Some idea of the challenges in recruiting and retaining Gen Y+ can be sensed in the recent post by Jason Calacanis.
Jason a successful serial internet entrepreneur: sold Engadget to AOL and now developing the Maholo -human-powered search engine
In his recent blog post he talks about:
the majority of Gen Y seem to operating under the bizarre rallying cry of: More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No stress! More freedom! It's all about me!
Reflecting on the challenges of working with Gen Y
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Thursday, 22 April 2010
The Gen Y+ GUI for Mobile Recruitment Apps and Sites
To further understand how Mobile Recruitment can be made to work for Generation Y+ I attended a presentation by Tim Hawks from Unlimited Potential on Coaching For Generation the Generation Y Era and Beyond at the recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD Learning and Development Conference HRD 2010 (#HRD10).
Tim opened his talk by analysing the first Facebook posting of a 23 year old solider on arrival at their first posting in Afghanistan. 30% of the words in that initial post were about the technology – the availability of WiFi, its speed and so on, the remaining 70% words were about and for those left at home. Such is the importance of technology to Generation Y+ a third of the words in that first message home were about technology!
Tim went on to introduce and paraphrase the eight characteristics or norms that describe the typical Generation Y and beyond, first described by Don Tapscott in his Grown Up Digital.:
[Generation Y and beyond] prize freedom and freedom of choice. They want to customize things, make them their own. They’re natural collaborators, who enjoy conversation, not a lecture. They scrutinize you and your organisation. They insist on integrity. They want to have fun, even at work and at school. Speed is normal. Innovation is part of life.
To succeed with Generation Y+ Mobile Recruitment sites and apps must take on these norms:
Freedom
Access to the Mobile Recruitment (MR) site should be available by mobile and fixed Internet with applications available for - iPhone, Android, Symbian – as well as HTML5. This choice of access methods gives GenY+ the ability to access the site how and when they want with a familiar GUI
Customisation
The MR app or interface should be personalisable so the GenY+ can select and go straight to the areas that are of interest to them. Further the MR site should know and recognise them, when GenY+ sign in delivering their personalised GUI. Gen Y+ like to make things their own so make sure they can have their own custom site.
Collaboration
MR sites and app should include the ability to interact or post to Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter , IM platforms, Digg, Skype and other social media sites. There should be a back channel so the company can interact directly with the GenY+ candidate eg DM me now on Twitter, email, Skype me now. GenY+ wants to connect with you and perhaps their friends through you – they should be given every opportunity to create and/or sustain a conversation.
Scrutinize
Maximum access to the company’s on line public on line resources and its personal so GenY+ can do their research. Consider using the Twitter and Linked-In accounts of key personal on site. The more GenY+ knows about you and your company the more comfortable they are.
Integrity
Ensure your on-line profile reflects the right image to GenY+ - respectful, equal opportunity, diverse, green - this is where your employee branding is important.
Fun
The MR app should be easy to use perhaps borrowing GUI ideas where appropriate from successful games such as Call of Duty, Halo or Grand Theft Auto.
Speed
Gen Y+ is the ‘Fast-Forward’ Generation who, the moment the video becomes boring, want to move on to next action. So the MR site and app should ensure movement is quick all irrelevant data can be passed over quickly to reach the relevant parts.
Innovation
The site can change as often as you like as long as it takes into account all the points above and ideally is genuinely a better site or app.
To conclude an MR site or app for Gen Y+ is sensitive and responsive to these eight factors creating the friendly , open and honest relationship they expect with their potential employer.
Tim opened his talk by analysing the first Facebook posting of a 23 year old solider on arrival at their first posting in Afghanistan. 30% of the words in that initial post were about the technology – the availability of WiFi, its speed and so on, the remaining 70% words were about and for those left at home. Such is the importance of technology to Generation Y+ a third of the words in that first message home were about technology!
Tim went on to introduce and paraphrase the eight characteristics or norms that describe the typical Generation Y and beyond, first described by Don Tapscott in his Grown Up Digital.:
[Generation Y and beyond] prize freedom and freedom of choice. They want to customize things, make them their own. They’re natural collaborators, who enjoy conversation, not a lecture. They scrutinize you and your organisation. They insist on integrity. They want to have fun, even at work and at school. Speed is normal. Innovation is part of life.
