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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Cleveland Guardians was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
The Cleveland Guardians believe that its future leaders are within its early talent programs and initiatives, and are being recruited every day. The future talent of the organization is a competitive advantage and plays an essential role in the vision for the long-term success of the business.The continued investment of resources and development to this subset of teammates is necessary for the purpose and mission of the organization to be achieved. The Guardians’ early career recruitment efforts are needed to be forward-thinking today for the roles and people it will need for the future.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The Talent Acquisition team at the Cleveland Guardians spends countless hours strategizing on how to cast the widest net for every role posted. To ensure accessibility, the team offers hybrid recruitment options and engages in partnerships with community groups and colleges across the nation to ensure a diverse pipeline of the next generation of talent. Once students enter the pipeline, the Talent Acquisition team serves as a guide for their candidate experience allowing for frequent updates on processes and the ability to have questions answered promptly. The team also engages in informational interviews every week. In these interviews, the TA team can explore potential future candidates, even if a role fit does not exist today.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
The Cleveland Guardians are committed to developing and maintaining an environment that embraces all forms of diversity to enrich its core values, enhance its competitive position, strengthen its impact, and foster a greater sense of belonging for its employees. In job postings, the company states it is a requirement to have the ability to work with diverse populations and have a demonstrated commitment to social justice. Job postings encourage underrepresented groups to apply even if they don’t believe they meet every one of the listed qualifications described, as the Guardians know studies have shown that people from historically underserved groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every qualification described. Partnering together with the internal DE&I and Community Impact departments, relationships are forged with community groups and other partnerships to ensure best access to underrepresented talent at the entry-level.
Impactful Internship Program
As a smaller organization, the interns at the Cleveland Guardians are able to experience what it's like to be a full-time teammate at a professional sport organization while receiving the training and development that is deserved at an entry-level role. Interns work on high-impact projects that touch a variety of areas of the business for maximum exposure to problem-solving, relationship-building, and innovation. Interns have the ability to job-shadow, receive mentorship, and 1:1 career coaching while with the team. The Cleveland Guardians believe the success of the internship program extends beyond their time at the ballpark, and provides assistance at the end of internships to best prepare for a teammate’s next chapter, if not with the organization.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
The Cleveland Guardians are very intentional about the teammate journey to set new full-time hires up for success. To ensure top-performers and entry-level talent continuously feel engaged in their roles and development, the Talent Development team recently began working through a new career-planning process. The team wants to be deliberate on intentional career planning and is developing a roadmap to establish an 18-month plan for growth, including development milestones with the end-goal of keeping teammates engaged and challenged in their roles throughout their tenure with the organization.