3 Ways to #Mentor Your #Millennials to Success and Retain Young Talent

The often-talked-about generation is starting to graduate university, and employers seem to be struggling with keeping young talent. What is it about Millennials that we do not understand? In 2020, they will make up 50% of the workforce, and five short years after that it will be almost 75%. Isn’t it about time we figure out what to do with them?

Millennials come from a generation of helicopter parents and have an almost unreasonable need for feedback. But, you can’t complain because we created that problem.

Millennials are no longer satisfied with a healthy pay cheque and benefits; instead they want their work to be personally fulfilling. Millennials crave the opportunity to make personal connections in their professional life and are constantly looking for mentorship opportunities.

The trouble that our generation is having is that as much as Millennials say they crave that mentor-mentee relationship, they just aren’t receptive to traditional styles of coaching.

So how do you mentor a Millennial?

 Let them teach you. I am always asking my Social Media Manager how I can post a photo to Instagram, what filter should I use, or what she thinks of a new app. Giving a Millennial the opportunity to teach you something gives them some insight into the executive level of the business in a way that is not intimidating or overwhelming.

As always, there are plenty of times that she has come to me for advice in return and we have had plenty of “Employee Therapy” sessions, so this mentor-mentee relationship is mutually beneficial.

They love figuring things out as a team. If nothing else, Millennials are definitely well connected. They are in constant contact with each other and always moving forward on the newest social media trend. When is the last time you sent a Snapchat to one of your friends, or left an Instagram comment? They are always talking to each other in one-way or another.

They are a constant sounding board for one another, which is what makes group-mentoring opportunities so valuable. Giving Millennials the opportunity to work it out together is a great way to take some of the onus off of individual mentors and let them figure it out for a change. They’ll come back to you with what they’ve learned.

Not everything needs to be life-long. While Millennials appreciate all of the career guidance they can attain, it doesn’t need to be a long-term thing. Millennials are attention sponges, and one of the generations who excel in taking EVERYTHING in (whether you mean to give them that stone to carry or not).

It could be a manager, or a co-worker. In any job position, whether it’s long-term or short-term, they have the ability to learn from the feedback and experience of their senior associates.

According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, the need for a constant stream of feedback and their attitude that success should come in a hurry isn’t really a surprise. But it’s not something that is completely unmanageable. Millennials have been driven to succeed by their parents since birth, and have been competing with each other for just as long, be it for spots in top academic programs or those all-too- competitive paid internships.

For a generation that grew up in one of the most uncertain times in North American history, it’s natural that they have a bit of anxiety when it comes to their future.

Gen X’er journalist Rick Newman described Millennials best as, “cynical, untrusting, and mercenary” because they have been told those are the traits needed to survive.

We, as their mentors, can combat those attitudes by providing them with professional coaches and role models who are inspired by the success of others and go through their professional life with integrity.

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We all have the urge and motivation to learn and grow. Collaborating with a business coach or mentor is one of the best ways to make sure that you are reaching your peak potential. Take the anxiety out of your career path.

Sign me up for mentoring.

An Industry Full of Big Personalities – #Recruiting

The best part of recruiting is that this is an industry where I feel completely at home being myself. This is an industry full of big personalities and quirky characters. I think that as recruiters, our genuine personalities and quirky characteristics are what help us relate to candidates and clients across the board.

Our likeable personalities are a direct correlation to our success in this industry. It’s what helps me get referrals from candidates and allows people to open up so that I can do my job with more information.

 

So what is it exactly that makes recruiters so irresistible (ok, maybe just likeable)?

Recruiters ask questions. The biggest mistake that people make when it comes to talking to other is that they’re so focused on their own point or their own idea of how the conversation should be going that they dominate the conversation. Recruiters ask lots of questions because they want to know as much as they can about a client or candidate. I always say that recruiters shouldn’t be individuals when talking to other people, but rather a mirror so that they can get a more accurate sense of the person sitting in front of them.

 

For the most part, Recruiters are very genuine people. Being a genuine person is important to being a likeable person with a great personality. No one wants to talk to a used car salesman and people gravitate towards those who they feel they can trust.

 

All of the independent recruiters that I work with on a day-to-day basis are amazing recruiters with personal branding that shows off exactly who they are as people and they stay true to that personal brand almost unapologetically. If you’re happy with yourself, then others will feel that energy and send it back to you tenfold.

 

Great Recruiters don’t pass judgment. This is not to say that Recruiters don’t ever make judgment calls using their personal filters, but they are approachable at all levels of industry. Recruiting is a business of profiling, but recruiters are always willing to listen and have a conversation with someone without immediately forming a hard opinion on that person’s career or business choices.

 

Recruiters aren’t attention seekers. Oftentimes, I refer to myself as the person behind the curtain because as a headhunter we are invisible in any organization. I know more about most businesses before I walk through their doors than the people who work there on a day-to-day basis. You don’t need to have a big, boisterous personality as a recruiter to get ahead, in fact this kind of behaviour will be a detriment to your business.