To succeed with Generation Y+ Mobile Recruitment sites and apps must take on these norms:
Freedom
Access to the Mobile Recruitment (MR) site should be available by mobile and fixed Internet with applications available for - iPhone, Android, Symbian – as well as HTML5. This choice of access methods gives GenY+ the ability to access the site how and when they want with a familiar GUI
Customisation
The MR app or interface should be personalisable so the GenY+ can select and go straight to the areas that are of interest to them. Further the MR site should know and recognise them, when GenY+ sign in delivering their personalised GUI. Gen Y+ like to make things their own so make sure they can have their own custom site.
Collaboration
MR sites and app should include the ability to interact or post to Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter , IM platforms, Digg, Skype and other social media sites. There should be a back channel so the company can interact directly with the GenY+ candidate eg DM me now on Twitter, email, Skype me now. GenY+ wants to connect with you and perhaps their friends through you – they should be given every opportunity to create and/or sustain a conversation.
Scrutinize
Maximum access to the company’s on line public on line resources and its personal so GenY+ can do their research. Consider using the Twitter and Linked-In accounts of key personal on site. The more GenY+ knows about you and your company the more comfortable they are.
Integrity
Ensure your on-line profile reflects the right image to GenY+ - respectful, equal opportunity, diverse, green - this is where your employee branding is important.
Fun
The MR app should be easy to use perhaps borrowing GUI ideas where appropriate from successful games such as Call of Duty, Halo or Grand Theft Auto.
Speed
Gen Y+ is the ‘Fast-Forward’ Generation who, the moment the video becomes boring, want to move on to next action. So the MR site and app should ensure movement is quick all irrelevant data can be passed over quickly to reach the relevant parts.
Innovation
The site can change as often as you like as long as it takes into account all the points above and ideally is genuinely a better site or app.
To conclude an MR site or app for Gen Y+ is sensitive and responsive to these eight factors creating the friendly , open and honest relationship they expect with their potential employer.
Friday, 9 April 2010
Mobile Recruitment Benifits In action with Employer and Employee
Mobile recruitment reduces time , as well offering a very personalised touch to the process, giving candidates the opportunity to store the applications and share them with friends.
Speed
Mobile recruitment speeds up the whole candidate selection process as jobs are available 24 by 7 , accessed by a community - Gen Z and Y - who have there handsets on 24 by 7 ready to accept messages.
Personalised
Mobile recruitment allows candidates to be profiled, then addressed personally and immediately creating a real-time, almost instantaneous direct dialog with suitably qualified candidate. Thus reducing the time and saving money for employers to identify candidates.
Storage
Candidates can store and access on line their applications and correspondence so has record and audit trail of all activity, making preparation for interviews easier.
Share
Candidates can browse or search making the identification of jobs quicker and simpler with the ability to call or email, in order to progress their application or forward the job so they can discuss with or suggest it to a friend.
Speed
Mobile recruitment speeds up the whole candidate selection process as jobs are available 24 by 7 , accessed by a community - Gen Z and Y - who have there handsets on 24 by 7 ready to accept messages.
Personalised
Mobile recruitment allows candidates to be profiled, then addressed personally and immediately creating a real-time, almost instantaneous direct dialog with suitably qualified candidate. Thus reducing the time and saving money for employers to identify candidates.
Storage
Candidates can store and access on line their applications and correspondence so has record and audit trail of all activity, making preparation for interviews easier.
Share
Candidates can browse or search making the identification of jobs quicker and simpler with the ability to call or email, in order to progress their application or forward the job so they can discuss with or suggest it to a friend.
How to reach the Mobile Recruitment Portal
The mobile recruitment portal can be promoted through conventional media – print, radio, TV or those channels specific to mobile- SMS and Bluetooth.
The target is to have the candidate access portal via the web or download the application. Currnetly there is a vigorous debate in mobile circles as to which will succeed – apps or web. The details need not concern us, other than they both work and the preference can be left to the client. Most mobile recruitment services offer both leaving the final choice to the candidate and their hand set.
SMS
The Portal can be promoted by an SMS short code. The message then would be some where in the advertisement the details of how to reach the mobile recruitment service. For example Text 32222 now for more details. In return the client receives a message with the location of the Mobile Recruitment Portal or Mobile Recruitment Application to download. The advert could be on a poster or newspaper ad , on a TV or radio add all work for SMS short case. The costs to user is the costs of sending the SMS is typically 10 to 12 pence and can often be less when the messages are part of their bundle.
QR Codes
An alternative to the SMS short code are QR (Quick Response) codes, which does away with the requirement for the user to send an SMS to receive the location of the Mobile Recruitment Portal or Mobile Recruitment Application to download. The location is encoded in the QR code which is decoded by the handset.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is increasingly become popular as limited mass communications techniques – it is a low cost way to distribute information to a large audience. The handset need only be set to receive (a user selectable option) Bluetooth messages.
