Whiplash Team, 22nd July 2022
New expectations for new generations
The arrival in the labour market of new generations with higher expectations about the social responsibility of companies forces these to assume a new role. They should connect their purpose with the values and aspirations of society and the profiles they want to attract. This is key when offering an exciting project that interests and retains the best talent.
Attracting and retaining the right talent is one of the keys to business management in the current scenario. The incorporation of new generations Z and Millennials into the labour market, as well as the continuous exposure of organisations on social networks and the Internet, have caused an increase in sensitivity, on one hand towards employer branding and on the other towards the management of intangibles.
Within employer branding, the technique by which organizations promote and position their brand among potential candidates, there is an array of strategies to retain and attract talent. All start with the alignment of the culture and values of the organization with those of the professional profile that it wants to attract.
They start, therefore, from the management of a fraction of the company’s intangibles. This can be summed up into what it does, how it does it, and how it communicates it to its various stakeholders, included amongst them, potential candidates, who may form part of the workforce.
The culture and values, together with the corporate identity, stems from the reason of being of the organization. Its’ purpose in life. This deep sense of mission, aligned with the actions and communication of the company and so with the expectations of its potential talents, must be an exciting project which candidates want to be part of.
In this sense, Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennials Survey 2022 is revealing in terms of the importance for this new generation of being satisfied with the purpose of their company and sharing its values.
As Christopher Smith points out in his article “The Third Client”, included in the study In Search of the Soul of Organizations: “(…) The perspectives of young people entering the labour market have also evolved. Being important, as always, the remuneration, we see how more and more they are attracted by companies that offer them a personal fulfilment project (…)”.
On the other hand, the Deloitte study points out, in these uncertain times, both Millennials and members of generation Z are re-evaluating their priorities and expect more from business leadership.
To attract and retain talent, organizations “must act urgently to shape work models that meet the expectations of their people. Prioritizing work-life balance, learning and development, and well-being, as well as having a clear purpose and giving employees the opportunity to address social issues through their work, will be critical.
All this is part of a structural change in the values and paradigms of society that has given rise to a new type of client that Smith defines, in the cited article, as the social client. It is a change that forces companies to assume their social role and to connect their purpose with the aspirations of society, and so raise it as the best incentive to attract, capture and retain both clients and talent.
