Attracting new generations could be difficult if we do not take into account their needs and new ways of interacting with each other, which is why being open to diversity and communication topics as a company is very important.
Longer life expectancy and people retiring later from their jobs have caused a huge range of ages to work at the same time in the same companies. People from 1946 and prior generations to the famous 1996 Z generation.
This generational gap might cause dissonance between the ways of working in a company. However, since the new generations are taking the lead in the world of work, the company must prioritize the new mechanisms that are taking the top.
A wide age spectrum is a path to success and innovation
Diversity in different dimensions is vital for businesses to succeed. Diversity in ages, genders, classes, races, life experiences, etc… makes a much richer experience inside the organization. There are a lot of different factors that may benefit your organization by bringing different kinds of people but in this article, we will focus on age.
The main reason why ages are so important is that companies with a diversity of their ages will have different points of view and insights based on each perspective. How they feel towards any idea or proposition plus different generational trends can guide you to a better decision-making process.
A lack of diversity (over other variables) in companies can lead to misconceptual group thinking.
A rule for attracting every employee doesn’t exist
While the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers tend to be long-serving, loyal employees who are generally more embedded within the organizations they work in, Generations X, Y, and Z are less inclined to view their organization as an “employer for life” and are more likely to move between employers.
Whenever you decide to hire them, you should make sure your company is on the list of companies they would like to work for. Several studies have exposed that most workers from different generations have different needs and prioritization processes on their minds when choosing a job.
Due to this phenomenon, employers now have to build employer branding strategies to reduce the turnover ratio while maintaining this wide variety of ages.
This is how you can achieve it with every generation:
Generation X needs an avant-garde company
The Generation X is the group of employees born roughly between 1965 and 1976. Some of the world’s most prominent entrepreneurs and technological innovators are part of this generation, including Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, Elon Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, and Larry Page, one of the founders of Google.
Generation X witnessed the contrast between a computer-free world growing up, and the impact of changing technology and digital innovations as they entered the world of work. Therefore Generation X-ers tend to appreciate the magnitude of digital innovations and often value forward-thinking organizations.
So, if you want to attract this generation, you can always advertise through your talent acquisition strategies how your organization is disruptive and entrepreneurial, how instead of fearing the new ideas you embrace them, and while you do this, you can also highlight how you stay ahead in the fast-changing environment and technologies.
You can always give examples of innovations that you have adopted in the past and how fast was the transition through the press or industry releases.
Millennials need opportunities to grow
Now onto millennials. Whilst regional experiences will vary, broadly speaking, this is the generation who endured the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
However, this is also the generation who have enjoyed the career opportunities brought to them by technological developments, liberal migration policies, and the rise of international business. As such, this age bracket is believed to be particularly tenacious, ambitious, and adventurous in their careers.
Millennials are actively asking for constructive feedback and their employer’s progression, willing to grow in their career path while they work for an organization.
Millennials are goal-driven and they find very motivating bonuses related to their performance. Furthermore, 71% of them said that they are planning to work abroad at some point in their career, so borders are not their thing either.
In conclusion, it could be said that millennials look for career performance bonuses, learning, and development. They would also appreciate the chance to work abroad when choosing between employers.
Then, if you want to attract this generation you’d need to focus your talent acquisition strategy on career stories, mobility, relocation, and opportunities to study.
Generation Z needs impact and meaningful causes
Finally onto Generation Z. The generation who grew up on social media is thought to spend up to 10 hours a day online pursuing several activities, from socializing, to job searching.
For this generation, there’s enough research that exposes how important the brand name is in their lives, the Marketing Director for Learndirect said that their families influence a lot on their decision-making process because the salary and the role being offered have become more a family decision than an autonomous choice.
Most of this generation finds it important to make sure that the brand they will work for is highly rated, sometimes it is more important than the job they will perform.
When you couple the above two findings, it becomes clear that if organizations want to attract Generation Z, they will need to invest in developing a strong online employer branding strategy that showcases exactly why they are key players in their field. This could include publishing information about your industry recognition on social media, your website, as well as in any press releases.
It is worth mentioning that the advices does not work for every individual in each generation. So, this article is meant to nurture your hiring strategy to attract many generations to benefit your organization. This will increase your talent age spectrum, therefore, take advantage of the diversification in your team’s age.
If you want to know how to catch a good talent acquisition who belongs to this generation, do not miss the Most Common Hiring Trends of 2022.
