Greenheart recently held its annual Work and Travel Conference in Chicago, where staff connected with employers, sending agencies, and more. At the conference, colleagues discussed achievements from the past year, best practices, and brainstormed ideas for improving partnerships.
In attendance were U.S. business owners and leaders who partner with Greenheart’s Work and Travel Program to employ international students for a season. We interviewed a few attendees to learn more about what they do and how working with Greenheart helps them meet their business needs while diversifying their workplace.
Jeff Curtis is the Director of Operations for three mid-size hotels in western Michigan, working under Great Lakes Hospitality Group. In 2018, he led the company’s efforts to begin a host program by establishing a partnership with Greenheart.
Nancy Pocoli is the Parks Manager at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire. She is in charge of their international student program, as well as recruitment and retention of the park’s team members.
Isabella Albrecht is the Director of Human Resources at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. As a year-round facility, the resort works with interns for both the summer and winter work and travel seasons.
Trent Thibaudeau is the Area Assistant Director of Human Resources at East West Hospitality, where he oversees a total of four properties in Aspen and Snowmass, Colorado. He has been working with Greenheart for over 11 years.
What benefits has the Summer Work and Travel program brought to your program?
Jeff: The culture that American employees get to see, and how students from other cultures get to interact with them and learn about the world financially; we just couldn’t do what we do without their partnership. It just is amazing that we have that big of a staff that we can count on every single day. The J-1 kids are definitely dependable.
Nancy: I think it has allowed us to interact with team members from all over the world. That’s the most important thing. So, getting to work with people from all over the world broadened my perspective and really showed me what it means to be a mature team member. So that’s something that I think it’s brought to our place.
Trent: Being in Aspen, Colorado, it’s very small, and a lot of employers are working with a small labor pool. So, our guests recognize how diverse our staff is, and how we have individuals from different countries coming and working. They’re just so impressed by these students that are so young and here to experience the culture and what it’s like to work in the United States.
How would you characterize your partnership with Greenheart Exchange?
Isabella: A great partnership. I mean, we work well together. It’s a two-way communication all the time, but it’s just a great partnership for us. Without Greenheart, we couldn’t run our business. You know, we’re successful because of this partnership.
Nancy: I’ve really only been working with Greenheart for the past two years since I’ve entered into this role. But I’ve been working with participants from the program for over 11 years now, so I’ve really been able to see both the perspective of being a peer to international team members, as well as being their supervisor and their boss.
Trent: The first word that comes to mind is ‘amazing.’ Over the years, I’ve worked with other agencies, but what I find with Greenheart is that it’s so consistent. It’s so reliable. And the students that we get with Greenheart are dependable, reliable, and come and do an amazing job with us. I’ve worked with other agencies, and that’s not necessarily the case, but that’s why I continue, and will always continue to work with Greenheart.
Is there a particular interaction or event from the past year that stands out?
Isabella: Every year, we have an Exchange Visitor Days event, and I’ve organized it twice. This year, we had three hotels in our area that put it together. It was just a lot of fun to see great participation from our hotel. We had a total of almost 30 kids from four different host companies, all with Greenheart. We bought flags from all of the countries to represent all of them, and I loved just watching them show how proud they were. Because of the Summer Olympic Games, we also played some of those sports together and it was just great.
Nancy: I had a team member this year and it was her first time participating in the program. On her first day, I checked to see how she was doing at the end of her shift. I asked “How was your first day? Did you have fun?” She kind of sighed and looked down and said, “Work is not for me.” And I was very encouraging, I told her she could do it, that she would make friends, and that it would be a great experience. On her last day, when she was leaving, she came over and she gave me a big hug and said she’d like to come back next year. So watching her go from “This isn’t for me” to “I wanna come back next year” was really rewarding.
Trent: Yeah, so there’s a picture that I have in my office of about 30 of the international students from an end of season party. I look at that picture on a daily basis, and I look at how they had such baby faces. But I’ve stayed in contact with them, and now they’re graduating from medical school, they’re graduating to be lawyers. They’ve grown so much, and they’re getting married, and they’re having babies and I’d like to think that I had just a small part of helping them kind of branch over into adulthood and kind of grow in the experience with Greenheart.
Any thoughts on the placement process or virtual hiring events?
Isabella: So, we always do the Greenheart World Fair here in Chicago and the process is really great. It’s very efficient when we come here because we know we can get everything done in one day. We have plenty of time to talk with the participants, and again, it’s just a good partnership and so efficient when we come for that specific event.
Jeff: I love doing the virtual process. It’s just such a streamlined approach and works very well and, and I can interact with all of it. I can see who’s in line and in the past, with the process we used, you would sometimes have someone say their name too fast and couldn’t understand. Now, you see the name, you know exactly who you’re interviewing. Then you can go in order, pick the one interview and quickly send them a text afterwards saying “Hey, you did great. We’re going to offer you a job.” So I just really look forward to continuing this working partnership and working with Greenheart next summer!
Thank you to Jeff, Nancy, Isabella, and Trent for sharing how your businesses have benefitted from partnering with Greenheart!
Are you a U.S. business owner looking to host international seasonal staff for a cultural exchange? Visit HireWithGreenheart.org to learn more.