SHRM 2013 Day 3 Coverage – Part 2 | Hiring Millennials and the Cost of a Good Hire

We’re back for more day three coverage of SHRM 2013.

Hiring and retaining millennials

Our first afternoon presentation, Building the Workforce of Tomorrow, was hosted by Dan Schawbel, Managing Partner, Millennial Branding.

Schawbel started his presentation by debunking the notions that millennials, those born between 1982 and 1993, are entitled, insubordinate, lazy and ungrateful. He pointed to some powerful statistics to back it up:

• 84 percent are looking to make a positive different in the world
• 41 percent do what their managers tell them to do, which is a larger percentage than those from older generations
• 45 percent believe that a decent paying job is a privilege

The new workforce

By 2025, 75 percent of the global workforce will be made up of millennials. As more and more millennials enter the workforce, HR professionals need to take a closer look at how millennials work, and how to work with them.

Schawbel offered the following ten tips to keep in mind, when making your hire:

• Stop criticizing millennials. Instead of reinforcing a false stereotype that they are entitled and lazy, understand where they are coming from and concentrate on their positive attributes.
• Create mentoring opportunities. Give millennials career advice and allow them to expand their networks. Pair them with executives who can support their careers while having millennials teach executives about new technologies.
• Give millennials freedom and flexibility. Millennials often see no reason to go into a traditional office space. Let them work from home, from a co-working space, or in a collaborative setting at the office. Focus on their results more than where and when the job gets done.
• Use social networks to engage them. In addition to posting jobs, give career advice, answer questions, talk about what it’s like to work at your company, and share pictures and videos in order to build your employer brand as the best place to work.
• Don’t restrict Internet usage. Millennials want to be connected to their friends and family all the time and don’t draw a line between their personal and professional lives like older generations do. If you block social networks, they may not want to work for you.
• Establish internal hiring programs. When millennials can’t move up, they move out. You should push them to apply for internal job opportunities and support their movement throughout your company.
• Have a higher cause. Millennials want to work for a company that focuses on a societal purpose, as well as making a profit. Align your company’s message to a cause to give them a sense of fulfillment at work.
• Be transparent. Millennials want to know what’s really happening at your company. Sit down with them and be open about the company’s health, their performance and the future of your group and they will trust you in return.
• Fund “intrapreneurs.” Millennials are entrepreneurial and want to make a major impact at your company. By giving them access to resources and allowing them to pitch your executives, your company will be more innovative and they will be more engaged.
• Use gamification applications. Reward millennials for posting and sharing information about your company on social networks and they will be more engaged and build your company’s brand.

What makes or breaks a “good hire”?

Our final stop on day three was at a workshop titled The Science of a Good Hire presented by Cynthia A. Hedricks, Ph.D, Chief Analytics Officer, SkillSurvey, Inc. Her presentation was part of the MEGA SESSION series, diving deeply into the psychology and science of the hiring process. Her presentation shared examples to address questions, provide advice, and identify what scientists are doing to help solve future hiring challenges.

Hendricks began her presentation by exploring the traditional definition of what makes a hire “a good hire.” Some of these traditional traits include:

• Culture and team fit
• Responsibility
• Reliability
• Passion
• Motivation

The +s and –s of a good hire

However, she recommended that business and HR leaders view good hires in terms of what they add to the business and what they take away from a business.

Good hires increase:

• Retention
• Productivity
• Morale of others
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Leadership pipelines

Good hires decrease:

• Time and money spent on sourcing and recruiting
• Time and money spent on training
• Legal risk

Conversely, negligent and negative can add to your sourcing, training and development costs. It can also increase your risk of liabilities and lawsuits, which cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Hiring down to a science.

Like most processes and procedures, hiring can be seen as a method. In order to make more successful hires, it’s important to follow proven principles, such as:

• It’s all about the data, big and little. The way only to validate the impact of a good hire, and the impact of making good hires versus poor ones, is to analyze data and evaluate the current state versus prior state. The more data you have, the more informed decisions you can make.
• Create good job posts. An accurate job description can increase the “right” candidates for your available position. Make sure your job postings are valid, accurate and current. Don’t mislead candidates, and update job postings to reflect new skills and situations.
• Carefully review resumes. There are actually no studies that link resume content with work performance.  However, it’s important to be on the lookout for inaccuracies and embellishments (especially in today’s competitive job market).
• Perform a structured series of interviews. The better your interviews, the better your hires. As many as 90 percent of all job applicants “fake” something during the interview. By having multiple people pose consistent questions to individual candidates, you can spot inconsistencies and potential red flags.
• Take a close look at your candidate assessments. Proctor assessments, if possible, to ensure that candidates do not cheat. In addition, collect and analyze results to determine if your test is unfairly tailored to specific demographics.

Three days down, one to go. Tune in tomorrow to synch up with all of the action from the last day of SHRM 2013, including highlights from keynote speakers Mark Kelly & Gabby Giffords.