How Tinder made me think of recruitment of millennials in the media industry

I was out one night with a group of single women from my workplace all in their mid to late 20's and I was struck by their lack of confidence when it came to communicating with guys they were interested in. Instead they reverted to their dating apps on their phone or the conversation shifted to sharing their Tinder experiences. All the time whilst actually in a bar with real human people in.. Their expectations were very high of the type of guy they were looking for, but at the same time they feared any sort of real life rejection. As the swipe right generation they are too used to the ease of hiding behind technology before they can develop a ‘warm lead’. 

Shortly after I sat through the latest industry presentation from Media i on sentiment in our market and our agency results. I started to see a clear link in how millennials grade their workplace and they cope in the real world. I know it’s not rocket science, and if you google ‘the swipe right generation’, there are many articles on this especially around the future of recruitment. This seems particularly pertinent to me in our industry based on the skills shortage that we are currently experiencing. There are not enough people in the media market for plethora of jobs available, and required to service the growing needs of clients as they navigating the ever changing media landscape. Even less so now the business 457 visa restrictions have been imposed. My basic take out from the industry survey was at the 1 – 3 years tenure level at an agency, millennials are unhappy. And they’re not afraid to text, tweet, whatsapp and Facebook about it.

The same survey states that 77% of the respondents are under the age of 34. As someone who actively recruits within the dentsu X brand I can tell you it’s impossible to recruit people for jobs in the 1 – 3 years experience bracket. The millennial generation in our market has a huge swing. Candidates are either completely amazing or absolutely terrible. There doesn’t seem to be much in between, but they all want to be part of something. All the agencies fight over any available candidates and fall over themselves to offer benefits and salary to secure the deal. Sometimes we are forced to take on candidates who may not be right for the role purely to fill the roll which creates further problems.

A recent PWC research study (Millennials at work, shaping the work place) stated that by 2020 50% of the global workforce will be millennials. Yet we haven’t really figured out how to recruit, inspire, retain or motivate them in our (or any?) industry. Global recruiters are already looking at Tinder style apps to recruit candidates. The use of social media channels and mobile will continue to be key to recruitment. In our industry we haven’t quite figured out how to change with millennials, to retain them, inspire them and grow them in our business.

Simon Sinek a motivational speaker talked about millennials in his interview with Inside Quest a year ago. He talks about 4 key reasons that this generation are called lazy, entitled and narcissistic and why leaders in the corporate world have such a tough time managing them.

He states that there are consistent reasons that they behave the way they do:

1.    Parenting. Growing up, millennials had their Parents helicoptering and managing all areas of their lives and telling them they can be everything and anything that they want to be, but yet not teaching them the hard work, disappointment and resilience required to get there.

2.    Technology. They have grown up with a social media addiction checking every like and notification 24 hours a day. Depending on this for a Dopamine high, at the sacrifice of real and human interactions. Therefore ill equipping them for work pressures and rejection in the real world.

3.    Impatience. If you can watch the entire series in one night on Netflix why do you need to wait for anything in this world? They don’t understand the patience needed to truly find job satisfaction. (And relationships).

4.    Struggling in the work environment. The current corporate environment does not help millennials needs for constant and instant gratification. 

He goes on to state that in business, this is the hand we were dealt and basically we have to deal with it.

“We are putting them in corporate environments that are not helping them build their confidence. That aren’t helping them learn the skills of cooperation. That aren’t helping them overcome the challenges of a digital world and finding more balance. That isn’t helping them overcome the need for instant gratification and teach them the joys and impact and the fulfillment you get from working hard on something for a long time that cannot be done in a month or even in a year.

So we thrust them into corporate environments and the worst thing is they think it’s them. They blame themselves. They think it’s them who can’t deal. And so it makes it all worse. It’s not them. It’s the corporations, it’s the corporate environment, it’s the total lack of good leadership in our world today that is making them feel the way they do. They were dealt a bad hand and it’s the company’s responsibility to pick up the slack and work extra hard and find ways to build their confidence, to teach them the social skills that their missing out on”

So where does that leave us? In the same survey mentioned above, PWC also stated that 80% of millennials consider company culture and their fit into the business as the most important. It also explains that their behaviour has been shaped by the GFC, therefore putting more emphasis on their personal needs than those of the organisations that they work for. They want to rise quickly through the ranks in organisations that don’t have rigid structures. And if their requirements aren’t met they move on quickly. They want a flexible approach to work and to feel that their work is contributing towards something.

If this is the case, we need to focus more on 'one on one coaching' as they navigate through our corporate world and help them be more creative within the role that we give them. (Which can be challenging if they are data inputting to BCC all day!). Build their confidence and resilience and invest in them. Enable their work life balance and actually deliver on it if we promise or offer it. If we change our approach to understanding them and assisting them (rather than berating them) and also be very clear on our agency values and beliefs, then maybe we can be the next Apple or Google and attract the top talent and be able to take our pick of them. We're all on this journey together and I'm excited to be part of how dentsu X and the Dentsu Aegis Network will foster and grow millennial talent.

And maybe we can all go out for a drink together without looking at our phones and talk to people in the real world. 

You can read the transcript and watch Simon Sinek's talk of Millennials in the workplace here.