The Power of People: P&G Internships

Every summer, we’ve been joined by around 100 interns, who take roles across our Business, Manufacturing & R&D sites in the UK: some are here for the summer, others are undertaking a year-long placement with us. This year was no exception although it is fair to say it took a little more logistical planning than previous years: with 50% conducting their internship entirely virtually we knew we had to adapt to ensure we gave the interns an enjoyable but safe experience! Upon joining us, our interns are given real projects to lead & deliver and are paid for their brain power! As their internships come to an end this week, I took the opportunity to talk with a few of them to understand more about their experiences across the last few months. If you’re inspired by their words, then check out pgcareers.co.uk where the application process for summer 2021 has just opened.

First up, I talked with Laura Mitchell, who is studying International Business with Marketing at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and asked her to share her experiences as an intern within our Sales function:

“It has been fantastic! The first week was very action-packed which included a two-day Intern College hosted by P&G HR Talent Manager, Georgie Crotty. My first day consisted of initial onboarding, checking emails and logging into Intern College which included various interactive sessions that discussed P&G’s business model and how the different functions of the business interact to successfully launch a new product. A key takeaway from your session with us was ‘it’s impossible to win tomorrow without being honest about today’. The second half of the week was where we started to get more familiar with our functions. This was the beginning of Sales Intern College which played a key role in giving us the tools we needed to have a successful internship.

That first week, we also participated in a virtual lead team dinner - having the opportunity to learn about P&G and the FMCG market from senior colleagues was greatly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed! One of the projects I’ve been working on is to investigate and understand the Fabric Enhancers Category within one of the Grocery Retailers by identifying key gaps/ differences in the market. From my analysis, I then must develop a category strategy with clear action steps that deliver for both the retailer and for P&G and will be presenting my recommendations during the final week of my internship. The data insights that I have been using are very relevant in today’s negotiations which makes working on the project very exciting.

During my Internship, I have been working from home and due to the travel restrictions and local lockdowns placed on Aberdeen, the possibility of venturing down to Harrogate just wasn’t possible. My P&G colleagues have made a real effort to introduce themselves and offer any support throughout:  I always looked forward to our Monday huddle meeting and weekly tea at three for a catch-up! 

I have had a very positive journey working at P&G, everyone who I have spoken to within the sales function has been more than happy to offer support and guidance when it comes to the projects that I have been working on. I have really been made to feel part of the wider team and it has been a valuable experience having been given the opportunity to spend time speaking with senior colleagues learning about their progression within P&G and the positive impacts that they have made. P&G have strong values which are clearly embedded throughout the company and reinforced in all the work that is done. It is really inspiring to work for a company that has a clear purpose, values and principles.

The three words that I would use to describe P&G are; Progressive, Innovative and Diverse.”

Muhammed Ozyurt’s internship this summer saw him take a role at our Babycare manufacturing plant in Manchester, where he could put his skills and experiences gathered to date in the Chemical Engineering degree he’s studying for at the University of Nottingham. Here’s what he told me about his experiences at P&G:

“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, my internship was delayed a month causing me to start in August rather than July. But since then, I’ve been able to come on site every day, safe in the knowledge that the right health & hygiene protocols are in place including temperature checks on the way in, masks provided – which incidentally we produce here in Manchester for our site employees and other P&G sites across UK – and plentiful hand sanitiser.  

During my Day1 experience as an intern, P&G was true to their word in placing real work and responsibility on us. I was immediately allowed on the manufacturing lines and spent quality time with operators learning about the process of making Pampers nappies from beginning to end. This not only allowed me to gain insight on the technical aspects of the production line, but also gave me the opportunity to meet and discusses solutions with key stakeholders for my projects which I was then further able to exploit during my internship.

I’ve been working on productivity and quality assurance projects. These projects have not only fully integrated me into the P&G way (with the production of One Point Lessons, SJTs and ORAs) but also has exposed me to new software such as Cognex In-sight! Most crucially, working closely with operators on the production line has significantly developed my soft skills in communication, teamwork and negotiation.

P&G does not differentiate between interns, grads or senior individuals, a good idea is a good idea regardless of who it comes from! I’ve realised that in the world of manufacturing, the implementation of an idea requires me to fully understand the different viewpoints of all individuals involved. Additionally, individuals who saw promise in my ideas but believed them to fall short in some areas, guided me to alternative routes which had stronger cases for implementation. As a result, I was able to see different viewpoints working with all functions from HR, PS, QA and SNO to implement my changes and ideas.

