Nothing boosts engagement like hiring employee's kids!

[Totally Consumed]

For some teens, summer provides a welcome respite from the confines of the classroom. For others, summer begins with a job search. I work with a company that has a strong tradition of investing in local neighborhoods by hiring High School students during the summer months. The practice has been a huge success in the community and has improved morale, loyalty and reduced turnover of employees.

Interviewing students is one of the things I look forward to all year. They come to the interviews in all shapes and sizes. Some come dressed like wannabe gangsters or divas, trying desperately to hide their insecurities behind a thin veil of bravado; others come wide-eyed and hopeful, their naivety allowing dreams of changing-the-world to still dance in their head. Regardless of their background, these high schoolers bring with them a healthy dose of diversity and balance to the workplace.

Most of the students are referred by family members or friends who have been through our summer program before. Often, employees will look forward to having their children, nieces and nephews come to work here as a HS students, years before their children are even old enough to apply. Many take great pride when their children are hired, as they would a step in a rite-of-passage into adulthood. Those students who later grow to establish themselves in the community often carry with them fond memories of the summer they worked for our company.

There are, of course, risks and costs: safety, regulations regarding employing minors and impact on productivity are all issues that need to be looked at before bringing teens into the workplace. From a cost-benefit perspective, if one considers the impact on Public Relations together with the positive Staffing and Employee Relations benefits, there are few investments capable of such a high return as the practice of offering employment to students during the summer months.

[Carol Wain]

I think that's wonderful.... I, being an employer myself, have hired (and fired) my 17 year old numerous times :-) She'll be back again this summer (as long as she behaves herself!)... My team's employees' children are too young to work with us but I will continue to offer employee children summer positions at our "place" too.