So there are a number of ways to access Mobile Recruitment services by SMS short code, QR Code or Bluetooth messaging to reach the Mobile Recruitment Portal or the Application. The exact choice depends on budget or resources, all methods are known and well understood by Gen Y and Z as they use them all daily.
The target is to have the candidate access portal via the web or download the application. Currnetly there is a vigorous debate in mobile circles as to which will succeed – apps or web. The details need not concern us, other than they both work and the preference can be left to the client. Most mobile recruitment services offer both leaving the final choice to the candidate and their hand set.
SMS
The Portal can be promoted by an SMS short code. The message then would be some where in the advertisement the details of how to reach the mobile recruitment service. For example Text 32222 now for more details. In return the client receives a message with the location of the Mobile Recruitment Portal or Mobile Recruitment Application to download. The advert could be on a poster or newspaper ad , on a TV or radio add all work for SMS short case. The costs to user is the costs of sending the SMS is typically 10 to 12 pence and can often be less when the messages are part of their bundle.
QR Codes
An alternative to the SMS short code are QR (Quick Response) codes, which does away with the requirement for the user to send an SMS to receive the location of the Mobile Recruitment Portal or Mobile Recruitment Application to download. The location is encoded in the QR code which is decoded by the handset.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is increasingly become popular as limited mass communications techniques – it is a low cost way to distribute information to a large audience. The handset need only be set to receive (a user selectable option) Bluetooth messages.
So there are a number of ways to access Mobile Recruitment services by SMS short code, QR Code or Bluetooth messaging to reach the Mobile Recruitment Portal or the Application. The exact choice depends on budget or resources, all methods are known and well understood by Gen Y and Z as they use them all daily.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Mobile Recruitment and Employer Branding
As generation Y and Z have entered the workforce there has been a fundamental shift in the communications channels. No longer are print , radio or TV the first choice channels; the Internet has more or less eclipsed them. This seismic shift is reflected in the behaviour and expectations of Gen Y and Z.
The Internet, increasingly accessed via a mobile phone, has become the primary channel almost to the exclusion of all others Light Speed Research [1] survey on mobile usage reports:
Mobile changes the recruitment process creating a much more contemporary channel promoting a modern, innovative image for the employer in doing so extending and complementing the employer’s other branding activities. So, the mobile recruitment channel is not just a new communication channel along side print, TV and radio but a central part of employer branding.
[1] http://www.lightspeedresearch.com/archives/2065
A multi-country study released today by Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com), a leading online market research company, shows the increasingly prominent role mobile phones are taking in our lives. With ownership of mobile phones so high and so many different functions now available, it is increasingly important to understand how people are using their mobile phones and what future opportunities there might be for new applications
The Internet, increasingly accessed via a mobile phone, has become the primary channel almost to the exclusion of all others Light Speed Research [1] survey on mobile usage reports:
Younger respondents [Gen Y and Z] …were more likely to feel their mobile was an essential part of their daily life and they would be "lost without it". ….two thirds of Brits leave their mobiles on at night - and only 14% of those switch it to silent.Mobile recruitment can be placed along side the older channels to extend their reach equally they can used to introduce the mobile channel.
Mobile changes the recruitment process creating a much more contemporary channel promoting a modern, innovative image for the employer in doing so extending and complementing the employer’s other branding activities. So, the mobile recruitment channel is not just a new communication channel along side print, TV and radio but a central part of employer branding.
[1] http://www.lightspeedresearch.com/archives/2065
A multi-country study released today by Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com), a leading online market research company, shows the increasingly prominent role mobile phones are taking in our lives. With ownership of mobile phones so high and so many different functions now available, it is increasingly important to understand how people are using their mobile phones and what future opportunities there might be for new applications
Mobile Recruitment Process Over view
Mobile recruitment can be sourced as SaaS (Software as a Service) as is an extension of a already existing job and candidate databases. This can be made mobile as an appropriately encoded page which presents itself in the best form for the candidate’s hand set or as dedicated application for the their handset. The application can be delivered by a choice of mobile technologies – WiFi, Bluetooth , SMS/Text messaging depending on cost on convenience.
Both cases allow prospective clients to:
Register by completing their profile’s on line as
In registering the candidates in effect subscribe to the service which matches their profile to possible jobs and sends an SMS /Text message to give them more detail. Once registered candidates will receive notifications of suitable jobs matched to their profile automatically – so no job opportunity is missed.
