Insight paper: Graduate recruitment. Successfully recruiting generation Y graduates

Transcription

1 Insight paper: Graduate recruitment Successfully recruiting generation Y graduates

2 Introduction Over the last fifteen years a changing world economy has changed the face of graduate recruitment. The shift towards widespread tertiary education, and the shift of the graduate population towards generation Y, has changed the expectations that graduates have towards employers - and vice versa (Kandola, Wood, Dholakia, 2009: 10). 1 With the increasing number of graduates in the labour market, as a result of widening access to higher education, there is evidence that the nature of jobs requiring graduate-level education is altering in response to the increased supply of people with degrees (Dale, 2006: 50). 2 This is likely to result in an under-utilisation of the graduate s skills. Frustration among employees, who then are likely to leave early; increased recruitment costs through higher turnover; and missed opportunities from not fully taking advantage of the graduate s skills, are all possible consequences. Additionally, with generation Y graduates (people born between the mid eighties and mid nineties), now entering the labour market, graduate recruitment must be adapted to a different type of personality. In a recent survey only one-third of respondents said that they had developed strategies on how to adapt their recruitment to generation Y graduates (Salt, 2007: 31). 3 This proves that most companies are still focused on baby boomer recruitment methods and have not yet started adapting to generation Y (Salt, 2007: 4). 4 Furthermore, the declining growth of the skilled labour market in most Western nations will result in a reduced population pool from which a skilled workforce can be drawn. The war for talent is therefore likely to become tougher, and a powerful graduate programme will become more vital than ever to ensure business success. This paper will give you an insight into important recent findings on graduate recruitment and what you can do to successfully attract the most talented generation Y candidates. 1 Kandola, R., Wood, R., Dholakia, B., and Keane, C. (2001). The Graduate Recruitment Manual. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited. 2 Dale, M. (2007). The essential guide to recruitment: how to conduct great interviews and select the best employees. London: Kogan Page Limited. 3,4 Salt, B. (2007). Beyond the baby boomers: the rise of Generation Y. KPMG International. 2

3 The major advantage is to target passive applicants who might not otherwise be attracted to jobs with a good fit. Connecting with generation Y in the web 2.0 era Generation Y grew up with a high level of interactive stimulation: TV, video games and, most importantly, the Internet, particularly the social web of Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This creates the need for new approaches to recruitment such as: Relationship recruitment as a key tool in connecting to graduates The rising importance of the candidate experience Relationship recruitment The major goal of relationship recruitment is to develop a long-term relationship with passive candidates, so that when they decide to enter the job market they will turn to the companies and organisations with which they have developed a long-term relationship. Relationship recruitment relies on Internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to provide them with regular updates about careers and their fields of interest and, when suitable job opportunities arise, to tell them instantly about it. The major advantage of this approach is to target passive applicants who might not otherwise be attracted to jobs with a good fit. Over time a relationship of trust can develop that will produce candidates who return to the web site whenever they are seeking jobs, thus creating a long term relationship (Lievens, Harry, 2003: 7-8). 5 Today s graduates expect interface, contact, respect, consideration and prompt response. When attracting generation Y it is important to make them feel valued throughout the recruitment experience. Employers need to highlight the transferable skills that working in a particular occupation will provide and also consider recruiting from other occupations to widen their potential talent pool. Action point What can you do to engage online: Consider a special recruiting micro-site that s tailored specifically to generation Y, providing visitors with a close look into the lives of the organisation s gen Y employees, both inside and outside of work. For example, consider showing individual short films of what it is like to work for your company to attract the YouTube generation. Ask different executives to do a twitter feed a day in your company. Provide daily tweets from different business leaders each week on day-to-day life inside and outside of your company. Followers can track what is top-of-mind for senior professionals from each of your company practice areas and gain a better sense of the issues, new developments and topics that the organisation s leaders focus on. Not only create but maintain and fully use your social media accounts with regular updates. Publish your event photos and videos and encourage the participants to post comments. Consider online groups where graduates can easily connect with professionals from your company where they can ask more about your individual company culture and practices. In addition to your social media profiles and accounts you may want to think about creating a platform that s exclusive to your company. There are several possibilities, for example the micro blogging service Yammer that s tailored to the needs of a corporate environment. Create a YouTube Channel and ask graduates that just started to shoot videos about your company - what it means for them to work for you and why they have chosen this job. You may also consider creating videos that follow employees in their day-to-day activities. You don t even need to contract a world-class agency - just make it look young, creative and Web 2.0 like. 5 Lievens, F., & Harris, M.M. (2003). Research on Internet Recruiting and Testing: Current Status and Future Directions. [In] C.L. Cooper & I.T. Robertson (Eds.) International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. vol. 16. (pp ). Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 3

