Is your organisation a millennial magnet? Are you attracting high quality candidates aligned with your organisation culture and values?
Before things heat up again for another epic recruitment season, it might be a good time to take a step back and review your employer branding strategy.
What are they seeking?
If you want to attract the right graduates to your organisation, you must first understand their motivations - what do they want and need? The specifics of which will vary industry to industry – but, at the core of every millennial you’ll find similar expectations:
- work-life balance
- ongoing development and progression
- clear alignment; how they fit in the team, organisation, community
- competitive salaries
- diversity and integration
- corporate social responsibility programs aligned with their interests
- empowerment to design the career of their choosing.
As Gallup recently put it, millennials behave as consumers shopping around for workplaces that align with their needs and values. Your opportunity is to communicate how their needs and values are met within your organisation.
Why Would They Choose You?
This leads us to, why should they choose you? With so many different employers out there, what makes your organisation special? What’s your graduate value proposition?
Think:
What can we offer that they want, value, need?
What are our underlying values?
What is our vision?
Why are we different?
Start Sharing Your Story to Refine Your Brand
Onto the fun bit. Now you understand how your organisation aligns with their motivators, you can communicate your brand by sharing stories.
Videos. Photos. Employee profiles. Case studies. Anecdotes. Testimonials. Take your millennials on a journey with you.
For example, say you wanted to emphasise employee development and progression. Profile a graduate who has progressed into a leadership role - What was involved? How were they supported? What is their future?
How about when your team or team members attend a development event, conference, or workshop. Are you capturing this? Can they provide a Vlog summary of their experience and post it on your website or Facebook?
Diversity and integration. Are you using stock photos of your ‘employees’ on your site and in your marketing collateral? Can you hire a photographer to profile your real employees, real people? Showcase the diversity of your team and your integration initiatives.
An Effective Employer Brand Means More Engaged Employees
According to Gallup, only 1 in 4 millennials is actively engaged with a brand, product, or company. They’re seeking authentic brands that align with their values and needs, so, make sure the brand they engage with is yours.
Communicating an authentic, engaging, consistent employer brand will increase the number of your applications, but more importantly, increase their quality and alignment with your organisation culture and values. More engaged employees. Less turnover. Everyone’s happy.
