Hiring and Retaining Generation Y Employees: The War for Talent
Top tips for hiring Generation Y employees: Being the employer of choice
Hot tip: You get people with a good sales pitch
Organizations that are the most successful in hiring young workers are willing to use high-level marketing tactics that include high-end company videos with good graphics, great editing and an exciting story line based on a fast track to success.
Hot tip: Create a corporate volunteer program.
- Wall Street Journal Article
Companies that are successfully wooing Generation Y employees also make promises of respect, flexibility and high-tech tools. (If a young worker's computer at home is faster than the one at work, she feels she doesn't have a very good job.)
Hot tip: Use the promise of skill-building as a recruiting tool when you interview Gen Y applicants. It’s underrated.
Successful recruiters understand the "I want it all now" mentality of Gen Y and focus on signing bonuses, perks and instant rewards rather than long-term opportunity. (Workers under 30 have an idea that a good job last three to five years.) So armed with the information that their company may be viewed as stepping stone, they load benefits on the front end and let recruits know how bright the future is even if that future is with another company.
Hot tip: Look into portable benefits. It could be a big attraction.
Hot tip: Create easy online job applications.
Post available positions on your web site.
Generation Y job seekers like the fact that they can fill out an application for employment from the comfort of their house at all hours of the day.
However, don't leave out personal contact altogether. Generation Y expects to be able to interact with recruiters who are knowledgeable and skillful. They want specifics about the company and the opportunities.
Hot tip: Is your company green?
More than two-thirds of Generation Y workers wanted to work for an environmentally responsible company as compared with 52 percent of baby boomers.Hot tip: Work-life balance | Revisit your vacation policy.
Some of America's largest businesses are experimenting with unconventional time-off rules and benefits. New Brunswick, N.J., health-care giant Johnson & Johnson has an ever-expanding stable of work-life balance programs, including an extra week's paid vacation for new moms and dads and for parents adopting. Read more about what Netflix has done. Similarly, Netflix has embraced an attitude of employee autonomy that, as the company describes it, "means leaving the office for as long as you want, as often as you want, if the work gets done."
Additional resources for attracting young employees:
Attracting Generation Y employees: A survival guide
Attracting the new workforce (blog)
Retaining Generation Y employees
Become appealing
One of the key factors in retaining younger workers is creating an appealing work environment.
Old-fashioned architecture, worn-out carpet and run-down buildings guarantee high turnover for workers under 30. They are just too easily lured by what looks modern, new and fun. Having well-equipped break rooms (some of which include video games, believe it or not) and the best technology you can afford have proven to make a big difference in keeping younger workers in your domain. Think good coffee, energy drinks, healthy snacks and personalization of space.
Manager, leader, mentor
The big issue is leadership. Generation Y employees don't work for companies; they work for their direct supervisors. The importance of relationships and the quality of those relationships can't be stressed enough. Leadership styles that include a heavy dose of negative feedback or military-style management techniques are simply not working. In exit interviews of workers ages 19 to 29 people revealed they left their jobs because of their boss, not because they disagreed with company beliefs, philosophies or culture. Young, talented employees will leave because they have options. The young people who stink are with you for life. (The No.1 reason that people in this age group left their jobs was that "the boss doesn't pay enough attention to me and I don't get enough positive feedback.")
Mentor them: Don’t just give orders; give the reasoning behind them. If you want Gen Y workers to do something, tell them why, in a way that lets them know the importance of the task to the company.
Let them talk: Meetings that allow innovative ideas and creative input prove that your company is a forward-thinking organization. If your young employees can see their input in company solutions, they have total buy-in for the mission.
Green goals: Company goals that are connected to causes like the environment and world peace attract and keep talented young workers, according to recent surveys.
Show them how their work will contribute to the bottom line: They need to know they are making an impact.
Encourage their values: Any avenue to show appreciation for their individuality and let them be expressive will keep them around. Allow them to have input into the decision-making process. They want to be heard.
Don't be afraid to add responsibilities: Generation Y workers want to take up more responsibility sooner. They like to explore a variety of different jobs and have a thirst for growth and knowledge. Give them new responsibilities and the right training programs and set them on their way.
Give more ownership: Give them more ownership on the tasks they are doing and challenge them. Gen Y employees want small goals with tight deadlines so that they can build ownership of tasks.
Offer flexibility at work: Be accommodating, both in terms of having flexible working hours and trusting them to work from home. Money is important to them, but maintaining work-life balance outranks money.
Communicate: Find out what they want. Communicate openly and give honest feedback on their performance and development. Corporate double-speak is a dead language. Train managers to address these new challenges and to acquire Generation Y employee management skills.
Give immediate feedback: Having real-time feedback sessions and short performance-review cycles supported by coaching or mentoring will help them to fine-tune their behavior.
Instant recognition: Do not save recognition for a year-end banquet, but show honest appreciation with a card, nomination for an award, movie tickets, dinner or even a simple "thank you" to make people feel valued. Avoid drive-by or insincere praise.
Provide developmental opportunities: Offer opportunities for growth and development according to individual needs. Show them a path that will allow them to change jobs within the same company. Internal mobility programs that support movement should be encouraged.
Provide a fast track: Make sure you have a performance-based fast track to success. It should at least be possible that if they perform very well, they can rapidly increase their position and pay.
