We’ve all been ‘the intern’, says HRM Editor Amanda Woodard, but even that label is preferable to having no employment opportunities at all. She spoke with one company who is finding clever and clear ways to give young HR professionals practice for the real world – and reaping the benefits of work experience programs in return.

I graduated from university in the UK at a time of high unemployment and recall going along to interviews that routinely attracted several thousand applicants. Today in Australia, student job-seekers face a similar tough and crowded marketplace. For those lucky enough to experience the benefits of work experience programs, it serves as a huge stepping stone to bigger and better things. 

Any HR student applying for a job is likely to come up against questions such as: How do you fit in with a team? Or, what can you tell us about employee engagement strategy? The problem is, without practical experience, it’s hard to answer these questions from a solely theoretical perspective.

Leah Strickland, Student Engagement Consultant at AHRI, says their Work Experience Placement Program (WEPP), now into its second year, was set up expressly to give HR students a taste of what practical HR work is like, and to give them the skills for future employment. The WEPP currently runs two intakes a year, inviting applications from student AHRI members that are then matched up with work experience opportunities posted by organisation members. Organisations then usually select one or two students for one or two weeks of work experience.

One company, however, has stood out from the crowd by accepting all nine students who were matched with them for work experience training. The company, Jason Windows, has designed specific, tailored HR projects for students to work on.

Jason Windows is WA’s largest commercial and residential manufacturer of windows, security screens, doors and glass in Perth, and Tim Fanowrios is HR, occupational health and safety, and quality manager wrapped into one. Although it has been a mammoth task taking on so many work experience students, he says he sees the benefits of work experience programs like this every day.

“We have got some great results and have achieved potentially a full year of project work at a very high standard in just five weeks.”

Finding the right program fit

Fanowrios paired up individuals to work on specific HR projects including coaching, pay for performance, recruitment, employee feedback processes and gamification as part of learning and development.

“We surveyed the work experience people and asked them what was going to be valuable for them. From that, we developed appropriate projects that met their career aspirations in the HR space, as well as being useful for the business.”

One project was on the company’s policy and procedure around employee engagement.

“Historically, we have annual surveys of our employees but this year, we took a different approach. With the help of two students, we developed working groups to address key themes in our annual surveys among blue and white collar workers.”

Leonie Gatt and Jenny Thomas were involved in this project and both agreed it was a massive learning curve.

“This workplace experience has been so valuable in linking theoretical with the practical day-to-day stuff,” says Thomas, who has finished her undergraduate degree in HR and IR . “It’s satisfying knowing that we are contributing to the business with real projects that mean something. They want us to get our hands dirty. The workshops with employees were really enjoyable – getting feedback and assessing what that meant.”

For Fanowrios, the experience has been an evolved and more mature approach to how they engage with employees. And there’s the added satisfaction of seeing students gaining industry experience.

“Getting an opportunity to expand their interpersonal skills, influence teams and people, keeping up-to-date with real world HR practices and networking and meeting others in HR puts them all at great advantage,” says Fanowrios.

Practice makes perfect (or at least better)

Another project involved two candidates in reviewing the company’s recruitment process that is operated and managed via a cloud-based software system introduced three years ago.

“We are very familiar with [the system] now,” says Fanowrios. “However we must ensure that we are consistent in dealing with candidates who get the job and those that don’t. So we asked the students to review our processes and put forward recommendations.”

Sally Kuman, who is completing a double major in HR and Hospitality and Tourism Management, and who worked on the project, says that getting work experience is hard – particularly when searching in a different industry to the one she previously worked in.

“People studying medicine get to practise as part of their degree but [work experience] is not really integrated with our degree, which is a disadvantage,” says Kuman.

For any employer considering the benefits of work experience programs, Fanowrios advises it isn’t something to be taken on lightly. Companies need to prepare and be really clear about the expectations of the people coming in.

“It’s utilising people in a positive manner. We don’t take the foot off the pedal; we challenge them and don’t get distracted by doing general HR activities. Students do need to fend for themselves to an extent. It’s about treading a path between reckless abandonment and micro-management,” says Fanowrios.

Jason Windows has a small HR team. Besides himself, there is a full-time OHS employee and two part-timers looking after a workforce of just over 300 staff. For a medium-size business such as theirs, the benefits of work experience programs are immense.

“For the company it offers a ‘try before you buy’ experience and an appreciation and value of what these young people can offer to our organisation,” he says. “The work experience students act like consultants for us. They’re not meant to know everything about our business and so they ask a lot of questions, which we then ask of ourselves. Doing that helps us achieve best practice.

Want real work experience in HR? Find out about AHRI’s Work Experience Placement Program for AHRI student members here.