New Year, New Attitude – Treat Student Workers as Full-Fledged Employees

As a business owner, it's even more crucial to conduct a year-end review and, learning from both successes and failures, set new goals for your team. Take some time to retreat to a quiet place, turn inward a bit, and try to view events from an outsider’s perspective to make the evaluation and planning process truly effective. Reflect on milestones, create the year-end balance sheet, and think about what your plans for the upcoming year should be.

1. Reflect on the Past Year

What major events took place this year, what joyful moments, and what challenges and trials did you experience? Ask yourself:

• What was good and bad this year?
• What plans from last year were achieved, and which were not? Why did things turn out this way?
• What would you do differently, looking back now?
• Is there an ongoing problem or situation that has been persisting for a long time?
• Were there any difficulties this year that had happened before, but in a different context or with different people, yet the core issue remained the same?
• In what ways did you grow or advance this year?
• What did you learn this year? Was there any lesson from this year?
• Did you appreciate your employees? What could you have done better?
• What are you grateful for this year?

TIP: You can use this completed reflection as a starting point for planning!

2. Time for New Year’s Planning!

Consider what you want to achieve and accomplish in the coming year. When planning, neither the "Hasty" nor the "Procrastinator" approach is effective. The rash promises made in the heightened mood of New Year's Eve might be forgotten by the next day or might turn out to be unrealistic to keep.

Did You Appreciate Your Employees This Year? What About the Student Workers?

An employee doesn’t become happy because their salary increases, but because they feel valued. Every worker, including student workers, needs to feel that their presence and participation in the work are important. Employee happiness is crucial and directly linked to their productivity. Modern workplaces are vastly different from those of the past. Nowadays, workplaces have everything an employee could wish for to retain the most talented staff and easily attract new ones.

What Can You Do Next Year?

Going forward, it's essential to treat student workers as equals to regular employees. Pay attention to them just as you would to others. Introduce the young colleagues to the rest of the team to ensure they don't feel like outsiders. It's motivating for the student to know who to turn to if they encounter any difficulties, as they too put their heart and soul into achieving common goals.

TIP: How can you make students feel appreciated? Check out this blog post for more tips!

Be Aware of the Reputation Your Flexible Workers Can Spread

A student worker should not be treated as a workhorse. Don’t make them do anything you wouldn't ask a full-time, permanent employee to do.

At Y Generáció Iskolaszövetkezet, we always seek feedback from students about their work experience, but employers can also do this to show how much they value that person. The goal for 2021 should be to foster excellent relationships with student workers, increasing the chances they will return long-term or spread the good word about your company.

Thank you for choosing student work and us this year!

The Y Generáció Iskolaszövetkezet wishes you a successful New Year!