How to attract Gen Z candidates to your team

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In this blog, we delve into the best way to attract Gen Z employees to your workforce. Let's examine first what's influencing their work values and how this demographic is defined.

Many of these younger workers started their careers remotely in an extremely uncertain economic climate. Or they’d recently taken their first steps into the workplace as the pandemic hit. So, it’s no surprise to see new research flagging up that the next generation wants some certainty in their careers.

This is Generation Z: newest to the job market and loosely classed as born in 1997 or later. For many of these young people, what’s increasingly important is having a clear career path to follow, right from the moment they join your team.

In fact, 83% of young employees in another survey said they’d leave a job if they didn’t see the right opportunities for advancement. There are also other clear differences in Gen Z expectations entering the workforce.

Attract Gen Z by adopting their work wish list

The pandemic has reinforced the fact that Gen Z-ers know what’s important to them. And they're not shy about asking for it. In fact, of all the working generations they’re the one most likely to put pressure on their employers. What for? For a good work-life balance as a workplace norm, not just something that’s nice to have.

As we know through our work at HR GO getting to know candidates just starting out, they generally seek out employers with purpose and values aligned to their own. In addition, they tend to demand that their leadership is as transparent and authentic as they are.

Diversity and inclusion are also non-negotiables. They expect to see them baked into any company they join.

Learning on a career path

As an employer who wants to be seen as attractive as possible to Gen Z, it’s worth realising that these young people are also highly motivated to learn in order to get on.

Research data from LinkedIn gives us some clues about this. In its 2021 Workplace Learning Report, over 75% of the Gen Z respondents pinpointed learning as the way they could get on in their career. In addition, 67% of Gen Z users spent 50% more time learning on its platform than users of any other age.

Investing in professional learning and development is an important way to make all employees feel valued, engaged and ultimately staying loyal to your company. For this highly motivated group of potential young employees, this is especially so.

To attract Gen Z, make career progression part of recruitment

To appeal to the best young talent it’s crucial to tailor your recruitment collateral. Our advice: emphasize the progression opportunities you offer employees. That means:

• In your job adverts and job descriptions, describe the potential career path this role holds and also show how you as an employer will help them get there.
• In interviews, highlight how other people in this role have taken up opportunities to progress and develop over a certain number of months and years.
• As part of your onboarding, lay out what could be possible for them in their new role.
• Highlight enhanced learning, with access to online courses and formal in-class training, too.
• Spell out coaching and mentoring programmes that will help them develop faster.
• Offer collaboration with top performers on key projects so they can get on the radar of people in positions of influence. Don’t wait for the end of the interview when a candidate might ask you if this happens on your team.
• On your social media sites and website, go big on employee case studies which talk about how you invest in employees. You should also have a culture of learning and development.

Getting the best young talent aboard

Gen Z are transforming the workplace already. And as they’re looking for a clear career path, you need to know how to provide it. Learn what makes them tick in the workplace so your business stands the best chance of moving forward and thriving in the future. Above all else, be authentic. If you can't honestly describe your company in these terms, it's time to make some changes.

More info

Read more of our advice on how to attract Gen Z to your team. Need some help recruiting Gen Z employees? We're here always here to help! Get in touch with your local recruitment consultants. Or, contact our national sales team when you have a regional or nationwide hiring need.