"Big" Catch

With the dreaded mass Baby Boomer retirements here, or nearly here, you're scurrying to attract new college grads to your payroll. But why?  You need replacements for the talent that's exiting, but wouldn't that mean better cultivation of those already in mid-level positions or secondary upper-level job roles?  The young people you convince to join your company won't be ready for years to fill the shoes of the Boomers, so how's the recruitment push going to solve your current dilemma? Instead, I would focus on the often neglected mid-section of your organization's talent with ramped up leadership development, mentoring, and succession planning.

Now, this is going to sound crazy maybe--because as obvious as it is, I haven't heard anyone mention it before--you don't have to worry as much as you think you do about luring new graduates. With no job experience other than perhaps a few internships and an over-inflated sense of self, they're the ones who have to worry about ingratiating themselves to you. No matter how many new workers you need to fill the looming vacancies, nothing changes the fact that they need a job. And the fact that the Millennials are much larger in number than my generation, the X'ers, I would think works to their disadvantage. No matter how "impressive" those summers abroad and Facebook proficiency, there are thousands of others of their same age offering the exact same skills and "unique" talents. What are you worried about?  They're more full of themselves than previous generations, but you still hold the cards.

I guess what's worrying you is their sense of entitlement. That they have a reputation for being spoiled (didn't come of age during the Depression, Cold War, or even the recession of the 90's), and so don't understand the concept of coping with discomfort. And so won't hesitate to flee from your ranks if you suggest pajama pants and Birkenstocks don't qualify as corporate casual. The cost of turnover and new hire training can be significant, but don't worry so much you develop a complex (I think some of you already have a recruitment insecurity complex, by the way). There's many more where they came from. It's like fishing in a pond over-populated with a particular fish that may, in the end, not even prove to be particularly appetizing. So you catch a few, a few jump out of the boat when you're not looking, you throw more than a few back. You still eat that night anyway.

As misguided as it might be, that's how I think of the "push" to recruit new graduates. Despite the Millennial hype, it's nothing new. The press and chatter onslaught about it is what's new. They're tech savvy, confident, and maybe more demanding than previous generations, but no more talented, and certainly no less in need of that first illusive job. Of course just being an X'er, I don't know what's it like to be fiercely pursued by prospective employers. What I noticed in those first months after undergraduate (and even graduate) graduation was a deafening silence. Sure, nobody loves journalists, but still...

Trust me, they need you, too, so don't go overboard offering them on-the-job mid-afternoon lattes. My father, a member of the Traditionalist generation, used to tell me "suffering builds character." Over-indulgent in reality, he said it mainly in jest, but when it comes to your hotly pursued new graduates, there might be something to that. Be respectful and offer them ways to contribute, but don't do it because you think that's what their generation demands; do it because that's what you should of been doing all along, for all the other generations that came before them.

These Millennials have to learn how to muddle through discomfort sooner or later. That even hot catches sometimes get thrown back into the pond isn't a bad lesson to learn.

So are you, too, swept up in the Millennial recruitment madness?  Is it really that important, and different from recruiting previous generations?