organization, while expanding your corporate reputation with future university graduates.

Hiring co-op students and providing them with real work experience will help them remain in Atlantic Canada after they complete their degree. Research and anecdotal evidence supports this conclusion; if students are given the chance to work locally, they will choose to stay here! Most graduating students are looking first to stay in the region but, with the pressure to pay off mounting debt, they almost always choose to accept a job anywhere so they can begin to reduce their debt load.

Think of hiring co-op students as a great way to develop succession plans for your organization. Hiring co-op students is a cost-effective method of trying out potential employees. Hiring co-op students allows companies to allocate permanent employees to more pressing projects allowing the student to gain relevant work experience while also learning about your organization. Hiring co-op students is a great way for your company to gain a presence on a university campus; to partner with educational programs for the benefits of all involved. This can be a win-win situation for all involved parties.

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