Emerging Leaders: The Future of Work

Description: This week, emerging leader expert, Courtney Lamers, dives into the “takeover” of younger generation leaders and how companies can develop and retain them as key assets in your organization. She talks about intern programs, best practices, opportunities, and resources companies can use for growing their emerging leaders. 

Key Takeaways:

1. It's really important to understand the employee as a whole and what they truly want, because having those conversations helps you guide them and engage them and retain them and then develop them into that next step leader!
2. If you're a leader and you have people on your team that can reach a higher potential, definitely think about challenging them.
3. Make sure managers really know what it takes to have an intern and make sure that they have the time to let those interns be successful.

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

INTRO | 00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

Sophie Boler | 00:00:23:13 - 00:00:57:12

Hello, everybody. I’m excited to introduce our guest for today, and that is Courtney Lamers. She’s our strategic project manager and executive director of the Employer Associations of America. She’s worked on just about every project you could think of and with just about everyone as well. So she comes with a lot of expertise in a variety of different areas, and one of them being the development of emerging leaders, or interns, which happens to be our exciting topic for today.

Sophie Boler | 00:00:58:15 - 00:01:06:07

So I know you come with a lot of great information and advice for our listeners. So thanks for being on the show and sharing with us today.

Courtney Lamers | 00:01:06:08 - 00:01:26:06

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the introduction and I’m excited to talk about this with you just because I worked super closely with you during your internship and then now seeing you evolve as a leader just over your last 6 months since you’ve graduated. So perfect topic, really hot one with our employers and then you yourself going through this is perfect, perfect timing.

Sophie Boler | 00:01:26:07 - 00:01:40:17

Absolutely. So I think before we get started, we should kind of take a step back and just discuss who emerging leaders even are and why the topic is so hot right now for organizations to learn about, you know, hear from you.

Courtney Lamers | 00:01:41:00 - 00:02:02:13

Yeah, absolutely. I think there’s a couple of different definitions of emerging leaders. So I would say that’s really someone that has that potential to grow as a leader and take on that next step of leadership responsibilities. More so than ever, we’re really hearing from companies that those emerging leaders are those younger professionals that are high potentials, they’re performing well.

Courtney Lamers | 00:02:02:18 - 00:02:24:19

They have that skill set to take on that next leadership role. Just because of the massive retirements that we’ve seen, leaders are stepping into that leadership role earlier on in their career. So instead of becoming a leader at 55, they’re becoming a leader at 30 and 35. So really those young leaders taking on that additional responsibility is what we’re focused on today.

Courtney Lamers | 00:02:25:01 - 00:02:36:02

Hot topic by employers, something we’ve seen a lot is companies are starting to develop their own internal emerging leaders program. So I know we’ll dive into some of that, but that’s just high level what we’re focused on today.

Sophie Boler | 00:02:36:13 - 00:02:53:07

And one of the resources we have here at MRA are Roundtables. And I know because this topic is so hot right now, we’ve actually added an Emerging Leaders Roundtable, which you work very closely with and lead. So can you tell us more about that new Roundtable?

Courtney Lamers | 00:02:53:12 - 00:03:12:18

Yeah, it was such an energizing roundtable that we had. So we just launched it this fall, and we talked about generational differences. And really it’s just a group of leaders getting together that want to learn from each other. They want to grow in their career. And really, they’re just sharing their experiences and being able to help each other work through it.

Courtney Lamers | 00:03:12:18 - 00:03:27:00

So it’s just something that we’ve heard from companies as they have this younger talent that they want to grow and they want to keep them engaged at their organization. So they’re providing these opportunities for their leaders to really grow and learn from each other.

Sophie Boler | 00:03:27:08 - 00:03:32:15

Oh, that’s awesome. What were some of the topics that you covered last week when you started?