Browse or search the job database for suitable openings
Just as the candidate can browse and search on line so they can from their mobile phones, to find the most appropriate opportunities. This is in addition to the automatic and continuous matching of possible jobs and candidate profiles
Apply on line for jobs
Once a possible job has been identified the candidate can fill out the form ‘there and then’ on his handset – considerably speeding up the application process.
Ask and Answer questions
Where required candidates can be sent SMS/Text messages to alert them of jobs , remind them of interviews and generally to keep them informed with job opportunities direct to their handset.
Gain immediate access through ‘Click to Call’ for more information
‘Click to Call’ is particularly important for those looking to filling a time dependant openings or job opportunities can be sent to potential candidates with the right profile encouraging them to call in ‘now’ to find out more.
Both cases allow prospective clients to:
Register by completing their profile’s on line as
In registering the candidates in effect subscribe to the service which matches their profile to possible jobs and sends an SMS /Text message to give them more detail. Once registered candidates will receive notifications of suitable jobs matched to their profile automatically – so no job opportunity is missed.
Browse or search the job database for suitable openings
Just as the candidate can browse and search on line so they can from their mobile phones, to find the most appropriate opportunities. This is in addition to the automatic and continuous matching of possible jobs and candidate profiles
Apply on line for jobs
Once a possible job has been identified the candidate can fill out the form ‘there and then’ on his handset – considerably speeding up the application process.
Ask and Answer questions
Where required candidates can be sent SMS/Text messages to alert them of jobs , remind them of interviews and generally to keep them informed with job opportunities direct to their handset.
Gain immediate access through ‘Click to Call’ for more information
‘Click to Call’ is particularly important for those looking to filling a time dependant openings or job opportunities can be sent to potential candidates with the right profile encouraging them to call in ‘now’ to find out more.
Mobile Recruitment Target Audiences
Mobile Recruitment – using the mobile phone as a tool to recruit employees – is not just an alternative or supplement to fixed internet, it has two specific features unique to mobile which it will help employers recruit staff:
1 Short Notice Deployment
For those employees wanting to recruit staff quickly – at short notice – the mobile is ideal. Typical use case is a super-market unexpectedly becoming short staffed, it can send a mobile message direct to suitably-qualified and pre-registered personnel to advise them of the opportunity.
Using mobile recruitment HR has a two way media, with real time feedback so decisions can be made with the very latest, most accurate information. – saving time and money as well as reducing risk.
2 Generation Y and Z Recruitment
Generation Y born in the late 70’ are established in the workplace - 27% of workforce [1], with Generation Z born in the early 90s about to join them.
Reaching these generations is a very different proposition from previous generations in the workforce, for whom HR might have relied on printed media and broadcast television to reach and influence. For Generation X and Y those media play a minor role for them the Internet is the primary media to reach and influence them.
Mobile phone and PCs have been the devices on which Gen X and Y consume information from the Internet , in fact there is today little difference between a mobile phone and a PC other than size: the phone is capable of much of what of PC can do and Gen X and Y has equally facility with both. So, to indentify, attract, and recruit from these generations employers need to use appropriate media - the Internet accessed via the PC and the mobile phone.
[1] Generational_diversity_research_report_2008
The report examines why generational diversity matters;describes the four generations: Veterans,Baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Yand what organisations can do to attract and engage them;discusses why the generations misunderstand each other.
1 Short Notice Deployment
For those employees wanting to recruit staff quickly – at short notice – the mobile is ideal. Typical use case is a super-market unexpectedly becoming short staffed, it can send a mobile message direct to suitably-qualified and pre-registered personnel to advise them of the opportunity.
Using mobile recruitment HR has a two way media, with real time feedback so decisions can be made with the very latest, most accurate information. – saving time and money as well as reducing risk.
2 Generation Y and Z Recruitment
Generation Y born in the late 70’ are established in the workplace - 27% of workforce [1], with Generation Z born in the early 90s about to join them.
Reaching these generations is a very different proposition from previous generations in the workforce, for whom HR might have relied on printed media and broadcast television to reach and influence. For Generation X and Y those media play a minor role for them the Internet is the primary media to reach and influence them.
Mobile phone and PCs have been the devices on which Gen X and Y consume information from the Internet , in fact there is today little difference between a mobile phone and a PC other than size: the phone is capable of much of what of PC can do and Gen X and Y has equally facility with both. So, to indentify, attract, and recruit from these generations employers need to use appropriate media - the Internet accessed via the PC and the mobile phone.
[1] Generational_diversity_research_report_2008
The report examines why generational diversity matters;describes the four generations: Veterans,Baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Yand what organisations can do to attract and engage them;discusses why the generations misunderstand each other.
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