Dive Brief:

• The Adecco Group is offering a "CEO for One Month" internship, aiming to offer business leadership experience, it has announced.
• The company's global program, in its sixth year, pairs candidates with business leaders in 47 countries. One global winner will shadow Adecco Group CEO Alain Dehaze.
• The program helps people "thrive in their careers and increase their confidence and exposure," according to Dehaze, "by giving them highly effective work-based learning inside a Fortune 500 company. It is a testament to the strength of the program that many candidates join us and our customers in permanent roles after it has finished."

Dive Insight:

Internships are on the rise with a focus on preparing students, even at the high school level, for the workplace of tomorrow. The competition to find talent has business rethinking their brand in many cases to attract top contenders. With the summer intern season nearly here, 2019 demand for summer interns has the potential to mirror last year's.

The Adecco program is taking mentorship to new heights on the corporate ladder. Perhaps somewhat akin to mentor programming, such efforts can attract, engage and retain talent, as Dehaze noted. Most employees agree having a mentor within the company is important, but the majority don't have someone who has taken them under their wing.

Data suggests even "speed mentoring" can be beneficial. And for women and minorities, access to mentoring is particularly important. Employers often look to create mentorship opportunities as part of succession planning, but that can lead to "mini me" choices – candidates who share demographic or socio-economic characteristics with their mentors. Moving forward, HR can ensure that mentor and intern programs are available to a diverse pool of candidates.