Courtney Lamers | 00:03:32:18 - 00:03:57:12

Yeah, so generational differences was the first one and it was a really great conversation. We covered a lot of different aspects, but one thing that really stood out to me was our feedback conversation. And you know, traditionally, sometimes feedback has come on a quarterly basis or even an annual basis. And we talked about the younger generations really wanting that real-time feedback and they want that feedback literally every single day.

Courtney Lamers | 00:03:57:17 - 00:04:19:19

And I know we talked about some of the older generations in our Roundtable were like, “Well, I don’t want to praise them for just doing their job.” But being that younger generation, we’ve always had, you know, social media at our fingertips and things that just move so quickly and it’s like, I want to know if I’m doing a bad job now and I want to know if I’m doing a good job now and not just am I doing good or bad, but what am I doing specifically that’s good or bad.

Courtney Lamers | 00:04:20:01 - 00:04:45:03

So we had a really interesting conversation around that and then almost around personality types too. So different people, you know, just because you’re younger and you want more feedback quicker and real time, some people want public recognition and some people want private recognition. So at the end of the day, I think it’s really just learning and talking to your people individually and finding out what they want and what works for them.

Sophie Boler | 00:04:45:03 - 00:04:56:23

I can definitely attest to the feedback part of that. I feel like it’s just nice to know like, “Hey, you’re doing a good job, but maybe try this or …” It’s like a constant, constant thing.

Courtney Lamers | 00:04:57:05 - 00:05:14:05

And I know we’ve talked about this because we work on a lot of projects together and you had said like, “Well, your answer is always like, Perfect, thank you.” And I, I took a step back and I was like, I do say that, but it is perfect and I do appreciate it. But then it really made me think like, okay, I should be more specific and tell you what you did right.

Courtney Lamers | 00:05:14:05 - 00:05:30:12

But it’s like we’ve had those conversations and I’m like, okay, I need to remember to tell Sophie what exactly she did well and I remember there was one day you sent me this thing and you were super proactive about it, and I didn’t even ask for it. And I was like, “This is amazing!” I was like, “You saved me before I even, like, knew about it.

Courtney Lamers | 00:05:30:12 - 00:05:43:17

I didn’t even know I needed this, but I did.” And so I think it’s really just having that conversation. Whether you’re the leader leading other people or you’re that person that wants a different type of feedback is having those conversations exactly.

Sophie Boler | 00:05:43:17 - 00:05:55:23

And speaking as a young professional myself and working with a lot of interns, can you talk about any professional development strategies and what it really means for emerging leaders and maybe interns?

Courtney Lamers | 00:05:56:06 - 00:06:31:13

Yeah, definitely. I think at the end of the day, they just want an opportunity to learn and to grow. Especially with the younger generations, we’re hearing that they want opportunities to learn about the organization and the business as a whole and not just their business unit itself. I know, you know, and the interns that we had in our intern leadership program and then even like yourself and our interns at MRA, you know, like you’re in the marketing department and obviously you want to grow as a marketing professional, but you also want to know, you know, what our accounting department is up to and our internal HR,

Courtney Lamers | 00:06:31:13 - 00:06:55:17

and some of our, you know, external-facing services as well. And so I think it’s really getting that holistic approach and understanding the business as a whole. The other thing that we’ve talked about is giving opportunities outside of the traditional learning and training. So it might be great to send someone to training for 8 hours one day once a year, and that’s what you call professional development.

Courtney Lamers | 00:06:55:17 - 00:07:17:08

But I think it’s gone even beyond that of working on some of those stretch projects and observing some of those leaders and sitting in some of those meetings where you might not be the one that’s leading the conversation or being that subject matter expert, but you’re observing some of those high-level conversations. So I think at the end of the day, it’s really just about wanting to learn and grow.

Courtney Lamers | 00:07:17:17 - 00:07:29:08

And again, you know, I think we’ve talked about this already a couple of times, but it’s really talking to those people and finding out like, what do you want and what opportunities do we have? So I encourage people to think creatively about that.

