Chapter 3: Internship performance areas and related activities
MATRIX FINAL INTERNSHIP REPORT
* Click on each task to view the details/ explanations
Capacity Internship deliverables Work deliverables
Entrepreneurial behavior with innovative and creative capacity
For the first few months, Anna assigned the tasks to me with detailed purposes, instructions, and timelines. Therefore, I could understand what I was doing and perform professionally as well as manage workload effectively. After that, I have taken initiatives in searching for tasks that I preferred to do to match with what I have learnt from HAN and also few weeks ago, then discussed with Anna. These mentioned projects are what Anna suggested/ assigned for me.
1. One year anniversary of rebranding - Host an online pub quiz
4. SME Newsletter
Collaborative capacity
Regrading these projects, they all required my collaboration skills which include knowing who I am working with, how clear communication I need to make, what is our expectation/ purpose/ way of working, when is the best time to discuss/ work together and where we can put our final product. I had the chance to not only work in pair with other fellow interns but also other teams such as designers, and social media specialists.
1. Mini internal campaign (bike to work)
3. Internal digital communication platform - CCV Inside analysis
Reflective practitioner
1. Personal Internship Plan: Reflection on the company culture & communication
2. Report Company Communication
3. Interim Performance Report
4. Report Company Culture
1. Reflection about what I have learnt and obtained every month
2. Meeting with company coach to catch up and update (see below in Reflective practitioner)
I took initiative in reflecting my performance each month. I realised that if I just kept working and completing different tasks without any reflection, I would not know how progress I have made. In addition, Anna also asked me if I felt like I was learning from CCV in general and from my role in particular. Therefore, I decided to make the reflection document and sent to Anna for review. We also took advantage of 1 to 2 meetings per week to update the progress and share our thoughts about it.
Intercultural proficiency
For intercultural proficiency, I tried to get to know and adapt my way of working with the flow of colleagues in my department as well as at CCV. Besides, I was always clear in communication with different colleagues. Regardless of our different cultural background, we respect each other and our way of working as long as we succeed in contributing to the company's common goal. With the background of studying in an international environment for 2 years, I find no difficulty in dealing with intercultural working environment.
Investigative capacity
1. Department analysis: Infographic
2. Business Canvas Model
3. Justification report of the analysis process
4. Sustainability Scan
Investigative capacity is one of my favourite ones which I do both at work and daily life as well. When searching for the internship, I investigated and found CCV. When performing task, I broadly researched, meticulously read, carefully extracted and collected data to finalise a list of report/ analysis together with proposal. In addition, I was able to deliver some improvement for the website based on the research and articles about effective CSR landing page. The CSR Toolkit is the result of my internal investigation about all policies/ documents that CCV have to fulfill the inquiries from our customers/ partners. Besides, the creation of training materials accounts for my effort of searching for what I would like to perform before asking Anna to assign me the related tasks.
2. CSR Communication report 2023
4. UN Global Compact - How to leverage our membership
5. CSR and Sustainability Toolkit for sales
6. Improve the CSR landing page (website)
ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE FOR EACH PERFORMANCE AREA
Entrepreneurial behavior with innovative and creative capacity
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Reflection
After 2 months at CCV, I know about our customer segmentation and the Proposition & Branding team are working on the value proposition for SME customers. At the same time, as a Branding intern, I also would like to know to what extent SME customers are aware of the CCV brand/ position our brand from their perspective.
Word of mouth campaign with the objectives of attracting more SME customers from the existing SME customers.
In pairs with Cenic - another intern in the Branding team, we did research, discussed how to brainstorm the creative ideas for this WOM campaign to make sure that they fit our brand as a financial service company and the concept of this creative campaign itself.
We had different creative ideas; however, considering the feasibility and the current situation of the company, we opted for the referral campaign and further developed it.
I understood the different cultural background, company’s customer segmentation. I am also aware of my company's position in customers' mind as well as the general image and features of a financial service company in the market. I don’t hesitate to give ideas and explain them well to the manager.
Collaborative capacity
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Reflection
CCV supports SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Day to show our commitment to UN Global compact principles. The day is September 25h, approximately my 2 months at CCV.
Mini project: Creative ideas with the flag to show our support.
This task includes both individual creation and collaboration. I was creative in brainstorming the idea of posing for a group photo with the flag. I managed to make a social media proposal for Daniel - our social media specialist. I was responsible for communicating and inviting the ‘models’ for the photoshoot. I worked with Jessica (photographer/ designer) to have a nice picture. All done, I wrote a post on Inside to give big thanks to their support. Then everything was released smoothly, which surprised me and my manager too!
