There is a new generation of individuals entering the workforce and collection operations of any shape or size need to adjust their recruiting techniques and strategies to appeal to what this new generation is looking for most — work-life balance — or risk having significant difficulties hiring new employees, according to a panel of human resources experts who spoke during a webinar recently that was sponsored by Peak Revenue Learning.
It’s important for companies to make it clear right from the start — the job ads seeking to attract candidates — that candidates will be able to find friends and community if they come to work at your operation, said Cortney Helfrich of Wilber during the discussion. Promising a level of engagement that candidates will be unlikely to find anywhere else is an important component of finding qualified talent these days, she said.
Members of Generation Z don’t just want to have a job or be an employee; they want a cause and they want to know they fit in to a company and it’s culture, said James Taylor of RGS Financial. Candidates will take positions where they feel that connection over jobs that are higher paying, he noted.
Understanding what drives Gen Z and knowing what they are looking for is incredibly important, because that information will drive a company’s recruiting efforts. Jessica Mobley of KLS Financial noted a study that indicated members of Generation Z are more interested in working in an office than working remotely, so the company has adapted its job recruiting messages to reflect that.
People who are looking for new jobs today want more flexibility than what they may have had in the past, the panel noted. Whether that means the opportunity for a hybrid schedule where they can work in the office or at home, or the flexibility to have more control over the hours they work — it’s about having more control over their work domains than companies may have been willing to allow in the past.
“… they may have the expectation of well, I want to be flexible, I want to come to the office, I want to have a community, I want to be engaged, and I want to have these fun events in committees that I can be involved in,” Helfrich said. “But maybe there are a few days that it’s better that I work from from home. And so I think from the recruiting standpoint, that is really important to set clear expectations of [whether a job is] remote, is it not remote? And then also, is it a progression towards starting in the office and then moving to more flexibility.”
People aren’t as willing to stay at jobs where they are unhappy like they did in the past, Mobley said. So if the expectations aren’t set right from the get-go — usually in the first interview — those candidates won’t be employees for very long. But the expectations have to be set both ways. That means making sure the candidates know that they are going to have to meet certain Key Performance Indicators if they are going to be allowed the flexibility they are looking for.
