When it comes to marketing a brand, CMOs have to worry about more than just appealing to consumers. They also have to find ways to market their company to attract talent. Recruitment is a two-way street, and with more startups and independent career options cropping up, companies have to work just as hard to appeal to candidates as candidates have to work to impress potential employers. When young professionals, including Millennials and Gen Z-ers seek employment, company culture and reputation is often one of the first indicators as to whether or not a company will be a good fit for them.
Yes, you can make more of a concerted effort to liven up your social media feeds to showcase your company as one that is big on culture and environment, but a smoke and mirrors recruiting strategy will ultimately catch up to you. To really succeed in attracting and retaining talent, organizations have to build sound working environments that support the work-life benefits that so many young professionals seek.
This task cannot be taken on by one department on its own, but rather, must be the result of every department working together to instill and promote programs that benefit individuals. It may be incumbent on Human Resources to implement on-site learning opportunities, but it’s the responsibility of the marketing department to make sure that both every employee, both current and prospective, is made aware of the strides being taken to develop the skill sets of all employees.
Here are five ways that CMOs can work with their companies to create programs that will appeal to younger generations.
1. Encourage Cross-Department Collaboration
Thirty-nine percent of employees believe people in their organization don’t collaborate enough, so, as a business leader, this is your chance to change that. Top-down authoritarian leadership styles don’t work with today’s younger workforce. Work-life balance, upward mobility and a collaborative company culture are some of the most important work factors to Millennials’ happiness at a company. All of these factors come back to a culture of learning and growing towards each employee’s end goals.
Employees, especially younger ones at the beginning of their careers, want to feel as though they have the freedom and support to pursue ideas and projects outside of the confines of their positions.
Azazie, an ecommerce bridal gown company, prides itself on creating a culture where employees of all levels and across all departments feel empowered to raise their hands and share their ideas. "For example, an Azazie employee on the customer service team is encouraged to speak up if he or she has an interesting social media campaign idea to create more powerful relationships with customers," says Charles Zhong, CEO of Azazie. "We fully understand that the key to long-term success is constant growth, and subsequently, the key to constant growth is encouraging every company employee work across departments and champion new ideas."
2. Create Ongoing Learning Opportunities
With rapid technological advancements, skill sets can quickly become outdated. From learning new software programs to participating in leadership development programs and, even, learning new languages, the companies that succeed at challenging their employees to hone new skill sets have a better shot at fighting employee boredom and retaining long-term team members.
As Millennial and Gen-Z employees are often still trying to explore their interests and gain new experiences, many want jobs that allow them to travel the world and broaden their horizons. AIETA is a company committed to helping individuals across the globe gain new language proficiencies starting with their own employees. The young professionals who embark on educational positions abroad through AIETA have the opportunity to not only teach English to students in other countries but to also learn, firsthand, how to adapt to new communities and cultures.
3. Embrace Social Responsibility
Consumers are becoming more aware of the social positions a company takes than ever before, and these positions are affecting the purchasing behaviors of consumers. According to a recent survey conducted by Cone Communications, 76% of American consumers would refuse to purchase a company’s product or services upon learning that it supported an issue contrary to their beliefs. The survey also found that 76% of Millennials will research a where a company stands of social or environmental issues to see if it is being authentic.
Not only does being a socially responsible company directly affect your bottom line, but Millennials, in particular, want to buy from and work for organizations who align with their values. One way to show the Millennial worker that you walk the walk is to create volunteer programs that support the social initiatives that the company says they're aligned with. Millennials want to get their hands dirty and directly help in making social changes they support.
Adam Boalt, TravelVisa’s founder and CEO, explains, “Social impact and what you do to change the world can really start with what you’re good at as a brand [overall]. To me, that’s one of the most interesting things, in how this is becoming a bigger part of the everyday conversation of consumers and how they choose their products, but also for companies and how they are choosing to shape the legacy millennials want to have.”
4. Offer Unexpected Benefits
Millennials are looking for different benefit options than their older counterparts. While today’s youngest workers have an eye on those same financially focused gains, they want options in how they receive them.
Financial wellness programs are rapidly growing among businesses trying to increase productivity since “workers waste 20 hours of company time a month thinking about and dealing with personal finances,” says Dr. Thomas Garman, a Virginia Tech professor. Not only are financial wellness programs offering employees the financial education needed to keep their mind on their work, but more and more companies are offering blockchain powered retirement funds. While Millennials have grow up with a healthy mistrust of the financial sector, due to the 2008 collapse, many have turned to cryptocurrency investments like Bitcoin.
Some of the largest retirement plan service companies, such as Fidelity and Prudential, have been investing in blockchain technology because of its potential to increase efficiency and customer returns. “Blockchain technology isn’t just a more efficient way to settle securities -- it will fundamentally change market structures -- and maybe even the architecture of the Internet itself,” Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson said.
Health insurance plans are a pretty standard benefit for most companies. So how can you differentiate these benefits from your competitors? “In 2015, the healthcare industry was the most attacked by cybercriminals,” according to a Cyber Security Intelligence Index by IBM. “The data showed that over 100 million healthcare records were compromised during that year, from more than 8,000 devices in more than 100 countries.”
Blockchain is being applied to electronic medical records as well in some interesting ways. Blockchain technology companies like Embleema give benefit administers the ability to provide an added benefit of electronic medical record security on top of traditional health insurance benefits.
5. Prioritize Work-Life Balance
As generations who would rather spend their money on experiences than material items, Millennial and Gen-Z employees want to work for organizations who not only respect personal work-life boundaries but also encourage their employees to carve a full life outside of the office.
SELECT, which has been called "AMEX for the Next Generation," offers its members VIP access to exclusive experiences across the country. As a means of practicing what they preach, the company also extends memberships and opportunities to employees. Some team members also receive an additional monthly stipend that they can use toward any SELECT benefit, including visiting top-tier hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues. In prioritizing their own employees’ personal life experiences, SELECT creates natural evangelists for their memberships.
So with the new year just arriving, it’s definitely time to consider how can your company incorporate a Millennial-focused culture. This workforce is the future of all of our companies so it’s time we develop the recruiting and retention strategies that align with their needs and wants.
