Hire Through the Generation Gap

Throughout my life I've noticed a generational trend: each successive generation thinks the new one has it too easy. “Back in my day…” is handed down from one era to the next.  I was born six months before the cutoff for Generation X.  While technically a Baby Boomer, my formative years certainly were more Gen X.

I was born to college-educated parents and grew up in a comfortable middle class neighborhood with good schools, cable TV, and a microwave oven. I didn't have a phone in my pocket or highly sophisticated video games, and I certainly didn't have the social and informational connectivity of the internet growing up. But then again, my parents didn't have a television until they were in their teens, and they had to worry about polio vaccinations and the Russians nuking them into oblivion. In retrospect, I had it pretty easy.

The Millennial Generation gets a bad rap from the Boomer & Buster generations. They’re accused of having a mentality of entitlement mentality without a sense of loyalty. They’re looking for instant gratification and are only in it for themselves. The list could go on but why bother – it’s simply not true. The truth is, Millennials are every bit as hard working and loyal as any other generation, they just have a different set of life experiences that shape how they operate.

As a Gen X-Boomer it’s hard to say I know what makes Millennials tick, but as a person who recruits a good many of them, I have a pretty good idea of what they value in an employer & what you need to do to attract them to your company.

1.       They care about what they’re doing so they expect YOU to care about them. Seems simple, but it’s not. Your management team can’t just care about getting the product out the door. Millennials are not typical 9-5 Monday through Friday thinkers. They’re connected 24x7 so they tend to get very wrapped up in their work and passionate about their job. If the leaders in the firm don’t visibly share that passion they will find someone who will.

2.       Millennials ARE ambitious. If you don’t provide a path someone else will. If each step moving up the ladder at your firm takes a couple of years you’ll want to consider putting in some intermediate steps. Millennials either move up or they move out.

3.       Millennials are highly relationship-driven and the most connected generation ever.  They’re talking about everything and everyone on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, GitHub, Instagram, Flickr, SnapChat, YouTube, Foursquare, Google+, etc.... They’re also checking out what people are saying about you on Glassdoor. Ignoring their connectivity and their ability will come at your own costs.

If you want to win the "war" for Millennial talent keep the following in mind:

Is your career site a reflection of your customer site? 
Organizations spend thousands of dollars in multimedia marketing to make the customer side of their site attractive and interactive. Yet when you click on the “Careers” link it takes you to a text heavy, bureaucratically-laden process to go through layers of data just to view a job.

Millennials are market-savvy, they’re looking for a company that reflects that image. 
Do your job descriptions list “must be able to lift 50 lbs” or “ability to safely enter and exit a vehicle” or any other OSHA gems? Don’t laugh - I’ve seen that in job specs before. Most Millennials will roll their eyes at that type of attempt to attract them to your company. They aren’t attracted to bureaucracy & those “requirements” simply make your company seem foolish.

What kind of “brand experience” are you giving your job seekers? 
You’re the one that posted the job, so what are you doing to respect the time they took to respond? If you’ve brought someone in for an interview, what are you doing to provide communication and closure?  Potential employees are also potential customers so treat them as such.

What’s your company’s culture? 

Do you have Ping Pong tables, beer taps, and casual Fridays? A lot of companies use this to attract Generation X and Millennial candidates, but unlimited vacation time and a free coffee bar is a perk – it’s not a culture. Culture is what your company values. Zappos has defined their culture in the 10 Core Values they seek and develop in each employee. You need to define, implement, and live your culture as far as work is concerned. Don’t just post core values on your website and continue business as usual.  This is more important to this generation.

Ignore Kevin Bacon, the 80's are over.  It’s 2014. Your strategy for attracting & retaining Millennial talent needs to change.

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