Sophie Boler | 00:07:29:20 - 00:07:50:19

Absolutely. I know as an intern I was given a variety of different projects and even now as a newer employee, I mean, I feel like I work on a variety of different things with a variety of different departments, which is really, really helpful. Like you said, just covering more of a holistic approach, learning about the organization and exploring outside of your department.

Sophie Boler | 00:07:51:07 - 00:07:56:13

So what is one project that you have worked on that’s really helped you grow?

Courtney Lamers | 00:07:57:01 - 00:08:32:13

Yeah, I think for me—and I’m more of a learner that learns by doing—so it’s really those strategic initiatives that I’ve been fortunate enough to lead. I’ll say sometimes different projects came to me more naturally than others, but I would say when we moved into this new building, I led our AV technology transition and I consider myself like semi tech savvy, but not, I’m not the most tech-savvy person, but I learned so much about it from a technical standpoint, but also working with so many different players internally and externally as well.

Courtney Lamers | 00:08:32:13 - 00:09:01:09

So there was a budget responsibility. Obviously, we set a budget at the beginning and then, you know, how do you stay in that? And if you can’t stay in that, then how do you influence people to understand why that’s important and how that helps both your customers and your team internally? So for myself, that was really a challenge and that pushed me, but I really just appreciate having a leader that is in front of the senior team that’s saying, you know, my name and a room full of opportunities that put me in positions that have helped me grow.

Courtney Lamers | 00:09:02:02 - 00:09:20:13

So I would say if you’re a leader and you have people on your team that can reach a higher potential, definitely think about challenging them. Obviously set them up for success. So, you know, if they are working on a stretch project like that and you know, maybe they’ve never done it before, do they have that mentor in that resource that can help guide them and make sure they’re successful, too?

Sophie Boler | 00:09:20:19 - 00:09:36:00

Yeah, I was just going to say, like you mentioned, all these opportunities that you’ve had, but how do you get those opportunities? So I think that’s a good point to have someone kind of like backing you up and volunteering you almost in a way and someone who has a little bit more authority.

Courtney Lamers | 00:09:36:09 - 00:09:56:06

Oh, for sure. I mean, I think part of it is just having that relationship with some of the people that are higher up in the company that are saying like, “Oh, Courtney can do that or Sophie can do that.” The other thing that I always say during our intern program and I still believe in this to this day, is saying yes, because I like that first project I took on,

Courtney Lamers | 00:09:56:06 - 00:10:14:05

I was like, “Yeah, I’ll do that!” and then I was like, “Why did I say, Yeah?” It’s like, “What did I get myself into?” But I think once you say yes and you’re put in a position where you’re being challenged, I think you you discover stuff about yourself and maybe it’s stuff you don’t like, but it is things, or skills that you didn’t necessarily know you had.

Courtney Lamers | 00:10:15:00 - 00:10:19:11

But then once you say yes that first time people are going to keep coming back to you, especially if you do it successfully.

Sophie Boler | 00:10:19:19 - 00:10:40:23

So and you just mentioned our intern leadership program, which is fairly new, but it was something that I participated in last year as an intern and now I kind of help you lead the program, which has been awesome. But I think that program teaches you a lot about interns and it’s taught me a lot working with interns and younger professionals.

Sophie Boler | 00:10:41:11 - 00:10:48:07

So that being said, what would you tell employers or leaders considering interns or that have interns?

Courtney Lamers | 00:10:48:15 - 00:11:16:17

Yeah. Can I describe the intern program a little bit because I’m super, super passionate about it. So our intern leadership program is really meant to help our member companies retain and develop their interns as their next generation of workers. So we really focus on the networking piece for the interns and then the professional development. So focusing on the business and communication and leadership skills, as well as connecting interns with other interns around the country.

