By 2025, Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce. It’s an impressive figure, and one that should make any company that wants to be thriving in a decade sit up and take notice – especially those concerned with recruitment.
With 75% of your workforce set to be made up of Gen-Y, the importance of attracting and maintaining their attention is no more important than in recruitment and recruitment marketing.
Having largely grown up in a world where the internet, smartphones and being connected is a constant, how they consume content and decide where they want to work is different to the way many companies have traditionally marketed themselves to job seekers.
According to recent research, if there’s one thing that Millennials want to see in a prospective employer it’s the impact they’re going to have once they join – on the company, on the world and on themselves.
In short, Millennials have set their sights high: making a difference to the world. If you want them working for you, show them how you’ll help them do that.
“We’re not changing the world!” you might say
Millennials making an impact
The importance of making a meaningful difference to the world is one that is well documented and supported. The Millennial Impact Report 2015 reported that 94% of Millennials are interested in using their skills to benefit a cause.
In fact, as far back as 2012, a survey from Rutgers University in the US found that 50% of Millennials would take a pay cut to find work that matched their values. Things haven’t changed in the years that have followed since.
The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016 reinforces the point that Millennials want to work for a company that shares their values. In it is reported that as much as 56% have ruled out working for a particular organisation because of its values or standard of conduct.
What’s important to note is not just that Millennials are guided by a strong moral compass when it comes to work, but that they see work as an extension of their life and lifestyle. Gone are the days of working to live; they’re on the lookout for employers and jobs that will enrich their lives, not detract from them.
They’re on the lookout for employers and jobs that will enrich their lives
How to capitalise on this?
It could be easy to look at this and despair. “We’re not changing the world!” you might say. Or perhaps your industry is not one with an excellent reputation. While this might be true to an extent, there will be some aspects of your business that are changing things, but that you haven’t spotted yet. Ask yourself, “What are we doing that is changing the industry?” Or indeed changing the world.
As an active part of the company or industry, these aspects might be the hardest to spot. It’s in these cases that a new pair of eyes – either an agency or a consultant – can identify your most attractive selling points.
In the Elite Daily Millennial Consumer Study 2015, 42% of Millennials said they were interested in helping companies develop future products and services. You might be developing the sort of products and services that are leading your industry. This is the sort of story you should be telling to job seekers, and telling it by showing that your company is making developments with the help of people like those you are trying to attract – millennials. By doing this, you’re saying to potential employees: “You’ll be able to make a difference here.”
On top of making a difference in their career, Millennials also want to have the option of dedicating themselves to a cause greater than work. The Millennial Impact Report found in 2014 that 70% of Millennial employees spent at least one hour volunteering, and 50% reported that they’d volunteered their time for a company-sponsored initiative at some point in their careers.
If you have any opportunities to do this – either via charity programmes you have set up, fundraising campaigns or volunteering openings – you can use these to demonstrate just how staff can contribute to social investment programmes outside of their regular work duties.
With the importance of Millennials in tomorrow’s workforce, getting them into your company today is a vital task for any recruitment marketer
How you deliver the message
Beyond the messages that you communicate, it’s important to also think about how you’re getting them out there. We’ve talked extensively about the things you should be doing in order to reach out to Millennials (no surprise here, but it’s all digital). When it comes to recruitment marketing it’s no different.
What can help getting across your message of how employees can make an impact is authenticity. The Engaging Millennials: Trust and Attention Survey, published in 2014, found that 84% of respondents don’t trust traditional advertising. In short, you can’t just buy a banner advert that declares “At [company] you’ll make an impact.” But you can use your employees to tell authentic stories.
According to the Elite Daily Millennial Consumer Study, 43% of Millennials rank authenticity over content when consuming news. Being authentic is of utmost importance. The demand for authenticity and the denial of traditional advertising ties into two of the biggest trends in content marketing this year: employee advocacy and user-generated content. Both approaches utilise your employees to get your message across and ultimately show others just what sort of impact they can have on the world by working for you.
With the importance of Millennials in tomorrow’s workforce, getting them into your company today is a vital task for any recruitment marketer. By showing the impact that they will have at your company, you’ll be able to attract and get them in the door.
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