Montreal, March 10, 2015 – Walter Surface Technologies, the Canadian business and leader in designing and developing high performance products for the metal working industry, has launched Next to Succeed, a nation wide search for two of Canada’s brightest students that will help to close the leadership gap among millennials and upper management. Following the company’s successful launch of Objectif : Relève, the Quebec based internship program started last year, Next to Succeed is the national extension of the program that fosters the development of future leaders through an innovative paid internship that offers business and engineering students from across Canada the opportunity to submit their applications to advance their careers at the multi-national company’s Montreal-based corporate offices.
“It is our goal to develop Canada’s leaders of tomorrow and encourage other Canadian organizations to create strong leadership succession plans by investing in millennials,” says Pierre Somers, Chairman and CEO, Walter Surface Technologies. “This innovative approach will offer the ideal platform for students and employees to grow and exchange ideas, which also will ultimately help to further our organization’s growth.”
Numerous students from the country’s top business schools were offered the opportunity to find out about Next to Succeed during Walter’s national campus speaking tour, with Pierre Somers and Ryan Boyd’s, last year’s internship recipient, which is set to end at HEC Montreal on March 24, 2015. The tour’s success not only shows that businesses are looking into this issue, but that students are also aware of it. “Our tour demonstrated that the succession planning issue is already something that interests students,” adds Mr. Somers.
As many senior and second-level executives retire or approach retirement, Canadian organizations face a serious leadership succession challenge. According to Statistics Canada 2013 Trends and Forecasts, companies that transition to the next generation without a succession plan experience a drop in business in their first years that can negatively impact the Canadian economy.
“The Canadian population is aging and there is a critical need to fast-track efforts to train the next generation of young leaders,” says Alain Gosselin, Professor, Department of Human Resources Management, HEC Montreal. “Succession planning and management are good risk management practices with regards to the sudden or unexpected departure of key individuals, as well as a great way to attract and retain key personnel. Canadian companies require fresh and innovative thinking in their approach to managing talent, which has been top executives’ number one priority for the past two years, according to the Conference Board of Canada.”
Next To Succeed is the organization’s systematic approach to identify, develop and retain talent for key positions. The internship program contributes to the creation of a generation of qualified leaders by providing access to training and development – including the opportunity to work directly with the President and CEO, as well as executive management – on key projects in the areas of Research & Development, Finance, Operations and Marketing.
Students have until April 17, 2015 to apply for the internship by visiting walter.com/NexttoSucceed. Aspiring students are invited to create an elevator pitch-style video highlighting their skills sets and job goals to accompany their internship application. Two interns will be selected on May 8, 2015 by the Walter Surface Technologies’ leadership committee to complete the internship program, taking place from June to August, 2015.
About Walter Surface Technologies
Established more than 62 years ago, the Montreal-based, privately owned Walter Surface Technologies, is an important provider to the global metal surfaces industry. Aside from Canada, the company has established subsidiaries in the following countries: the United States, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Austria and Switzerland, and continues to grow a presence around the world. Walter Surface Technologies has its research, development and distribution quality systems certified under the International Standard ISO 9001: 2008. Walter Surface Technologies continues to grow and implement research and development to ensure it is producing the most innovative and sustainable products in the industry. Walter Surface Technologies has developed into both a national and international success as it has received recognition from across North America and overseas. Key influential awards include, Wall Street Journal Award (US), Deutscher Material Preiz (Germany), American Eagle Award, CleanTech Cleaning Technology Award.
To learn more about Walter Surface Technologies and to view a full list of products, visit www.walter.com.