Courtney Lamers | 00:11:16:17 - 00:11:41:06

So we had over 100 interns this year and over 70 last year in our first inaugural year. So, you know, almost 200 in 2 years that we’ve had the opportunity to work with. So I have been so impressed with all of the interns and the companies that we work with are the same way. And it’s so fun to talk to the companies that, you know, may not have even had interns at the beginning or like in the past,

Courtney Lamers | 00:11:41:12 - 00:12:05:18

and then they go through the summer and they’re like, “I’m just so impressed with everything that they did.” And so I definitely encourage companies that are, you know, considering interns to go for it. It’s definitely important to think about what your goals are as an organization before you bring the interns on. I would say nowadays most companies are trying to retain those interns, if, you know, obviously if it works out.

Courtney Lamers | 00:12:05:18 - 00:12:24:00

But, you know, there was one company that kept five of their six on and didn’t necessarily even have the intention of keeping them on, but they were so impressed with their skill set that they were like, we have to keep them. And they can, you know, return once they graduate. On the flip side of that is keeping them engaged while they’re back at school and making sure that they come back too.

Courtney Lamers | 00:12:24:00 - 00:12:31:18

But sorry, so going back to your original question for me. What have I missed there? What was your …?

Sophie Boler | 00:12:31:18 - 00:12:39:13

Just like what would you tell employers or readers considering starting an intern program or just having interns. Is there any advice you’d give them?

Courtney Lamers | 00:12:40:01 - 00:13:07:14

Yeah, I mean, I think I covered a lot of it. The other thing that I would say is really, you know, challenge them. Don’t let them, you know, be bored. I think the one thing we’ve heard is that interns and young professionals can do more than they even necessarily expect. The other, the thing that we hear from interns I just want to share with employers is that don’t let them be bored, because I think that’s the No. 1 thing they’re sitting there and they’re like, “Okay, I want more to do.

Courtney Lamers | 00:13:07:14 - 00:13:24:01

But I don’t necessarily, you know, maybe my manager’s in the meeting” or “I don’t, you know, I have said three times I need more work to do.” You know, I know. And like when I was an intern, I’ve had a couple of different internships, but I know like the one thing and one of them specifically, the other  this wasn’t an issue at all.

Courtney Lamers | 00:13:24:01 - 00:13:39:15

But I had one where I was like, “Oh, I wish I had a little bit more work to do.” You know, I think like when you started, we really made sure that you had a lot to do. And I know like we spent a lot of time before you even came on board and we have three pages of work for you to do.

Courtney Lamers | 00:13:40:14 - 00:13:49:23

And you know, I’m sure you can talk to your own experience, but I think it might have been a little overwhelming at first, but it was probably nice that you could fall back on that if you had a little downtime.

Sophie Boler | 00:13:50:00 - 00:14:10:21

Yeah, I think when I got there and I saw the pages and “Here’s a list of everything you can do,” it was a little intimidating. But then just going through the internship and it’s like, “Oh, today I have a lighter load. Like let’s reference back to that sheet, and maybe I’ll work on this today” and then we’re all like very different projects, which is very helpful too.

Sophie Boler | 00:14:10:21 - 00:14:32:09

And I think you touched on this, but interns want meaningful work too, and that’s something that I can attest to. And I think it’s just work that can be shown to senior leaders or can be shown to different companies or something that’s much more than your typical intern work. That’s like a lot of people might think, Oh, they’re there to get coffee.

Sophie Boler | 00:14:32:09 - 00:14:37:18

But it’s like, No, we want to learn to a like we want to take on as much as we can.

Courtney Lamers | 00:14:38:06 - 00:14:59:18

Yeah. And I think what you said about taking that to senior leadership, I know there is a lot of companies that do kind of like a summer wrap-up where they present to their senior leadership or they present to all of the leaders. I know one of the companies that I worked for, we have like in a presentation at the end and everyone in the company was invited to and it was a huge company,

Courtney Lamers | 00:14:59:18 - 00:15:28:16

so there were literally like thousands of people, which as an intern is kind of intimidating, but it was a super cool experience and I think the couple of senior leaders that I’ve talked to, both internally and at companies that have heard these presentations, have learned so much about the interns’ experience. So I think it’s just important to have that big project that they can work on all summer. The other thing I’ll add too is for companies that have more than one intern internally, it’s so important to get them together.

