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Abode is proud to recognize Ferguson for excellence in crafting intentional keep-warm strategies, building community, preventing reneges, and fostering mentorship. There is a significant amount of effort and intention that takes place between candidates accepting an offer and showing up on their first day. In their application, Ferguson demonstrated how hard work and strategy benefits the individuals joining their program. Below, you’ll find the highlights of their early-career engagement strategy from their standout application.
Abode is proud to recognize Ferguson for their strong approach to early-career engagement.
Read what this organization had to say about their winning strategies.
“Our keep warm strategy combined group touchpoints with customized breakout conversations by location, ensuring a personalized and engaging experience. Interns received consistent, meaningful communication, early access to resources, and opportunities to connect with managers and their assigned buddy. This approach built excitement, strengthened connection, and reinforced a sense of belonging. Our goal was to ensure interns felt informed, valued, and confident in their decision to join before day one.”
“We’re most proud of how intentionally we built our intern community across markets—aligning intern cohort sizes by location, enabling cross-location project collaboration, and creating shared spaces in Teams for connection and knowledge sharing. This approach balanced strong local cohort experiences with broader enterprise-wide engagement, helping interns build relationships beyond their immediate team while staying connected to a larger network.”
This organization had one of the lowest renege rates among their peers who applied.
In their application, they cited helping candidates see long-term career growth during the interview process, connecting new hires with peers before the start date, and hosting pre-start programming or events as the top 3 reasons for their low rate.
“Our buddy program went beyond traditional onboarding by intentionally matching interns with peer buddies within their location and across the broader cohort to expand connection points early. Buddies served as real-time guides—offering day-to-day support, facilitating introductions, and creating informal moments of connection that complemented structured programming. With built-in touchpoints and flexibility for organic interaction, the program helped interns quickly navigate the culture, build meaningful relationships, and feel part of a connected community from the start.”