Having worked in other companies, P&G staff surprised me. This is because, every individual I have spoken to has lived up to P&G’s core principles & values in that they have all been welcoming, happy to help and have made an effort to answer my questions and make time for me. This is coupled with the fact that anytime you begin with “this might be a silly question”, you’re met with, “there’s no such thing as a silly question”!

As a result, my experience with P&G staff has led me to believe and see the truth in the statement “if you take away all our equipment and sites, but leave us with our people, P&G can rebuild. However, if you take away all our staff, and leave us with our sites and equipment, P&G cannot rebuild”.

If I had to use 3 words to sum P&G up it would be Inspiring, Honest & Passionate."

Finally, I caught up with Margot Fourcade who is studying European Social and Political Studies and undertook a HR internship with us this summer ahead of returning to her studies at University College London to finish her course and graduate next summer.

“Day1 as an intern was a mix of training and getting to know other interns and P&G employees. I thought it would feel like a typical university lecture (especially with it being online and cross-functional). In reality, all the P&G employees who talked to us made their presentations very engaging and they made sure to tell us about themselves and their experience at P&G. Training was very interesting and gave me a good overview of P&G as a company and of how functions work together to deliver great products. In the evening, we had a relaxed video call with the HR interns and two HR business account managers – we had dinner together and did a pub quiz! I really appreciated all the efforts made to make us all feel welcome and included despite working remotely due to the current covid pandemic.

Whilst I’ve worked remotely (from France) for my internship, my projects have been related to P&G’s Reading sites – both the manufacturing plant and the Innovation Centre. I’ve been leading a project to look at compensation and pay scales for employees working at the Reading site as well as a project that focus on employee communications.

I wanted to get insights into working for a big company, and into HR in general. I also wanted to challenge myself to learn new skills and increase my knowledge of the corporate world. I feel like in a very short period of time I have learned so much about the company in general, about specific areas of HR and about how to work strategically on a set of projects from scratch to delivery. My mid-teem review felt like I was on track and I’ve had frequent feedback from my manager so I’m looking forward to delivering my final recommendation.  I feel confident that I have acquired skills and knowledge that will be useful to me in any career path I follow.

Applying for the internship I had the stereotypical intern-in-charge-of-making-employees-coffee image in mind and thought all internships were more shadowing then real work experience. Very quickly during the application project, when there was an emphasis on intern projects, and during Day1 I understood that this internship would be drastically different. It has been a real highlight to see on a day-to-day basis that your projects are real, and have real purpose, and that people are so available to help you because they care about the project you work on.

All P&G employees I have talked to have been incredibly welcoming and helpful. Because of the real interest in developing interns, I was always told that the projects I was given had real impact – and everyone I asked for help or information took interest in my projects and took the time to truly help me. My manager has spent countless hours explaining everything I needed to know about all the specific areas of HR and the company and the tools etc, regardless of how busy he has been in his own work. This is something I witnessed constantly in the company, in my own work or during team meetings that I attended: the principles and values are visible every step of the way. People are always collaborating, helping each other out, treating each other with trust and respect!

In summing up P&G, I would say Welcoming, Inclusive and Collaborative”

This summer has clearly presented us with some logistical challenges with our internships but the experiences from this group confirm we made the right choice in staying the course to run them. I asked Georgie Crotty – our HR Talent Acquisition leader for P&G Northern Europe – to share her thoughts on internships at P&G

“What’s different about internships at P&G is that as an intern or a graduate you will be entrusted to work on real projects on some of the largest and most recognisable brands in the world. P&G offers a career with responsibility from Day 1 supported by world class training and development.  P&G, quite uniquely, develops talent almost exclusively from within, with the expectation that their interns and graduates become one of P&G’s future leaders... maybe even the next CEO. This year was no exception and we found ways through the Covid crisis to ensure our interns were given the same level of responsibility and support, no matter where they were.

 All of our graduate and intern positions go live at the beginning of September and can be found at pgcareers.com. Roles fill very quickly so we encourage students to apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment. You can stay in touch with us at pgcareers.com/stay-informed” 

Each cohort of interns that join us bring with them gender, cultural and racial diversity alongside differences in thinking styles, approaches and skill sets. Their diversity represents the people for whom we research, manufacture, sell and advertise our products. As internship season comes to an end for another year, I always reflect back and feel that we gain as much from them – possibly even more – than they gain from the experience.   Long may it continue!