Courtney Lamers | 00:15:28:16 - 00:15:50:20

That’s the other thing I hear. You know, there’s a couple of companies that were part of our intern program and they had, let’s just say, eight interns. And the only time they ever got together was during the intern program. And I know that was some of the feedback we received was we wish we would have gotten to know our, my own colleagues a little bit better beyond just the intern leadership program.

Sophie Boler | 00:15:51:00 - 00:15:57:22

Right. And we discussed that interns want meaningful work and a challenge, but what else do interns want?

Courtney Lamers | 00:15:58:08 - 00:16:25:04

Yeah, you know, I think they just want the opportunity to network with other interns and internally at their own organization. So meeting with other leaders in other business units, having those challenging projects, like I said, you know. Some of the companies have done some really cool projects with their interns. I know one had all of their or had their intern go through all of their standard operating procedures and document them.

Courtney Lamers | 00:16:25:04 - 00:16:40:12

So, one, it was nice for them to have that documented just for cross-training. And if somebody were to leave or whatever it might be. But it also gave that the intern an opportunity to feel like, well, why do you do it this way or not in a rude way, but just kind of like, okay, help me understand why.

Courtney Lamers | 00:16:40:19 - 00:16:58:09

So one, it helped the intern be able to understand why things are done the way they are, but also to make them more efficient. Like the company had said, I’m going to have an intern in every department and they’re going to go through this. And, you know, I think it you know, it’s a great experience for the intern, but it’s also beneficial for the company as well.

Courtney Lamers | 00:16:58:23 - 00:17:21:12

And we had another company that one of their initiatives was they really wanted to increase their diversity, equity, and inclusion at their organization, but they didn’t even really know where to start. And they were a smaller company, but they hired an intern and they just had that intern focus just on their DEI strategy and they put together a huge plan for it and presented to senior leadership,

Courtney Lamers | 00:17:21:12 - 00:17:40:06

and the the senior team accepted the proposal and that intern got hired on full time and is working on that as their full-time role. So super cool projects that companies have done. I encourage people to get creative with it and I also think about like all of those projects that you think about like, “Oh, when I have time, I’m going to do that.”

Courtney Lamers | 00:17:40:06 - 00:17:43:19

I would definitely give those to the interns and see what they can do with it.

Sophie Boler | 00:17:43:21 - 00:17:58:12

Right. And you mentioned about making this just a great experience overall and kind of asking what do you want the interns’ friends to hear? What do you want the interns tell their parents about? So what really makes it a great experience?

Courtney Lamers | 00:17:58:19 - 00:18:19:18

I love that you said think about this as an experience as a whole, because it truly is when they go back to school in the fall or when they’re talking to their family, what are they saying about your organization? So we talked about having that list of small projects that they can work on throughout the summer, but then having that one big project that they can put on their resume.

Courtney Lamers | 00:18:19:18 - 00:18:41:00

I think that’s a huge piece of it. A lot of companies do some fun outings, so it really just takes it outside of the workplace and helps build those relationships. I know some companies have done, you know, Brewers games or, you know, the Twins games up in the Twin Cities. So there’s a lot of different things that you can do to have it be fun.

Courtney Lamers | 00:18:41:04 - 00:19:02:20

I know one company, they did Family Feud and it was the interns against the leadership team and they love that. They were like, “That was the highlight of my summer!” So get creative with that too. I think some of those fun pieces and showcasing leadership to the interns is a huge piece too. Like we talked about, the networking opportunities and then feedback as well.

Courtney Lamers | 00:19:03:00 - 00:19:23:22

I know we talked about this and actually you were with me. We were talking to a company and they were just so impressed with their interns and they were like, “We were so impressed with them. We’ve offered them all jobs. Our CEO really loved them. Like this person was really great at this,” and you know, they got done and you know, you and I are like, “Well, that’s awesome!

