Cultivating Relationships with Employers
Starting and developing a dynamic relationship with an employer
in the community can be a fun and exciting aspect of coordinating
the Connecting to Success model. The relationship started through
an e-mentoring program can lead to other collaboration and a long-term,
mutually-beneficial alliance. The following are some of the steps
within that process. What works will vary from community to community.
- Understand your own system
- Establish networks within the community and generate interest
- Conduct a community scan (newspapers, periodicals, service groups, interviews)
- Connect with an employer and gain information about his/her needs
- If beneficial, ask a business leader to make the first contact
- Use contacts made through your network
- Market your program to the employer
- Emphasize benefits of the program
- It builds the workforce of the future
- It reduces training costs
- It demonstrates a commitment to the well-being of the community
- Tell the employer about the training, preparation, and screening
of student participants
- Tell employers about supports available within the program
Cultivating and maintaining the employer-partner relationship
- To maintain communication and cultivate a positive relationship:
- Don't use jargon; speak in a common language
- Make communication convenient
- Make sure there is a liaison within the company who is your primary point of contact.
- Give recognition to the employer:
- At school events
- Through press releases
- At community events
- By giving the employer periodic progress reports
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