A recent study revealed that 50% of HR directors surveyed have not adapted their recruitment techniques over the past 3-5 years to ‘Generation Y’ candidates. The SpenglerFox survey aimed to crack down on whether recruitment and assessment processes used by HR departments had been adapted to meet the needs of a tech-savvy generation, who have a significant increased use and familiarity with online communications, media and digital technologies.
Mark Hamill, global managing director of SpenglerFox, said: “Without a doubt, we are in the age of the ’young knowledge worker’. Gen Y is the most high-performing generation in the history of mankind with more information in their heads and at their fingertips and so they can perform a variety of tasks in many business domains and have no qualms about relocating to anywhere in the world. In today’s world, any company is your competition in the search for talent. The big question is: will Gen Y be working for you or for your competition?” He also pointed out that “(w)hile recruitment selection methodologies such as competency interviews, general ability tests and personality/psychometric questionnaires may have been perfected with older generations, there is a strong likelihood that the best and brightest from Gen Y could be overlooked.”
Respondents were asked how Gen Y candidates could be attracted more effectively, suggestions included:
- Online business games & online student portal
- Social networking and utilising of technology
- More career development opportunities
- University programmes and partnerships
- Strong image and employer branding
- By providing better packages and being flexible
What does this mean for the future of Gen Y and job hunting? Will the traditional assessment centre, psychometric testing and general competency framework be a thing of the past?
Hannah O’Brien is a Candidate Manager for FreshMinds Talent Graduate team