4 The most important aspects when talking about Candidate experience for gen Y graduates are a high quality website, a simple application process, and rapid contact with recruiters. Your first touch points are critical to attract the graduates attention Candidate experience The concept of the candidate experience means looking at recruiting from the candidate s perspective and understanding and optimising the candidate experience - you have to put yourself in the candidate s shoes. Your online recruitment activities, especially those in the context of social media platforms, play a great role in how the candidate perceives you as an employer. Among the most important aspects when talking about candidate experience for gen Y graduates are a high quality website, a simple application process, and rapid contact with recruiters. If they find the process frustrating or inadequate they will quickly move on to the next opportunity. You therefore should think about how long your application process takes and how functional it is. At this point it is important to remember that generation Y has grown up with video games and MTV - you might want to think about making the process a more fun and enjoyable experience. Nevertheless, when talking about your candidate experience, this does not only involve your corporate career site; indeed, most graduates get in contact for the first time with employers via external touch points such as job fairs, social networks, postings, ads, conferences, sponsored sports or campus events. In a recent survey, 35% of respondents quoted that the best way to attract and recruit generation Y graduates are campus visits (Salt, 2007: 32). 6 Action point What you can do on your campus visit: Invite selected graduates for summer internships or in-house days where potential recruits visit the office for a day Send managers from teams where generation Y are prevalent since they are more likely to know how to address gen Y Take graduates with you that started recently in your organisation and let them share their experience about your company as an employer Think about identifying students though their professors, scholarships or graduate training The importance of strong employer branding in graduate recruitment Employer branding and its role in attracting and retaining great talent has had a lot of airtime recently. But can employer branding really make an organisation s graduate recruitment more successful? Early recruitment activities Studies have shown that graduate job seekers in a tight labour market behave like consumers in a crowded marketplace (Collins, Stevens, 2002: 1128). 7 Similar to prior marketing findings, the results suggested that early recruitment-related activities were indirectly related to intentions and decisions through two dimensions of employer brand image: general attitudes toward the company, and perceived job attributes. Employer branding can therefore indeed influence strongly the decision of a graduate to consider one particular employer compared to another. In fact, early recruitment activities that promote an employer and its brand can influence a graduate s decision on where to 6 Salt, B. (2007). Beyond the baby boomers: the rise of Generation Y. KPMG International. 7 Collins, C. J. and Stevens, C. K. (2002). The Relationship Between Early Recruitment- Related Activities and the Application Decisions of New Labor-Market Entrants: A Brand Equity Approach to Recruitment. [In] Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 87, No. 6, (pp ). American Psychological Association, Inc. 4

