Courting the Millennials
Recruitment of top notch young talent is a must in todays business world this new talent can enter your work force and provide that kind of long term growth potential your company needs, and can only come from a smart and productive staff is always a recruiting challenge. One of the most important reasons many businesses work hard to keep its public image high and to project the concept that they are an employer of choice is to have that opportunity to recruit the best and the brightest from the youth ranks.
Young new talent brings a lot to a business that can compliment an older work force and make the business rejuvenate itself both in endurance but also in perspective of the market place. Younger employees are in touch to the wants and needs of their peers, they understand them selfs so they understand others as they look with in. Instead of trying to guess how to market to the current generation of 20 to 35 year olds who are the age segment with disposable income, by keeping such employees on staff, you have the inside track to the priorities of the current crop of customers. Further youthful employees are often optimistic and out to change the world they have that go getter attitude sometimes we lose with age. Their sense of mission and belief in the system as a means to make the world a better place results not only in a better morale internally but in business philosophy that shares those values.
With the trend to name the upcoming generations can be a bit trite but it helps in knowing who the target group for recruitment are. And that group of youthful future employees that will be hitting the job market in the next few years has been dubbed “the millennials”. Despite the traumatizing events of world terrorism, war and the decay of the environment, the millennials come to you with that youthful enthusiasm and desire to make a big difference in the world that sets them apart from previous generations this again a must in the business world we live.
To lure millennials coming from the nation’s colleges, some rethinking of what we put in front of these young people is in order. Millennials are not leaving academia strictly with the objective of making a lot of money. So to turn the head of youth workers who can make a change for the better in your business, this is what you will need to offer.
1. Don’t just make the potential job about money or your recognizable business name. The reputation of the company can be as much a negative as it can be a positive. The millennial recruitee will look past the sign on the building at what the company is really all about and really wants to dig deep into what drives the business.
2. The millennial is more internet savvy and wants to use modern technology to accomplish business goals. The millennial wants to accomplish more in less time. It’s in our best interest to facilitate that goal because it will keep us in touch with the marketplace, that changes on a daily basis.
3. Corporate culture is an important factor for both recruiting and retaining good employees from the millennial generation. Millenials are looking for a business climate that is creative, able to change when new things become available, highly accessible upper management and responsive. Millennials want you know they are here and want to be heard.
4. Corporate values mean a lot to the millennial crowd. That means that those high minded values printed on posters and plastered all over the Human Resource department have to actually mean something, not just scribbles on paper. By demonstrating that the business lives up to its ethics and values, that will appeal the idealistic side of millennials workers.
5. The values that the business supports must reflect a modern attitude toward diversity and “going green”, yea you indeed read right “going green”. If you walk a millennial around the office during his or her interview, they will notice the recycling bins scattered about. They will notice the diversity of culture and race in the employee mix. Again the millennial not only wants you to do the talk but also do the walk.
6. Be prepared to recruit from various disciplines. Even if you are recruiting for a financial services function or some other specialization, keep your mind open to recruiting students with a focus on liberal arts or teaching. These millennials can be trained to the specific job and they bring a fresh approach to the job description that comes from their college area of focus. Millennials are flexible and they welcome to be called upon to be flexible, millennials welcome the opportunity to showcase them selfs.
These are things that might take time to change if the corporate culture is behind the times. But it’s worth the effort to start now to attract the kinds of workers that mean long term growth for the company if not when will you start. By doing some serious analysis on how up to the date your business is, you can begin to affect change now so by this time next year, you will be in better shape to court the millennials, if not someone else will be courting them.
Subscribe to the comments for this post