Courtney Lamers | 00:19:23:22 - 00:19:41:21

Like, do they know that?” And they were like, “No, I guess we never told them.” And so I think that’s something we definitely encourage you to give them that feedback and know where they stand and then also kind of go in with that. Make sure that the managers are engaged. The managers really do make or break the internship.

Courtney Lamers | 00:19:41:21 - 00:20:07:08

I think, you know, are they accessible? Are they providing feedback or are they providing meaningful work? I know one company that their manager met with them every single Thursday after the intern program and they just talked about what did they learn, what do you want to learn internally and how can you grow? And they were like, “This is the highlight of our week because our manager cared and asked us what we learned and what else we wanted to learn.”

Courtney Lamers | 00:20:07:08 - 00:20:14:20

So like I said, make sure managers really know what it takes to have an intern and make sure that they have the time to let those interns be successful.

Sophie Boler | 00:20:15:02 - 00:20:38:01

Totally. And I think one thing you mentioned is that interns should really learn the business as a whole, not just your department. I think something that was fun—and it helped me learn too—was that I got to travel to other locations at MRA and I kind of got to see how their office worked. And it helped me learn about just the business as a whole, but it was a fun way to do it.

Sophie Boler | 00:20:38:01 - 00:21:00:11

So I think companies don’t have to just slap a binder on the intern’s table: “Here’s our history.” Like, they can make it fun somehow, and entertaining. But one thing we hear from companies, both for interns and candidates, is keeping them engaged before they start, which can be tricky. But what suggestions do you have to do this?

Courtney Lamers | 00:21:00:20 - 00:21:22:16

Yeah, and actually for sure, like keeping them engaged because I know a lot of companies are already at career fairs this fall, interviewing for next summer so, which is super exciting and exactly where they should be, but 9 months is a long time to keep somebody engaged before they start. The other thing we’re hearing, too, is that, you know, like you interned in the summer and then they offered you a full-time role.

Courtney Lamers | 00:21:22:16 - 00:21:40:00

How do you keep them engaged during the school year, too? So I think both kind of go hand in hand. But I was just reading an article the other day and there was a study that said the young professionals want to be contacted one to three times per month in the waiting period, for lack of a better word.

Courtney Lamers | 00:21:40:20 - 00:22:01:18

So I think that’s meaningful conversation. So if the company sends out a newsletter, you could have the manager forward that to them and just say, “Hey, we’re excited to see you in a couple of months. Like, here’s what’s going on at our company celebrations.” The other thing is just getting to know the team so you could have like their mentor reach out to them or other people on the team reach out.

Courtney Lamers | 00:22:01:18 - 00:22:19:04

But one to three times per month is a lot and it does take time, but I think it’s worth it if you can keep them engaged and keep them excited. I know one thing we try to do too is share some of the projects that we had coming up. You know, when you started, it was kind of a busy time for us, but in a good way.

Courtney Lamers | 00:22:19:04 - 00:22:42:06

You know, we were moving buildings. So I think we were sending you some photos of the renovations and what our new space would look like. So any exciting things going on at the company. The other thing, swag is a huge thing even before they start. If you can send them like a sweatshirt or a hat or a water bottle or whatever it is the interns and young professionals love—and actually all people love—swag and free stuff.

Courtney Lamers | 00:22:42:06 - 00:22:51:00

Exactly. So I think that’s something that’s really big. And even if you don’t send it in advance, hopefully that can be there on their desk when they start on day one.

Sophie Boler | 00:22:51:12 - 00:23:13:17

And I think what helped also for my kind of weird transition between intern and being hired on full time, I think was just like keeping the relationship alive too. And even if it wasn’t like, “Oh, like here’s a project that you could work on during school,” it was just, “How is your week going? How’s school going? Are you working on any fun projects up there?”

Sophie Boler | 00:23:13:20 - 00:23:28:11

Because then it shows me like, Oh, my company really cares about me and how I’m doing at school and outside of work too, but kind of bringing it full circle with both emerging leaders, interns, young professionals. What should companies be thinking about?

