Annual graduate hunting season– At this time, Corporate and Commercial companies alike are going to engage in head to head battles to find and attract the cream of the student crop. Recruiters and Hiring Managers will be enticing, advising and inspiring prospective graduates, with the aim to secure these youngsters onto their company’s elite graduate programme instead of the competitors.
Rolling the dice on Graduate success
Open days, presentations, even wining and dining, will be the order of the day during Graduate Recruitment Season. Then, following a series of stringent interview processes, candidates may hopefully sign on the dotted line (usually by October) with anticipated start dates scheduled for January 2020.
This is regrettably where the standard, predictable selection practices end, and the rolling of dices begin. Will they rock up on the first day, or take a better offer elsewhere before they even start? Is Suzy the stats boffin really as competent in advanced Excel as she claims? How about Ivan the IT major’s attention to detail? Margaret with her Masters in Marketing, stated stress tolerance and relationship building as her primary strengths, but would she be able to handle the pressurised consulting environment?
Together with the what if’s and the but’s there is another scenario at play: you are hiring millennials. This generation is placed on the other side of the work ethic continuum when compared to your workaholic, process driven Generation X employees, who will be managing, moulding, coaching and leading these digital natives into career prosperity.
Psychometrics for Millennials….ditch the old, embrace the new
There is never a guarantee on candidate performance success, but one can manage the hiring risks and significantly improve the success of a graduate programme by utilising psychometric assessments to supplement the screening and interviewing processes.
A reliable, comprehensive test solution should include cognitive ability, personality and integrity assessments to validate graduates in a variety of competencies;
- Drive and initiative
- Attention to detail
- Reasoning Ability
- Learning Potential
- Teamwork
- Stress Tolerance
- Integrity
- Managing complexity
- Relationship building
- Core Values
- Suitability to the role
- Culture Fit
With that said, be sure to show any dull, lengthy, paper-based assessments the door.
Why? Well, you are recruiting Millennials seeking engaging, interactive, mobile and shortened assessments that can be conducted online, are unique to the jobs they are applying too, and promote the values of your employer brand.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance unlocks graduate talent with an “escape room challenge” to assess their ability to collaborate with others and display creative thinking in stressful situations. These innovative testing practices add to a positive candidate experience and distinguish the company from its competitors.
Innovation vs Conscientiousness – Merge and Conquer
Graduate programmes vary from company to company, but the purpose remains the same: Hire the most talented youngsters out there to add value in the short term, but also yield a sustainable long-term return on investment in the form of performance and growth. In turn, their exposure gained from learning and development experiences, will serve as retention strategies.
To remain competitive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, companies desperately need the millennial infusion of innovation, creativity and sometimes the left-field ideas they bring to the table. However, their creativity, extraversion and originality often exceed levels of conscientiousness, work ethics and accountability.
Research has shown that conscientiousness is the one personality trait of “The Big Five” that boosts job performance in every field. What to do then if conscientiousness is not a top scoring trait in the graduate pool one is recruiting from? Fortunately, conscientiousness can be learned and herein lies the solution to merge millennial laissez-faire bringing creativity, with company modus operandi ensuring stability.
The answer lies in learning potential. Organisations who recruit graduates with learning potential are future-proofing their business for the next few decades.
With graduate “open season” around the corner. Prepare to assess for success.