Being a corporate “suit” is out of fashion.Today’s younger talent is known for wanting more than just a shiny car and fancy title. They want their jobs to serve a purpose and potentially give them some time to reflect and dream.
So how can a hiring lead find the best talent? Aside from hiring recruitment firms and headhunters, what can your company do to attract these folks once they’re aware of your business? Let’s dive into some simple (not easy) boxes to check.
What’s your company mission? What can we all achieve?
For this sector, let’s assume people within your hiring funnel want to work for a waste or sustainability company to ensure they work towards one thing: saving the planet. (After all, over 60% of millennials believe an org’s mission is an enormous part of their decision to work there.)
Even if you are a hauler solely focused on waste, no recycling, your company has the potential to tout your offerings as a sustainability-minded company. Is your office reducing its waste? Could you invest in your vehicles to make them more fuel efficient? Are you sponsoring a highway for litter control?
All of these small steps can help align your mission with these candidates. And heck, perhaps you need some young talent to help you reduce your operating expenses so that you can funnel some extra funds towards new endeavors, like recycling collection.
Millennials and Gen Z don’t all have to be focused on saving the world. Perhaps they want to learn new skills or be engaged in cutting-edge technology. What can these folks achieve if they join your team? High salaries? Management expertise? Social media marketing skills? Exposure to speaking panels or consulting? Talent in this age bracket understand that they have to pay their dues…its a mischaracterization to believe these workers want to become senior leaders before they’ve earned their stripes. They want exposure and that’s not a bad thing.
Often, older professionals look at millennials as “brats,” but perhaps this is just because these older professionals were not treated the way that we all can begin to treat our colleagues- give them access to engaging, important work. Let them peek into higher level strategy calls or lead a meeting. Promote that you give younger talent the opportunities for this type of interaction, and you’ll begin to raise some interest in your business.
What’s your company brand?
Is your company out in the community? How? Perhaps you are a hauling company and your trucks and bins are out in the streets. Are they clean? Shiny? Do you replace them regularly, or are they covered in grime and needing some welding? If you are not taking care of your public-facing property, then how are you taking care of your office or your workers? Break out the pressure washers and paint guns!!
What about your logos and branding assets? Were they made by a group of executives 30 years ago or do they need some updating? Are they fun? Are the files used on the web formatted as vector files, or is your team one of those groups that has an empty box in your email signature where a logo was supposed to go? What about your company’s presence on the web in general? Have you invested in designing icons and assets that can be circulated often and re-used by different departments?
Pay a design firm to create a library of digital assets that align with your brand and all eyeballs that see your web presence will know that you are a modern company. Being a “modern” company indicates that you care about your image, you’ve invested in tools and that you likely will invest in your talent. People don’t want to work for an ugly, outdated brand…they want to say “I work for “X” Company” and be proud of that.
What kind of career path does your company offer?
If a new hire comes in as a salesperson, what’s the pathway? Are there specific verticals of focus that a person could be promoted into so that their work life is always staying fresh and fun? Are there crossover opportunities available so everyone can expand their skill sets?
A salesperson will want the chance to make a high income, but some may want to learn and become an expert at CRM software or internet marketing. Some may want to focus on strategic initiatives and partnerships while others may be most interested in becoming an expert in negotiation tactics.
Some sales people may want to actually get OUT of sales…and get the opportunity to transfer into operations or HR. So, being open and honest about your company’s appetite for this is essential. Recently, Glacier Robotics asked us and a group of industry veterans for any people we knew who’d be interested in being ‘mentors’ to some of their mechanical engineers…giving these talented young folks exposure to people outside of their company and perhaps some new ideas they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Is it all white males at the top?
Diversity, equity and inclusion are major topics that have come along as younger generations have begun to have more influence over the corporate world. A rigorous review of your company is required if you are to demonstrate to talent that you take this seriously.
There’s no need to go on a firing spree if your top brass is all white dudes, but it does need honest consideration. The “white dudes” need to be aware of it, and opportunities need to be created to elevate non-white males. A diverse perspective will only multiply your business opportunities because it will showcase you are a fair place to work to your talent targets. After all, not all of your customers are white men, so why should your leadership be?
Getting jobs in front of millennials
The above items are big thematic ideas for an internal review of your company. Some can be more simple…like updating your logo. Others take a little more determination, like a review of your DEI frameworks. One thing you can do on Day 1 is to ensure you are getting your gigs exposed to these talented young people. What do millennials and Gen Z’ers love? A feed!
By “feed,” we mean a scrollable list of items to peruse. Even better if the list is updated constantly. This brings them back for a dopamine shot in most cases like news or reality TV gossip- but in our case, we bring them back because there’s always a new job to see.
Here’s the secret sauce: Many of our job posting companies subscribe to our automated pulling feature which scrapes the jobs from their corporate website daily. Old ones are removed and new ones are added. Combine that with the daily influx of single-entry job postings, and there’s always something to cause a visitor to refresh. We’re the only “bookmark-able” job site for the waste and recycling industry.
In summary, at Recyclesaurus we use a strategy proven by many marketing sites to hook people on our content, but our content just happens to help save the planet by bringing new talent to your hiring funnel. Your company is doing great things…and we need the best talent to help you accomplish your mission.
We’ve got your job listings covered. So check that off your list. Now take a deep look at the rest of your company as we outlined above. Are those items making your job harder to attract talent? If so, it could be a time to address these items. Give us an email if any of these items ring true, and perhaps we can connect you to solutions providers for help.