How to attract Millennials
College commencement season is upon us, and graduates will soon flock to the job market looking to launch their careers.
Just as graduates remain hopeful of being chosen for an attractive job opportunity, companies also need these would-be employees to choose them. Competition for new talent is high: A CareerBuilder survey found 75 percent of employers said they planned to hire recent college graduates this year, the highest in almost a decade.
In order to benefit from the talent, technological skills and eagerness to learn that these primarily Millennial-aged graduates often bring, companies should understand what this demographic tends to look for in a workplace. This applies beyond recent graduates – as Millennials make up the largest generation in the country – comprising about a third of the population in 2013. They will be a significant part of the population for years to come.
Below are steps firms can take to ensure they are a top choice of this season’s talented college graduates, as well as Millennials in the workforce or graduating in the years ahead.
Engage in talent branding. Just as your company brands itself to customers, you should brand yourself to potential hires. This brand will come across in your employment postings, on your website and in interviews, and it should sync with your overall brand.
Promote your strengths. Some companies simply assume young people wish to work downtown and among peers. If this does not describe your office, then you need to dig deeper and think about what you offer. Are you near a walking path that employees enjoy during lunch hour? Does your company attend conferences allowing employees to travel? Do you offer tuition reimbursement?
Culture, culture, culture. Millennials look for culture in a workplace. You can demonstrate your company’s personality with something as simple as adding out-of-work interests to staff biographies. You should promote ways in which colleagues interact. Do you hold Friday lunches, volunteer or brainstorm together?
Communicate your values. Many Millennials wish to be part of something larger. Think about what your organization stands for and how you communicate that to potential hires. No matter your industry, you can be involved in a charity, committed to employee health and environmental sustainability, or committed to employee growth through mentoring.
Allow work-life integration. The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology released its annual list of Top 10 Workplace Trends late last year, which highlighted work-life balance across generations. SIOP addresses what Millennials see as blurred lines between work and life: they are on social media at the office and working after hours. Now might be a good time to review your policies related to social media, flex time and telecommuting, and to evaluate whether they can or should be updated.
Job searches are about to start for many talented Millennials this spring – and for some, they have begun. Now is the time to think about the talent your firm needs, consider your office policies, culture, strengths and values, and promote these attributes on LinkedIn, in employment postings, at job fairs, in interviews and elsewhere. When you find an applicant who is the perfect fit, this person will ideally say the same about you.
Lisa Carpino is director of the master of science program in industrial organizational psychology at Anna Maria College in Paxton.
WBJ Web Partners
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