Courtney Lamers | 00:23:29:00 - 00:23:46:19

Yeah, so I think we covered a lot of great topics today. There are other two pieces that we haven’t really touched on that I want to cover, one of them being in diversity, equity and inclusion. I was talking to a company the other day and she, they hired 12 interns. So I don’t know how many they interviewed.

Courtney Lamers | 00:23:46:19 - 00:24:07:12

I don’t know if they just interviewed 12 or if they interviewed more than that. But she said every single candidate that she interviewed asked about the company’s DEI beliefs and practices. And so I just think I encourage companies to start thinking about that if they haven’t already, because the younger generations really care about that. And they are going to ask you about that in their interviews.

Courtney Lamers | 00:24:07:12 - 00:24:32:13

So you need to have an answer and it has to be transparent because I think, you know, people can see through it if it’s not true. So that’s one thing. The other thing I would say is career paths, and that doesn’t necessarily mean career ladders, but I think we hear interns and young professionals really want to grow and they want to grow quickly and they want to learn just in general.

Courtney Lamers | 00:24:32:13 - 00:24:52:04

So they want to have those individual development plans. And what skills am I good at? What skills do I need to develop and how am I going to do that to take me to the next level? And part of that is a lateral move. It doesn’t necessarily mean like, okay, I did these 12 things, I check the box, I did this project, I want to get promoted.

Courtney Lamers | 00:24:52:04 - 00:25:14:11

It could be, you know, trying a new role in a different department and learning about the business. I know we’ve talked about that a lot today as well, but really just having those career paths and those career conversations. So, you know, I know I was on a webinar the other day and somebody had asked like, okay, we’re a small company and, you know, people want to get promoted, but we only have 50 people in our company.

Courtney Lamers | 00:25:14:11 - 00:25:39:05

So how do you just keep moving up because they can’t be CEO within 3 years, you know, that type of thing. And so I think encouraging you to think creatively of taking on additional projects and trying different functions to really learn about the business as a whole. It doesn’t necessarily mean moving, up having that career path, but talking with the individuals about what they want to accomplish, what their short-term goals are, what their long-term goals are.

Courtney Lamers | 00:25:39:11 - 00:25:46:17

And just knowing that you as a company cares about that person both personally and professionally.

Sophie Boler | 00:25:46:21 - 00:26:01:05

For sure. Totally agree. But as we wrap up here, you’ve given a lot of advice and just good information that organization leaders, interns can use. But do you have any lasting advice or that key piece of advice that you want to end with?

Courtney Lamers | 00:26:01:15 - 00:26:31:00

I would just say talk to your people.  Figure out, you know, what do they want to do? How do they want to be recognized? What other areas are they interested in learning about and just letting them know how they impact your organization and where you can see them going from there. So I think it’s really important to understand the employee as a whole and what they truly want, because having those conversations helps you guide them and engage them and retain them, and then develop them into that next step.

Courtney Lamers | 00:26:31:05 - 00:26:34:21

So that’s what I would say. Talk to your people and learn about them as an individual.

Sophie Boler | 00:26:35:06 - 00:27:03:22

Great advice. As a young professional, I highly value every growth and just development opportunity I can take at this stage. And right now I’m just getting all the experience I can get—just a sponge. But we are all out of time for this episode, unfortunately. So thank you for sharing your expertise today. And we’ve actually linked Courtney’s LinkedIn profile in the show notes so if you want to continue this conversation with her, ask her any questions,

Sophie Boler | 00:27:03:22 - 00:27:19:04

I’m sure she’d be happy to chat and connect. Otherwise, we will see you next week to continue this conversation about training emerging leaders. So you won’t want to miss that. But thank you again, Courtney, and we will see you soon.

Courtney Lamers | 00:27:19:04 - 00:27:23:08

Yeah, thank you for having me and definitely feel free to reach out. I’d love to connect with all of you.

OUTRO | 00:27:23:16 - 00:27:47:00

And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE so you don’t miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.