Many people have difficulty hiring, managing and motivating student help. Some managers incorrectly believe that students are unreliable and unmotivated. This is unfortunate since students can prove to be bright, motivated employees. Included in this article are several suggestions for successfully hiring, managing and motivating student help.

Hiring:
Ensuring success with student helpers begins with identifying the best candidates for the position. It is often best to hire people who compliment rather than duplicate your groups skills. If you already have a helper who is an excellent technician but is too reserved to deal with some users, hire a helper who may initially have less technical skill but can charm even the most demanding client.

Don't assume that the best students helpers would be computer science undergraduates. Some of your department's computing needs may be too low level to remain interesting to a bright CS student. With so many computer savvy undergraduates, you are likely to find students who have an interest in both your department's discipline and computers. When I worked for a biology department I found biology and premed students made the best helpers because they were bright, interested in the field, and wanted to make a good impression with the faculty.

I have always been a believer that if people are smart, enthusiastic and intuitive they can learn almost anything on their own. This is often a hard sell in the world of academia where credentialism dominates, but remember that neither Bill Gates or Steve Jobs finished college. When evaluating candidates I look for people who have done well in school, and are enthusiastic, innovative, willing to learn and can think on their feet. Some see a diverse background as an indication of an individual's inability to focus, while I see that it may indicate an open mind which may be able to discover unconventional solutions that were not in the text book. My interview usually consists of a series of questions aimed at identifying people who are smart, amicable and adept at thinking on their feet. The interview is also a good opportunity to see how the candidates think and how well they respond to ambiguous and sometimes conflicting requests. In addition to the interview, I also make sure to call references and ask for their impression of the candidate as well as specifics listed in on the resume.

Managing:
Every individual comes with a set of strengths and weaknesses. Your job as a manager is to recognize these in your employees and assign tasks which take advantage of the individual's strengths while minimizing the effect of their weaknesses. If one of your employees is excellent at following detailed instructions, but is quiet or takes criticism personally, they are probably better suited for Web and database work rather than providing direct support to a demanding client. You are better off sending a more personable, easy going individual to deal with the end user. They are more likely to stay calm and shrug off the anxiety at the end of the day than your more reserved worker who may absorb the client's anxiety and take the client's comments personally.

A large number of institutions have cultures which inhibit people from speaking freely. Employees are afraid to ask questions or make suggestions because they fear that their questions or suggestions will be interpreted as criticisms, or that they may be accused of not being a "team player."

In Driving Fear Out of the Workplace the authors state:

"The fear behind these scenarios generates negativity, anger, and frustration. It depletes pride and undermines quality, productivity and innovation."

"The problem, as a vice-president of a Fortune 500 company told us, is that fear is at the root of 'all the time people spend in meetings not saying what is really on their minds.' These silences, built into organizations at all levels, plague most managers. They represent the absence of ideas or enthusiasm, suggestions that never go beyond the ordinary, conversations that circle the problem and never pin it down, unfinished business that leads to poor follow through and mediocre results."

Although you cannot control the institutional fear within your department, you can create an environment within your computer support group that lets people feel that they can speak freely. I make a point to ask my employees what they think of a policy or procedure, and listen to what they have to say. I often found that they had very good suggestions which made the group more productive. By seeking the council of your own employees you don't look like a weak, indecisive manager but a wise, fair minded leader who is secure enough in her/himself be open to a conflicting opinion.

Related to this management strategy is the need to listen to and affirm your employees' concerns. This does not mean you have to agree with them, but simply that you acknowledge that you understand that they are concerned about an issue, and you will take their concerns seriously.

Motivating:
Students have many conflicting demands, so how do you keep them motivated at work? There are two aspects to keeping students motivated. The first involves tying some of their work to their future career interests. When delegating projects consider the career interests of your helpers. Look for situations in which your student's career goals compliment the needs and goals of the department. You will find that students are empowered by these assignments and remain enthusiastic and highly motivated.

The second aspect of motivation is see yourself as a mentor to your employees. Unfortunately many treat their help as if they are second class citizens or worse, as potential competitors. These insecure managers create their own atmosphere of resentment and distrust, and reap what they have sown. It is much more rewarding and productive to mentor your employees and demonstrate that you are trying to look out for their best interests as well as those of the department. This includes sharing credit through coauthorship, discussions with colleagues, and the press. Make a point of introducing them to people who may be able to help them with their career.

Some will think that this attention to management psychology will consume too much of their time; however, the productivity gains and the low employee turnover will make the investment in time well worth it. My student helpers have taught me a number of things, and I have found it very rewarding to mentor and help them get started in their careers. Often a student helper will go on to become a valuable contact or colleague later in your career.

Recommended Reading:

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
August 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-671-70863-5

Excerpt: "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things..... You can quickly grasp the difference between the two if you envision a group of producers cutting their way though a jungle with machetes. They're the producers, the problem solvers, holding muscle development programs, bringing in improved technologies and setting up working schedules and compensation programs for machete wielders.

The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, "Wrong Jungle!"

But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often respond? "Shut up! We're making progress." ...

Effectiveness - often even survival - does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not the effort we expend is in the right jungle. And the metamorphosis taking place in most every industry and profession demands leadership first and management second."

Driving Fear Out of the Workplace:
How to Overcome the Invisible Barriers to Quality, Productivity, and Innovation
by Kathleen D. Ryan and Daniel K. Oestreich
ISBN: 1-55542-509-7

Excerpt: "We both have observed the reluctance of talented managers who worked for good bosses to speak up about the organizational issues and needed improvements. When we would inquire about people's hesitation, we both heard lines such as:

"You've got to be careful on that subject."

"You can never be fully honest around here."

"You just never know how [boss's name] will react."

We found that these experiences corresponded with the teachings of W. Edward Deming and others involved with continuous quality improvement. Deming asserts in his fourteen obligations of management that quality is impossible where people are afraid to tell the truth. Scrap and breakage gets hidden, numbers and schedules are misrepresented, and bad products are forwarded to customers because the quality insurance inspector knows better than to stop the line. Deming admonishes managers to drive out fear so that everyone can participate meaningfully in the organization."

The Courageous Messenger: How to Successfully Speak Up at Work
by Kathleen D. Ryan, Daniel Oestreich, George A. Orr III
ISBN 0-7879-0268-3

Excerpt: "Organizations can no longer afford to maintain a work environment where people do not identify problems or offer ideas for improvements. More than ever before, to survive and succeed, organizations need people to speak up. The capacity to be a messenger, to say the hard things that need to be said, is at the heart of what we see as the transformation of the workplace. ... Our objective with this book is to help you to be more successful when you decide that an issue is worth the risk. We offer a conscious process you can use to prepare for and carry out your role as a messenger."