30 May 5 Key Strategies for Attracting Millennials

Millennials are now the largest generation in the global workforce, and by 2025,  3 out of 4 people in the workforce will be one.

So instead of shaking your fists at those darn millennials, you need new strategies to attract them. Here are 5 ways to target the new generation of talent:

1. Build up your employer brand

You need to start thinking of your EVP just like as if you were marketing to your customers. millennials no longer throw themselves at your feet like older generations did. They tend to play a little hard to get and expect a more balanced relationship between job seeking and talent seeking.

On the other hand, these difficult millennials are not quite so flattered by employers who try too hard to secure them. So you have to strike the perfect balance between trying just hard enough but not coming across as trying too hard.

Communicating your unique company values from the very beginning of your recruitment process will not only make millennials come to you, but also will allow them to self select for their need to fit in. From there keep them  by delivering a highly engaging candidate experience just like you would deliver a customer experience. Just like customer experience, candidates who believe they have a “negative” overall experience will take their alliance, purchases and relationships elsewhere. This is especially true for Millennial who have a higher threshold for engagement, and believe they have a shopping cart of employers to choose from.

2. Provide opportunities for personal & professional growth

It’s no longer a simple trade between time for money. Millennials place a much heavier emphasis on both personal and professional growth than older generations.

According to Gallup’s 2016 report: 59% of millennials say opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important when applying for a job. While 87% of them say development is important on the job.

Akin to the perspective change for employer branding, you can’t win millennial over by writing job descriptions that only detail what the role demands of them. You need to also include what the role can offer for them going forward, personally and professionally. From more formal mentoring programs to online mini-courses, learning and development can take many different forms. What’s important is communicating them from the get go, as millennials move on with pace from potential employer to employer.

3. Show you care for the community

Corporate social responsibility is high on the list for millennials, with the idea that corporations have an ethical duty to give back to community. Millennials like giving back to the community, or at the very least like doing so through their employers.

Social issues that can be addressed through company volunteering include:

• Civil rights
• Racial discrimination
• Poverty
• Climate change

Although volunteering is the easiest and most common method to engage in CSR, there are many alternatives:

1. Fundraising: Fundraising is a more engaging and proactive method to raising donation dollars than simple
2. Diversity inclusion initiatives: this not only helps your diversity recruitment drives, but also helps you displays your commitment to helping minority groups succeed.
3. Sustainability: Incorporating corporate sustainability into a business model and making business decisions that minimize environmental impact can be ingrained as a company value.

Advertising the many ways your organization gives back, whether actively (volunteering) or passively (sustainability), shows millennials that your organization is one they can feel proud working for.

4. Be creative with perks and benefits

You don’t have to have a fancy office space filled with ping pong tables or run regular trips to the local amusement park to be creative. The key is to incorporated anything beyond the minimal and essential benefits that would add to an employee’s flexibility or well being. For example you can try adding flexibility to the way employee accomplishments are recognized, or try these more modern benefits:

• Continuing education reimbursement: as mentioned, personal and professional development is paramount for millennials, so investing in their continued education is a great way to chip in.
• Student Loan assistance: as more and more millennials are completing higher levels of education, so too are their student loans building up. Early in their working career any assistance can make a huge difference in their quality of life.
• Experience as an award: these don’t need to be expensive overseas trips. Cocktail making classes, movie tickets and the like can be a creative and inexpensive way of rewarding stellar performances.

5. Nail down review sites

Digging much deeper than a simple Google search, the millenial job candidate is a different breed of researcher than you may realize. According to Talent Board, 72% of candidates spend over an hour researching a particular job before they submit an application.

Millennials place a great deal more trust on peer review sites such as Glassdoor than they do on traditional media. What this means is that a positive review and reputation sends potential Millennial applicants a compelling message to apply, while a negative one sends an outright message not to apply.

Comb through review sights take on board recurring feedback to improve your recruitment process. Respond to any any negative feedback in a constructive way. Finally, don’t forget to identify any fake reviews and report them to the website administrators.

Add these strategies to your existing recruitment practices and you’re sure to be on the same page as Millennial talent. Be sure to streamline your process as the Millennial hiring scene is competitive, with the best and brightest being snapped up in an instant.