Retaining Young Employees You Hired

Claire Schooley, Forrester Research

308 Retaining

Those New, Young Employees

You Hired

March 11 - 13, 2009Orlando, FL

Page 1Session 308 – Retaining Those New, Young Employees You Hired –Claire Schooley, Forrester Research

Claire SchooleySenior analystForrester ResearchMarch 11, 2009

Retaining Those New Young Employees You Hired

2 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.

Agenda

• Characteristics of new workers

• Examples of learning approaches

• New ways to recruit

• Enjoyment is important

• Recommendations


Agenda

• Characteristics of new workers• Examples of learning approaches



• Recommendations


The Millennials are here!

Source: Forrester Research


Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000

• Millennials are a large generation– 78 million Baby Boomers will be retiring

– 45 million Generation X can’t fill vacant positions– 81 million Millennials are coming

• In the short term . . .– Baby boomers are working longer

– Workers come from other countries– Jobs are outsourced

– Economy is causing major layoffs


Millennials will make a difference because they . . .

• Are catalysts for change

• Show optimism about career opportunities

• Are innovators constantly looking for ways to collaborate, learn, work, and have fun

• Have an innate ability in their use of technology

• Value opportunities to try new tasks and solve problems creatively





Millennials have unique characteristics

Personal Traits

Family, social life, and work-life balance

Multitasking ability

Materialistic, entrepreneurial,and innovative

Socially responsible


Millennials have unique characteristics

Career Traits

Team-oriented, supportivework culture

Task-oriented ratherthan time-based

Career growth

Opportunities to learn Good pay

Feedback


Millennials shift media time from TV to DVDs, Internet

“In a typical week, how many hours do you spend doing each of the following?”

Source: North American Technographics® Benchmark Survey, 2007

Base: 58,993 US adults

12.4

14.0

13.9

12.6

11.4

10.4

4.2

2.9

3.5

3.9

4.6

6.0

5.6

3.2

5.1

5.3

6.6

8.1

All adults

Seniors (63+)

Older Boomers (52-62)

Younger Boomers (42-51)

Gen Xers (28-41)

Millennials (18-27)

Watching TV Watching DVDs Using the Internet for personal purposes


Experiences that shaped the Millennial generation

• Offspring of hectic dual-career Baby Boomer parents

• Both school and afterschool hours programmed

• Don’t know a world without technology

• Have seen companies downsize and parents lose their jobs

• Have seen challenges to big business and know to take care of themselves


Agenda


• Examples of learning approaches• New ways to recruit


• Recommendations


To recruit and retain young people policies and procedures must change

• Short, meaningful learning that matters to their job

• Self-generated learning to help others

• Collaboration tools to speed the work process




Nike has a continual sales associate challenge

• Increase product knowledge on seasonal launch products and new technologies

• Enhance selling skills

• Engage a demanding and tech savvy audience

• Minimal disruption to retail environment and end-user friendly

• Offer blended any-time, on-demand solutions with just-in-time information

• Increase sell-through of Nike product


Sports Underground Network (SKU)• On-line Web-based 3-5 minute training modules

• Reinforcement and performance support

• Seasonal training collateral like tool kits & brochures to support on-line component

Source: Nike


Nike SKU Learning Map

Source: Nike16 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.

Learners travel through a virtual subway system . . .

…stopping at various stations along the way…

…to experience different learning modules

Source: Nike


BT’s user-generated content moves away from content coming from the top• Social media was started by young people

– BTpedia is a wiki tool allowing information sharing and collaboration

– As the first social media tool BTpedia is completely open and used by all lines of business

Source: BT18 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.

At Black & Decker learning staff create videos

• Videos grow in popularity for sales staff learning

• All training staff have flip cameras to capture appropriate training scenes

• Capture segment for short videos

• Now have a library of pertinent videos on specific topics no longer than 10 minutes that can be downloaded




Learning online is only one approach

• DHL trains new sales hires in an 11-week blended program

– Online material provides a general understanding of the company, the products, and the sales process

– Job shadowing and mentoring introduces the sales culture

– Face-to-face mock selling builds sales expertise but main goal is about building confidence

– Trip to customer service locations to understand procedures and to headquarters to meet CEO

Source: DHL20 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.


• UPS is a process-oriented organization that prides itself on delivery speed but declining performance indicators and poor driver retention rates caused alarm

• UPS retained its rules and measurement approach but moved training from a lecture approach to a technology-enhanced hands-on learning approach

• Success measures - 15% reduction in accidents and a 20% reduction in injuries from first year drivers

Source: UPS



• A pilot training facility uses a transparent UPS package car, force sensors for truck entry/exit, the lift-and-lower simulator, a slip and fall simulator, and a mini town for driving practice

• Students watch animated demonstrations of tasks, take quizzes, and learn to use electronic data handhelds through simulations

• Student learn the methods and the “why” because they experience them

Source: UPS22 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.

Millennial learning

• Millennials are receptive to new technologies, but don’t necessarily prefer technical modalities. Not only way they want to learn

• Millennials favor hands-on, engaging and experiential development over static, passive experiences.

• Millennials want learning they can apply in their work and personal lives.


Agenda



• New ways to recruit• Enjoyment is important

• Recommendations


Ernst & Young recruits using social networking

Source: Facebook




Kelly’s strategies and tactics for capitalizing on changing workforce dynamics

• Build/Use tools that connect with target candidates in their voice

– Key messages, tone, imagery• Millennials require transparency and peer to peer review

– SecondLife.com, social communities, snapattack.net, encore.com, blogs

Source: Kelly26 Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights re served.

Source: Kelly


Agenda




• Enjoyment is important• Recommendations


The Millennials are not “all about work”

• Training for the job is important but provide personal development opportunities that will help them in their lives

• Having fun is important to Millennials so find way to satisfy their need for balance

• Millennials value relationships and not just with their own age group. They respect reputation and expertise no matter what the age group



How does your company rate?

• Interesting and challenging work (68%)

• A social atmosphere and camaraderie with colleagues (53%)

• A supervisor who will mentor and coach them (52%)

• Flexible work hours (44%)

• Care for employees as individuals and invest in them—even as recruits (34%)

Source: Accenture Study of 406 college grads in US, March 2008


Millennials’ desires can bring about changes for all workers

• They want to:– Contribute in a meaningful way– Be understood by others

– Looked at as individuals

– Use the skills they have– Contribute to the organization

• Get prepared for a different workplace of the future





Recommendations

• Present a clear understanding of what the job offers in learning opportunities and career mobility

• Provide formal, informal, online, instructor-led learning approaches

• Pair with well-selected mentors to provide constructive feedback in collaborative settings

• Build communities and social networks for peer interaction

• Be creative in your recruiting approaches


Thank you

Claire Schooley

+1 510-653-8796

[email protected]

www.forrester.com

Documents

Retaining Young Employees You Hired