Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble is a consumer goods company.  It is based at 12 locations in the UK, with the head office in Surrey, and 6 locations in Ireland.

5000 approximately

80 countries worldwide

Often work-experience is marred with images of tea-making and filling, but this is not the case with modern work-experience programmes.  Employers today face the challenge of implementing and maintaining a quality programme that benefits both the company and the individual.  Structured programmes can enable companies to complete projects, recruit new employees and allow the student invaluable workplace experience.

Work-experience programme

Functional Co-coordinators around the UK sites

Procter & Gamble have been offering work-experience placements for 22 years, offering students 10 week placements.

• The programme starts with a 3 day corporate training course, which covers company structure, principles and the different functions.  These days also include case studies, group work and talks from senior management.
• The following 2 days include functional specific training, where placements are split into their chosen functions to learn about what their role will entail.
• The individuals then work on their projects and are assessed both during and at the end of their placements against the same criteria that full time employees are assessed. 

• The work-experience programme provides similar benefits for both the company and the individual.
• Procter & Gamble is able to assess whether an individual is a good fit for the company but similarly the individual gains first hand experience of what it would be like to work for the company.

• The expectation is that a high proportion of students that work with the company will be successful and be offered a full time position, whether this is straight after their placement or following the completion of their education.
• The company benefit from a higher retention rate in employees who started their career as a placement student.
• Procter & Gamble are finalists in ‘Over 250 Employees – Up to 3 Month’ category at the 2008 NCWE Awards.

• It is important to gather feedback from students.  Each year Procter & Gamble gather feedback from placement students and make adjustments to the programme based on their suggestions.
• These may include changes to the course content, how the logistics are managed etc.

• Procter & Gamble will continue to recruit a large proportion of placements to work each summer, lasting 10 weeks in duration.
• There are also plans to run longer placements at other times of the year, lasting 6 months or one year.

1. Ensure you have meaningful projects for the individual to complete so that the work they do is of benefit to the company, and the individual feels they have made a valuable contribution.
2. Ensure their manager and team are trained and prepared to receive them and work with them.
3. Ensure they target universities/colleges at the right time of the year, i.e. when students are looking for placements and not completing exams.