Work Integrated Learning forms an essential part of most students’ education when considering a career in hospitality. This program contributes meaningful learning experiences for students and the benefits for post-secondary institutions and employers are easy to see.
What is Work Integrated Learning?
Work Integrated Learning is a program that integrates academic learning with practical applications in the workplace. Some popular forms are internships, co-ops, and apprenticeships. Work Integrated Learning varies by including the development of learning outcomes related to employability and is often industry specific, with partnerships forged between employers, academic institutions, and students.
Why Get Involved?
One of the biggest reasons for developing and hiring students is having first access to a talented pool of motivated emerging professionals interested in gaining short-term work experience.
Companies get the support they need for special projects or events, maternity and paternity leave coverage, or peak season help, all while forging a relationship with a future new employee. Hiring a student is a cost-effective way to welcome fresh ideas and energy into your business while giving current employees an opportunity to develop their supervisory skills. It also provides a chance to hone-in on the specific skills to look for to fill vacant positions.
One of the benefits of Work Integrated Learning that’s often overlooked is that student hires give an organization the opportunity to play an integral role in shaping the future of the hospitality workforce by sculpting the future employees as well as the education programs that they are a part of. This makes your business a partner in developing the education curriculums that are responsive to industry needs.
Work Integrated Learning can play a key role in your marketing processes as well. Employers that participate in these educational programs are seen as key businesses in their communities. They’re often viewed as businesses that give back to their industry and positively meet their corporate social responsibility. This can have both a direct and indirect impact on corporate image.
Focus: The Talent Forward Program
Recently the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the Association for Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning BC/Yukon (ACE-WIL) developed the Talent Forward program, partnering businesses with skilled post-secondary students for a temporary, flexible, and cost-effective workforce. This program helps provide relief to a business landscape that is already being stretched too thin.
The Talent Forward program helps facilitate the process of connecting students with businesses by providing free one-on-one consultations as well as resources such as webinars and toolkits through the BC Chamber of Commerce for businesses that are looking to hire a student and seeking funding for hiring.
Through the Talent Forward program, students are available for hire in several different ways including co-ops, apprenticeships, practicums, internships, research contracts, communit y se r v ice, or project-focused learning initiatives. The program has already seen great success with students coming on to organizations to help tackle back-burner projects that have sat stagnant for long periods of time.
The Hospitality Industry Responsibility
While there are many benefits to Work Integrated Learning and accessing the students enrolled in such programs, HR managers and recruiters need to also recognize the generational shift in values of students and proactively embrace the collaborations.
Hospitality leaders should not just look at Work Integrated Learning as access to inexpensive labour during peak times or as the opportunity to hire employees with no long-term obligation or commitment. There exists an obligation to the industry and the host participants to appoint qualified managers with appropriate training to act as the supervisors for Work Integrated Learning students and to provide them with the appropriate time and resources.
During a difficult economic time when taking on a student might not be top priority, it’s good to know that there is federal and provincial funding available to [primarily] small businesses to help cover the costs of student wages.
When considering a Work Integrated Learning student for your business, it’s imperative to think about where hospitality and the tourism industry are going, and what your business needs are. What are the trends? Post COVID-19, what are travellers going to expect?
Your challenge as an employer is to cultivate practices within your organization that embrace new approaches to the way you do business. By doing so, you’ll also be benefitting the development of the next generation of hospitality professionals. It is this generation that will depend more on positive human relations to help drive business, and they will expect a high level of respect from their employers.
In return, this generation can help turn around negative organizational key performance indicators, reduce high staff turnover and help improve low profitability rates with new and innovative thinking.
How to Market Your Business and Gain Access to Students
One of the first steps towards marketing your business as an employer of choice is utilizing your website and social media channels to highlight what makes your company great.
Both the website and your social profiles are the first places students and prospective employees will check. This is where businesses should highlight the awards they’ve received, their workplace culture, and speak to the inclusivity of their business.
These are also a great area to showcase employee profiles. This gives students and prospective employees a glimpse into who their future co-workers could be.
Once your website and social profiles are ready to go, you can access students and Work Integrated Learning programs through career fairs, high schools, and post-secondary institutions; create partnerships with post-secondary schools; or visit us at go2HR and we can help as we actively promote opportunities, career fairs, and other types of events through our communications channel and our job board.
Andrea Hinck is the Director, Industry Training with go2HR
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