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Why do Americans hate going into work every day? Is the coffee bad, are the bathrooms gross? Usually, you don’t hear people complaining about the office amenities. It’s always “I hate my boss!” Americans don’t hate their work, they just don’t like their boss or co-workers. Too often we hear stories about harassment in the workplace in the news or when talking to our neighbor. A recent Gallup study found that about 50% of adults left their job to get away from their manager.
Business can be boiled down to one element:Â people.
It’s all about the people. People make the products. People market the services. People hire the people. The success, or failure, of a company lies on the backs of those who lead it.
Everything we do at AMEND revolves around people. Why? Well, that’s who run the business — we’re selling services performed by people, not machines. We have so many great people and attract the next top talent because we’ve invested so much into our people. Whether that’s our best-in-class intern (called Analysts around here) program or our leadership team,
AMEND takes pride in people.
One of the most common things we see in companies is hiring college students for an intern position only to give them menial tasks and maybe a few actual tasks. Hence the “fetching coffee and making copies” intern stereotype. That doesn’t help anyone: the companies don’t have a chance to delegate tasks and, more importantly, the interns don’t get any career-related experience. If the intern is given a responsibility, it’s usually something that can be done in a few hours and then they’re looking around for something to do!
Why is there an international bestseller on helping interns survive their term at a company?!
We wanted to be different; we bring on college students and give them a chance to work with our clients, learn about consulting, and have a real impact on local businesses. It’s not easy work being an Analyst here.
The Analyst program doesn’t start on day one of the rotation—it really starts way before the student and AMEND even meet. From the founding of AMEND, we set out to be a team of Trusted Advisors, to deliver results in local businesses, and to stay true to our values through both the good and the bad times. We expect our people to follow those standards.
As our team and client base grew, we realized that we could bring in brilliant students and give them experiences no one else could: real-world work with our clients. Here, our “interns” have a tangible impact on local businesses. We don’t go after average students; we want leaders in the classroom, organizations, and amongst their peers. We want those striving to better themselves.
We want those striving to better themselves.
So, we decided to take a chance and bring a few college kids in and teach them all about analyzing data, creating work instructions, and building, to name a few. Two years ago, we had 2–3 interns a semester; this semester, spring 2018, we have 12 crazy talented interns!
Why has this program been able to grow so rapidly? It’s all about personal development. First, our interns are challenged day in and day out to do things they never thought they were capable of. Then, we have a series of “Analyst Calls” where they learn about topics like personal finance and networking. Lastly, we take each intern through their own personal plan to learn about what they can improve on, where they’re doing well, and to evaluate their own goals.
1. Real Impact
We give our interns meaningful work and they hit the ground running. After their first day bootcamp, they’re sent out to our different clients where they work on a project. Their goal: transformation through simplifying tasks, finding a better way to do something, and cutting away the fat in operations. The interns are assigned a Project Leader who they report to and learn from.
2. Tangible Skills
Throughout the interns’ time at AMEND, we give lessons on practical skills. In a recent session on personal finance, we showed them how saving and investing early will benefit them down the line and give them financial freedom when they’re older. Through feedback from the Analysts, we continue to add new content and topics, always refining the message and making it more impactful.
3. Personal Journey
Possibly the most meaningful part of the Analysts’ time at AMEND is the personal development plan. The Analyst gets the opportunity to have a raw conversation with our partners and the people they report to. They write out the progress they’re making, grade themselves on several professional aspects like communication and humility, and talk about their personal goals. Through these sessions, we get to listen to their struggles, discover their passions, and offer our advice and direction. The individuals who are the most vulnerable are oftentimes the ones who benefit the most.
When does the journey at AMENDÂ end?
While it may seem like the Analyst-AMEND relationship ends after the few months they’re working with us, that’s usually not the case! A few of our full-time team members were interns at one time here, and as the number of interns we have grows, the more full-time team members we’re hiring from within. So many people find their fit at AMEND because of the team that’s here. As I’ve written about before (and will continue to), the AMEND team is a family. We are each a huge part of each others’ successes, hardships, and celebrations.
AMEND is their for our family, past and present.
Interested in joining the team? Email Paul Delaney a little bit about yourself and why you want to join AMEND in our journey of changing lives and transforming businesses.
Questions? Email me or reach out on LinkedIn!
AMEND Consulting is a leading mid-market management consulting firm dedicated to building unbeatable businesses by creating endless competitive advantages. Double, triple, even quadruple-digit improvements are always realized — typically in 6 months or less. (See our impact here.)
My Co-op is Better Than Yours was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.