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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Mohawk Industries 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
Mohawk Industries continuously focuses on its “R3 Guiding Principles” — one of which is "Reinvestment in People and the Planet." This commitment encompasses the internship and ASPIRE leadership development program for early talent to ensure a future of gifted, talented leaders, but also to continue building upon new ideas to better Mohawk's products, decrease Mohawk's footprint on Earth, and continue meeting Mohawk's sustainability efforts, including DE&I initiatives in the young talent brought in. By bringing in new minds, ideas, and skillsets, Mohawk is able to continue to do more.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The university recruiting team at Mohawk Industries goes above and beyond to assist students in finding their best fit career path. The recruiting team believes in getting to know students on a more personal level than what career fairs offer, so while they do attend approximately 30 career fairs every year, they also attend/host another 60+ events each year to work with and talk to students in a more intimate setting. Outside of its school partners, Mohawk Industries works with several platforms to promote its positions across the country and to ensure that it is getting its positions in front of underrepresented groups of students. Finally, the university recruiting team owns the entire process from application review all the way through onboarding and orientation their first day. By owning the entire process and being quick to respond, they are able to give candidates an onboarding experience rarely matched by others.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Mohawk's university recruiting team continually works to increase the diversity of its entry level talent to bring new ideas, insights, and life experiences to what they do. In order to accomplish the goal of increasing diversity initiatives each year, Mohawk works with targeted HBCUs, HSIs, student organizations including the LASO and WIT, and utilizes WayUp to increase the interest of underrepresented populations in its positions and the hiring of students from these groups.
Impactful Internship Program
Mohawk has a well-structured intern program with a goal to convert interns to full-time upon graduation. This past school year, Mohawk was able to convert 56% of its graduating interns to full-time. What makes Mohawk's intern program so fantastic is the commitment to assisting students in personal and professional development (focusing on the NACE Competencies), real-world experience through the projects they complete, career mapping through "ask me anything" sessions with leadership, team-building activities that also allow them to network, and a chance to hone their presentation skills with the end of summer Intern Expo. The interns also receive a mentor for the summer, who is someone who has gone from intern to full-time employee and who understands the struggles they may go through. The mentor can offer advice and the opportunity for interns to grow their network, as mentors are always from a different team but with a similar background.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Mohawk values new entry-level talent and starts from day one to map their success for leadership roles in the future. All new talent starts with orientation and are quickly immersed into the company culture and on-the-job training to help them be successful. Those in the rotational leadership development program, ASPIRE, start with a two-week onboarding with leader meetings, mentors, plant tours, and more before beginning their first rotation within their area of interest. For those who do not start in the leadership program, Mohawk offers a leadership development program for employees at every stage to ensure those who want to be successful and move up within the company have the proper tools to do so one day. Mohawk is great at supporting employees looking to explore new areas, increase their talents, or just looking for that "best fit" role with opportunities for movements across departments as well.