5 apply by up to 36%. This means that students are more likely to turn to an organisation when they have been exposed to early recruitment-related activities. Building your employer brand Action point Publicity: Defined as information about a product or service communicated through editorial media that is not paid for by the organisation. Since this is not in the direct control of the staffing function of an organisation, it is likely that publicity will only convey very general messages about a company and will only affect generalised perceptions of the firm. However, this can have a very positive impact on graduates attitude towards an employer if conducted over a sustained period. Sponsorship activities: Corporate sponsorships can improve both brand and corporate images by fostering positive attitudes among individuals who attend sponsored events or become aware of the sponsorship. Word-of-mouth: Similar to consumers, graduating students found information obtained from people outside the organisation to be more credible than the same information obtained from organisational representatives. Positive word-of-mouth echo can therefore promote an employer brand strongly. Advertising: The findings of several studies suggest that such advertising has effects on employer brand equity that are similar to those observed in marketing. The exposure to recruitment brochures affects both specific beliefs and general attitudes toward job openings. Out of these early recruitment activities the relationships between word-of-mouth endorsements and the two dimensions of brand image (general attitudes toward the company and perceived job attributes) were found to be particularly strong, though they worked in interaction with publicity, sponsorship and advertising. Further studies have shown that early recruitment and advertising had beneficial effects on increasing the quantity and quality of applicants (Collins, Han, 2004: 693). 8 Advantages in attracting applicants may translate into strategic advantages in the capacity to generate and maintain new business. Furthermore, since these findings are very close to those in modern marketing, staffing managers and recruiters may need to work more closely with marketing experts or become more familiar with marketing concepts to ensure that they are creating a positive and unique brand image in the minds of potential applicants. (Collins, Stevens, 2002: 1132). 9 Among the early recruitment activities, the following were found to be particularly efficient in promoting an employer s branding. Raising your profile Action point Sponsorship activities: Donating equipment for students to work on Providing financial donations for student scholarships Sponsoring campus events Word-of-mouth: Spend time getting to know the faculty Spend time getting to know the university career services Advertising: Advertise in student newspapers Regularly post job postings on university career services about your companies benefits and current hiring 8 Collins, C. J and Han, J. (2004). Exploring applicant pool quantity and quality: the effects of early recruitment practice strategies, corporate advertising, and firm reputation. [In] Personnel Psychology. vol 57, issue 3, September. (pp ). 9 Collins, C. J. and Stevens, C. K. (2002). The Relationship Between Early Recruitment- Related Activities and the Application Decisions of New Labor-Market Entrants: A Brand Equity Approach to Recruitment. [In] Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 87, No. 6, (pp ). American Psychological Association, Inc. 5

6 Gen Y does not take its work seriously and neglect it for personal matters......or do they? Understanding gen Y graduates Common misconceptions about generation Y Generation Y graduates tend to be children of financially secure, responsible and generous baby boomer parents. Most of gen Y have only ever known a world of gently growing prosperity. Even though the recent crisis was the first that most gen Y have been aware of, considering they were too young to experience former economic downturns, gen Y still remains fairly confident about its future. This is helped by the fact that they are supported either directly or indirectly by a parental safety net. Gen Y are also often single children in a family whereas baby boomers were likely to be one of four, five or six kids. If you are one of six kids in a family you understand concepts like deference, hierarchy, waiting-your-turn and hand-me-down clothes. If you are a single child raised by parents in prosperous times then you wait for nothing: I want it. And I want it now. Single children also have well-developed skills of negotiation; they are used to dealing one-on-one with figures of authority from a young age; and these are skills they will take into the office later in life. But there is more to gen Y than a selfish, overconfident crowd who seems more concerned about their Facebook account than the creation of prosperity for future generations. In the following sections we will discuss common misconceptions members of the baby boomer generation have towards gen Y (Robert Half International: 2007: 3-4): Gen Y does not take its work seriously and neglect it for personal matters In fact, gen Y has no illusion about how hard they will have to work to achieve the same financial security their parents enjoy. Most of them believe they will have to work even harder than previous generations to achieve similar wealth. Although, just like their parents, they want it all: fulfilling work and a rich personal and family live, but they are concerned about how to achieve this and expect their companies to help them balance they work and personal obligations. Gen Y expects instant promotion Gen Y graduates expect to climb the career ladder quickly. Contrast that with baby boomers who expected promotions based on working experience - gen Y believes education is the key to success. In fact, most of them intend to go back to school and obtain another degree during their careers. Gen Y is unable to take its own decisions and set its direction Raised in small families, gen Y is used to frequent parental feedback and input and hearing regular critiques about their performance. Also, gen Y has grown up with instant communication through the internet and expects therefore a fast reply. If gen Y seeks frequent contact with its superiors, this does not necessarily mean that they are avoiding taking decisions, but need advice and support in the process of decision making. Thus, managers, especially those often away from the office, should keep the communication coming. When analysing the origin of most gen Y behaviours and attitudes, one can see the same fears and concerns as baby boomers have. In fact, their top two career concerns are financial security and job stability. This proves that gen Y is not as much concerned about how much paid holiday they will enjoy or obtaining a fancy job title right away, as is commonly perceived. 6

