People commonly make the mistake of thinking that managing people is about meeting revenue targets or sales goals. That’s the product of good management—but how you get there is what really counts.

As a manager, you have to understand all of the small quirks and big ambitions that drive your people. You have to augment their strengths and help them improve their weaknesses.

In today’s data-driven world, we’re used to solving problems by digging into the data. If you want to ramp up user growth, you might analyze different marketing channels to see where your users are coming from. If you’re identifying a churn problem in your product, you want to find out how people are engaging with your product.

But management is something that’s less quantitative, and often more elusive. You won’t become a great manager by staring at spreadsheets all day—you have to put in the time and effort with your people. Luckily, as with any other craft, management skills can be learned, if you’re willing to put the time in.

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Every year, a slew of young college students swarm your office looking completely clueless. Though they’re meant to help you and your colleagues out for a season, sometimes it feels like it’s more work to train them than it’s worth.

With proper procedures in place, training interns can be smooth and save you time. They’re in the office to make your job easier, not harder. But because most interns have zero work experience, it’s up to you to show them how things work.

Productivity increases when everyone knows the optimal way to complete their tasks. Train your summer interns the right way so you can relieve some of your workload and reap additional benefits down the road when you bring some of them back as pre-trained employees.

Why good interns make good companies

Companies generally hire interns once the workload becomes overwhelming. But a good internship program serves more purposes than the immediate relief of pressure for current employees.

A coveted internship program is the first step in attracting the best job candidates. Successful interns return as full-time employees down the road, giving the companies a direct ROI and a win-win situation for both students and employers.

A Universum survey including over 65,000 undergraduates found that 51% of respondents considered full-time employment opportunities to be the most important value of an internship. Furthermore, the study found that employees who started out as interns had higher retention rates.

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