 

If you’re genuine in what you say and you appreciate the help you receive from those around you, people will be more apt to help you in the future.

 

Good Recruiters let others be the experts. I tell people that everyone you meet can teach you something, accept this lesson. Instead of having a spitting contest with everyone you meet, great recruiters accept the help of those in other industries to get information that is essential in completing a placement. Tell people you need help, tell them that their background impresses you, and tell them that you are dying to work with their business. A little vulnerability in recruiting can be a great way to attract top performers and new clients.

 

Do you think you’re a likeable recruiter? Or is your personality different from what I’ve outlined. At the very least, take this fun quiz from Buzzfeed and see if you’re actually likeable or not. I think some of you might be surprised. HA (I’m just kidding)!

I Don’t Train Hiring Managers, I Fix Them

All of the hiring managers that I’ve met are really great at their job. They are effective managers and great leaders; but not so good at hiring.

Many of the hiring managers that I’ve worked with don’t understand the challenges in the marketplace, or the process that most recruiters take when looking for the perfect candidate. Hiring managers are great managers, but most don’t work with recruiters effectively.

The communication and cooperation between the hiring managers and recruiters, and sometimes even HR, becomes a barrier so information gets lost along the line. This means that the level of quality expected from a candidate ranges adversely from manager to manager. There are managers who communicate their job requirements well, and there managers who don’t. None of this is a reflection on their skill as a manager, but rather their ability to communicate with their recruiter.

Fixing a Hiring Manager comes down to a fundamental understanding of the recruiting process and what your business actually needs. Make sure that your hiring manager has a clear understanding of how they should interview for this role, and what they should be looking for when screening resumes. Clear guidelines should set up when planning for the role and writing the job description, not to mention company branding and candidate experience becomes an essential aspect to manage.

Everything revolves around communication and how to speak effectively with recruiters. You don’t need to train a hiring manager; they already know what they’re doing. Just iron out the kinks so that you can find the right people to build the business.

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For over six years, Curta has been taking the guesswork out of Recruiter Training, and strives to achieve consistent training across the Recruiting Industry.

As of April, we have officially kicked off our 2015 Spring Training programs. Of the hundreds of Recruitment Professionals that Curta has trained, many have gone on to be top performers with their organizations. Join our mailing list for more information about upcoming training sessions and coaching openings.

Isn’t Time We Played MoneyBall?

By now, I’m sure most baseball fans have seen the movie Moneyball, which is a sports drama based on the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt. To be honest with you, the movie had never really piqued my interest until a colleague of mine mentioned that what Beane was trying to do with the ailing baseball team is a lot like what I do when I walk into a business as a coach or a consultant.

Basically, Moneyball is a nonfiction account of what a smart GM can do with limited funds and an in-depth knowledge of baseball statistics. Beane (Brad Pitt) tries to put together a winning team despite a lackluster financial situation and losing key players to free agency. Because of the limited payroll the 2002 Oakland A’s could not afford to pay star players to join their team, so what could they do instead?

Instead of focusing on the flashy players that put people in the seats at games, Beane decided to adopt sabermetrics, which is a specialized analysis of specific aspects of objective evidence, including player statistics. Not only does it analyze what the player has done in the past and present, it can be used to predict the usefulness of a player for any given team in the future.

Beane questioned traditional ideas of skill and put together a team of players based on sabermetrics, not traditional scouting methods (much to the chagrin of his colleagues).

After signing the players who he had deemed an ideal fit for their organization, Beane spent time working with the current roster to determine a game plan that would be most effective based on the skills and strengths of the new roster. Beane worked with the athletes and coaching staff to shape a new team without breaking the bank to sign stars. 

As Business Owners of Staffing Agencies and Recruiting Firms we need our own Sabermetrics. 

With our RBSmetrics the first thing you do is sit down and assess the individuals who are already present in the organization.  Assess who is overvalued, and who is undervalued.  Be objective and if there are people who need to be cut from the team, cut them.  Then find undervalued recruiters to come in and take their place.

Instead of going out and finding another recruiter who is a “star”,  find a diamond in the rough who will support your organization in a way that will drive sales and ultimately push you to that final goal, a win. 

After developing the recruitment roster, spend time training and building up your employees in a way that promotes success.  Implement a game plan that will help your recruiters use their talents and skills in a way that is most effective for their business and for the organization in general.  Also, teach the management that is already present how to keep this game plan on track and to not lose sight of the finish line.  

With the RBSMetrics you can create star teams out of players that were previously undervalued by creating strong game plan that caters to their strengths, making them more effective. The RBSMetrics formulas in place that looks just as strange as the Sabermetrics did to the Oakland A’s.

If you still doubt that a team of ragtag, undervalued professionals can come together to win, don’t forget that after their second year with the Sabermetric model the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, which was their first World Series win since 1918.