7 Gen Y has the same fears and concerns as baby boomers. How Lumesse can help you with graduate recruitment With a decade of experience in implementing global talent acquisition solutions, Lumesse is the logical choice for multinational organisations. Lumesse TalentLink offers a single, standardised, efficient global talent acquisition platform that is designed specifically to meet the needs of global organisations, including their graduate recruitment needs. Campus Events: Lumesse TalentLink supports the publication of student invitations to open career events. This specific part of HR communication is critical when it comes to graduate recruitment. We understand that more than any other, the communication to graduates needs to be alive and animated. Publish your job fair and presentation events on event portals Automate the sending of invitations Easy branding of events Smart Questionnaires Recruiting inexperienced workers: At Lumesse, we expect that graduate recruitment will not progress in the usual way, since most candidates do not yet have a CV. It still remains necessary to select candidates, and for this purpose an alternative approach is to include additional steps to identify the best potential talent. Comprehensive questionnaire and form builder Structured and configurable application process Advanced pre-screening engine Session management steps available Multiple processes possible Integrated online testing partners to facilitate selection Micro sites and campaign sites Bulk processing: Recruiting graduates is first and foremost dealing with a massive influx of applications at given times of the year. Seasonal, affected by fashion trends, and very viral, the recruitment of graduates is about dealing with the masses, without losing the personal touch! Automated screening based on smart questionnaires Automated selection process Ability to Bulk process selection steps Ability to Bulk process s and offer letters Session planning capabilities to schedule multiple candidates at the same time Configurability: The latest version of Lumesse TalentLink brings the benefits of cloud computing to talent acquisition. Not only do organisations have unprecedented flexibility to develop centralised solutions that still allows local customisation, recruiters can customise their individual desktops with a next-generation user interface in a way that is intuitive and provides only the information they want. Speed: Lumesse TalentLink can be rolled out in weeks, while other providers require months, and our solutions are constantly being upgraded and improved. Security: Data security is essential for any global enterprise, especially when transferring sensitive financial and personnel data. At Lumesse, security is in our DNA. Not only do we have a dedicated security organisation in place internally to constantly develop solutions to emerging threats, we have a security officer and task force in place to follow clear lines of escalation should the need arise. For more information about Lumesse TalentLink and what Lumesse can do for your graduate recruitment, visit: 7

8 About Lumesse is the only global company making talent management solutions work locally. We help customers around the world to implement successful local talent management initiatives that identify, nurture and develop the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Our multi-cultural background and presence means we understand how to deliver talent solutions that work the way our customers work, as individuals and as teams, because no two people, organisations or cultures are the same. We regard differences as strengths, not as obstacles. 1,700 customers work with us in over 70 countries because they recognise that commitment, innovation and value only come from people. We help customers to unlock and inspire that human potential in their businesses. Our integrated talent management solutions are comprehensive, intuitive, secure and fully internationalised into over 50 languages. We have Lumesse offices and partners in more than 40 countries, covering EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. To find your nearest office and talk to someone who speaks your language, visit: /get-in-touch Lumesse AS All rights reserved. Unless explicitly permitted by Lumesse AS or by applicable copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise.