Almost every organization is looking for young, talented, and highly educated people. In their search, they are all ‘fishing in the same pond’, facing seriously tough competition these people get to choose from. Options, and thus competition, seems endless… Thus we wrote this blog so you can learn how you can make sure you stand out to the right crowd.
How to appeal to Millennials?
Young, talented, and highly educated people are more sought after than ever. In 2015 about a quarter of the job vacancies listed a minimum of two years of work experience. Today this has increased to one-third. It is expected that by 2025, millennials will take up three-quarters of the vacancies in the job market in The Netherlands.
Millennials, people born between 1980 and 1995 (also referred to as Generation Y), are nowadays the most sought-after employees. Young employees from Generation Z, born after 1995, are increasing in popularity. Here I will explain why organizations are more and more focusing on these two groups to hire.
21st century skills
One of the main reasons people want to hire them is that these young employees adapt easily to rapidly changing situations and are naturally flexible in their jobs. They grew up during a time of many digital innovations, and they are pleasantly capable of voicing their opinions. Moreover, they’re not afraid to take initiative to choose their own path. These skills are so-called 21st century skills that are highly valued in new employees.
According to Gian Zandonà, managing director of the job platform Monsterboard, young employees are most popular in IT, sales, and technical positions. These skills are of major importance for modern organizations that want to be agile and innovative. Moreover, the ideal young employee is creative and excels in problem solving. Next to that, he or she keeps track of digital developments, and has a solid base in IT knowledge. Traditional skills like know-how and industry-specific experience are much less relevant than before.
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view solutionWhat’s in it for them?
The main question now is: How to appeal to this group of people? According to Sanne Sant, recruiter at Effectory, these young employees have completely different requirements and expectations than the generations before them:
“Millennials are looking for what an organization can offer them, instead of the other way around. The vision of the organization has to be compatible with their own. They do not hold long-term contracts in high regard and don’t agree with the traditional career path where one starts at the bottom and rises slowly through the organization.
They want to work with likeminded people in a positive, entrepreneurial team environment. Traineeships used to be the way for young professionals to build a long-term relationship with an organization. This is not the case anymore. Young people don’t look for steadiness and want to be able to leave when they do not feel inspired or challenged anymore. You can make sure your organization is appealing for them by having a distinctive and authentic story.”
This shows that it is not about telling ‘This is what we need’, but ‘this is what we offer’. To change this perspective, a radical inversion of thinking is needed within many organizations. When combined with an authentic story, you need to be able to clearly answer the following questions for the potential millennial employee. Who are you to them as a manager? What do you offer? What do you contribute to the world? What sets you apart from other organizations?
When the answers to those questions are clear, it is clear what is in it for them and why they will start working for you. The most important is not a salary, secondary provisions or an appealing career, but the real story of your company. This will make the right people apply at a company that is a match.
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Every year Effectory conducts research on the employee satisfaction of over 1000 organizations. The top organizations in this list all have a clear and appealing vision, so employees know what they work for and contribute to. Consequently, they get up to 50% more applicants! If you want to know what your strong points are as an organization and what motivates your employees, you can participate in our research.
Effectory offers the World Class Workplace scan that will provide you with honest feedback from your employees about the management. This creates the foundation for the story of your organization and will give your employees a voice in the organization and the opportunity to give their opinion. The scan is for free for organizations of over 100 people. On top of this, the best organizations can acquire the World Class Workplace certificate, a valuable addition to brand your company and appeal to young talented people!
Please contact us for a free demo or get in touch for more info. We are looking forward to connecting with you!