Members of the Baby Boomer generation bring a wealth of talent and knowledge to their jobs, however, companies will be faced with the reality of losing many of these employees to retirement in the near future. As these driven, ambitious Baby Boomers approach retirement age, companies will have to be looking at ways to ensure their success in attracting and retaining new workers - namely the X and Y generations . You'll need to present a different employment experience than that encountered by the Baby Boomers. Do you have a plan in place to fill your workforce in the coming years? Is your organization taking steps to ensure you can offer younger workers the experience they're seeking?

Experts have predicted that competition for talent will be fierce in the future as only one new person will enter the workforce for every two employees who retire - resulting in a significant labour shortage in the US and Canada. “We're already seeing worker shortages in many parts of the country, and yet many companies are not prepared to deal with this,” says Wil Weller, director of operations, Ceridian Talent Acquisition Practice. “A shrinking talent pool means employers need to get ready for the future by developing an integrated recruitment and retention strategy which includes using direct recruiting techniques as well as setting up training and support programs. Putting off this initiative may prove to be costly.”

Getting them into your workforce

When seeking new employees to replace your retiring Boomers, consider recruiting fresh college graduates, as long as your organization is prepared to help them hit the ground running. Many new college graduates may not be prepared for the realities of the business world. With the lack of resources that will be available, companies will need new employees to gain practical work knowledge and skills quickly. Weller suggests, “Consider starting up an internship program that brings new college and university students into your workforce. This allows younger workers to learn about your company and corporate culture while gaining valuable work experience. If you keep bringing them back year after year, they’ll likely choose to work for you after graduation.” Employers can also work with the higher education institutions to emphasize what skills and competencies are needed on the job - allowing the universities and colleges to offer more course work in these areas to better prepare students.

Keeping the Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers on the job

So who are the business leaders of tomorrow, and what motivates them? Overall, they're interested in customized benefits and big opportunities; they possess career expectations, not hopes; they're super-confident about the value of their contributions; they're not particularly patient with upward achievement, and they're not always interested in learning from ‘elders'. Younger workers are ready, willing and able – and they don’t want to wait. Here's a general overview of their characteristics and qualities:

Generation X (born between 1965 and 1977)

• Self-reliant & pragmatic
• Value quality relationships – excellent relationship-builders
• Respect for others – won’t compromise respect to crank out a product
• Other values include diversity, techno-literacy, fun & informality, flexibility & worklife balance
• Corporate goals often take a backseat to individual goals & visionary corporate leaders viewed with suspicion

Generation Y (born between 1978 and today)

• Confident, resilient & ambitious
• Community-oriented
• Enthusiastic about and adept at incorporating technology into the workplace
• Entrepreneurial & resourceful; achievement-focused
• Taught to speak up
• More accepting of diversity than any generation before them
• Culture of readily-accessible information has contributed to demanding attitudes

Although they may have different needs, these younger employees are just as valuable to the workforce as their tenured counterparts. Young workers have a very different perspective on their careers than do those of the Baby Boom generation, but that doesn't mean they aren't dedicated to their work. They put a high priority on learning and continually seek out additional education and training opportunities to further their careers. Gen Xers typically seek fewer rules and less red tape; independence; work-life balance, and variety in their work assignments. Gen Yers enjoy an environment where diversity is valued, and talent and achievement are rewarded. They appreciate opportunities to work as part of a team, and like to apply new technologies and learn new skills.

While the older generation typically has worked long hours and stayed with one company for many years, the younger workers are seeking out work-life balance and more mobility in their careers. Many of today's younger workers are seeking a balance between spending time at the office and spending time with their family and friends. “At Ceridian Canada, we offer virtual work arrangements to approximately 15% of our workforce. And when it is feasible for a position, employees also benefit from flexible work schedules and summer hours. By providing flexible work arrangements to our employees, we successfully retain highly skilled talent that otherwise would not be working with us today,” explains Weller. “Simply put, offering job flexibility is a “win-win” for both organizations and employees.”

In the future it may be rare to find someone who has been with one company for 20 or more years. Often switching jobs every three to five years, workers today view each new job as a stepping stone to the next. To respond to that, it has been suggested that corporations should look more closely at "horizontal" opportunities to present new employment challenges, or even consider limiting the expectations and demands of higher-level/executive roles in order to keep top-performers and meet succession planning goals.

“These business leaders of tomorrow bring diversity, new ideas and creativity to their work groups,” affirms Weller. “If a company can keep younger workers challenged and engaged, they’ll stay onboard for longer than three to five years.”

Key strategies for attracting and retaining younger workers

According to research conducted by the Corporate Leadership Council, a membership of senior leaders from leading global organizations, younger workers today are most attracted to positions and companies that provide:

• Independent, flexible health care – Employees want deductible plans that allow them to adjust their options to fit their individual needs.
• Technical training – Employees seek opportunities to learn and develop marketable skills.
• Mentoring – Younger employees desire to gain knowledge from their more experienced counterparts.
• Location, location, location

• The whole experience – Corporations aren't alone in taking measures to attract and retain the younger generations of workers. According to a theory developed by Richard Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, a region’s economic future is closely linked to its ability to attract younger, educated residents. In other words, to attract future workers, a city must offer a high quality of life outside of the office for young singles, such as a vibrant downtown and a dynamic nightlife.

Major Canadian urban centres are concerned with "brain drain" - the exodus of young, educated people moving out of the area to live in neighbouring provinces and the US. Economic development committees in many regions of the country are taking measures to compel Generation X and Y workers to stay in or move to their areas. In an effort to retain and attract a strong workforce for the future, these areas are seeking new ways to compete for talent by developing “new economy” style jobs and trendy urban communities.

There is no doubt that companies and the communities in which they are located will need to be creative in their employee recruitment and retention strategies in the years to come. Preparing now for the projected labour shortage can help your organization stay a step ahead.

This article first appeared in Ceridian Canada’s e-newsletter, The Specialist, June 2006 issue.

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