“Promote from within” has been heard from Mike Hayford since he joined NCR as CEO in April 2018. Mike is a firm believer that nurturing, educating and coaching employees builds strong internal leaders – and this can be done as early as day one of an employee’s internship. Knowing how critical day one can be for a new employee, Mike made both the university recruitment (UR) internship and full-time hire programs part of NCR’s goals in 2019 and was invested in each programs’ success.

Mike’s support and dedication to the program is why we are excited to share that he has received the 2020 Employer Recruiting Champion Award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Mike has championed our UR program to the NCR board, letting them know how important it is to make this a key initiative for the company, from Atlanta to Dundee, Hyderabad to Belgrade.

“It is important to provide students and recent graduates professional growth opportunities,” said Deb Bronder, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer. “Hiring new graduates is what will allow NCR to continue diversifying and growing our talent so that we can compete and succeed in the tech industry. I am very happy that Mike is so involved in our global UR program and received this recognition from NACE.”

Mike has welcomed and hosted many local university presidents at NCR’s Global Headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., including Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Georgia State University (GSU) and University of Georgia (UGA). The relationship among NCR and these universities keep NCR informed on how to best support incoming students and ensure the NCR internship and full-time hire programs align with the universities’ top initiatives for the year.

Throughout both the Spring and Fall semesters, Mike personally went to GSU and Georgia Tech to tour the campuses, introduce himself to university networks and further experience the student, faculty and staff relationships.

The NCR university recruitment team unanimously agree that Mike is the best partner and champion of the program they could have asked for. Since 2016 to 2020, NCR has seen:

• 400% increase in intern hires
• 400% increase in intern conversions to full-time hires
• 900% increase in overall university full-time hires

These numbers support Mike’s vision of promoting from within – nurturing interns to become long-term NCR leaders.

Thank you for your dedication to the UR program, Mike!