The result is a group photo, and my individual photo with the flag. These are materials for our LinkedIn post on September 25th. The UN Global Compact liked the post from CCV. We also had some interaction from other colleagues and reached the target.
I think this mini project is a milestone after 2 months, making me less shy. Working at CCV, especially this project lets me know that communication and collaboration are the key to success. I had a great idea for a photo, but it went to nothing if I could not manage to convey my idea and get people involved. I already got out of my comfort zone (shy at first) to communicate/ propose my idea and luckily succeeded in inviting models/ executing my proposal. I really appreciate my effort and the support from all ends.
Reflective practitioner
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Reflection
In two meetings every week with my manager, we discuss the task for a week and update the progress in the Planner. At the end of every month, I have the ‘Work and learn’ document to reflect what I have done so far.
Update what I have done so far for one week, and one month. Discuss my strong and weak points, what knowledge and skills I have obtained so far based on the complete tasks and what topics I would like to do further.
Before every meeting, I always well prepare what I should ask and say about my progress. I also had a to-do list every week and tick box for the completed. During the meeting, I listen to Anna’s thoughts about my performance first. Then I will raise the questions for unclear knowledge to make sure that I thoroughly understand what I have done.
For the ‘Work and learn’, Anna helped me to conceptualise my tasks in a professional way. It is also a reflection of my effectiveness for 1 month to adjust the amount of workload and make sure I have learnt based on the quality, not the quantity.
Anna was so happy and impressed with my well-organised and progressive performance during this internship. I understand the values of the tasks I have completed. By doing constant reflection, I was much aware of where I was in my career path. I am able to broaden my knowledge in diverse branding areas by having a chance to observe and learn from different types of tasks. Any issues or mistakes raised were also addressed quickly, which resulted directly in my deliverables at work.
Along with HAN required tasks for the Internship Deliverables, the meetings every week have helped me remind myself what kind of tasks/ results I am supposed to reach, which made me focus on doing my best. Weekly reflection and update has slowly become a weekly routine for me. And monthly reflection is now an indispensable action to really complete one month at CCV. I am happy to do it as a way of looking back on my journey of develôpng with both hardships and achievements.
Intercultural proficiency
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My department has international members with different backgrounds, mostly Dutch. When performing tasks, I need to communicate with colleagues from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany both via text and meeting.
​Recognized and understood the cultural diversity in my working environment. Understood the company’s culture as well as the Marcom department’s ways of working and shared values. Needed to be able to communicate effectively with colleagues from 3 countries. Knew how to adjust tone of voice in different situations/ with different people. Used both verbal and non-verbal communication effectively to convey and convince.
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Reflection
I used all materials on CCV Inside/ Marcom Teams channel to understand the culture, shared values, and shared goals. I observed the way people communicated to each other, learnt through the message I texted my manager, read the style of emails she sent me/ other colleagues from different positions and followed it.
As a result, I was able to perform well and contribute to a multicultural team. I maintained a good relationship with all my teammates as well as adjusted the tones of voice in professional and personal conversation. For example, when I send the invitation to HR members who will listen and give feedback on my autonomous campaign, I will be formal. When I talk with Anna about my nervousness when presenting my work to others, I will be a bit informal and humorous when she replies to encourage me.
Studying at HAN in an international setting helped me get used to working in a diverse environment. I did not have much trouble fitting in with the team and the company's culture. I would say I learnt and achieved this skill during my internship.
Investigative capacity
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​I had to do a lot of research about the company and the team according to the Internship deliverable assignments. My tasks as a Branding and CSR Intern also requires doing research for reporting documents and new regulations coming that affect the way of reporting externally to be aligned with the financial industry.
I had to complete several assignments for the internship assignments, such as Sustainability Scan, Business Canvas Model, Department Analysis, etc. In addition, the company tasks such as CSR Training Report, CSR Communication Report, CSR new green legislations, and so forth all require my investigative capacity with wise research and deep interpretation.
For HAN assignments, I did deep into the company materials, informally ask my colleagues and formally interview them.
For the company tasks, I mostly conducted desk research based on my manager’s detailed instructions of where to find what to complete the final report. Regarding the technical topics, I also used reliable sources such as from the EU Commission website and feedback from our external sustainability consultant who masters the knowledge about CSR and Sustainability.
Gained valuable, up-to-date and in-depth insights about the company. All my reports were used to submit to Ecovadis - international sustainability rating tool after being carefully verified by my manager. The new green legislations which are directly relevant to our company was posted on Inside by me to inform company-wide colleagues.
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Reflection
While there is constant room for growth, it is evident that my investigative abilities have markedly enhanced through the completion of internship deliverables and assigned work tasks. I am confident in my capacity to independently undertake research, as demonstrated by my consistently thorough and concise research outcomes.
