Try to offer a millennial a traditional job at a major package goods company and most would not take it.
What was success to me in starting my career looks like a laborious trek up a corporate ladder for todays upstart professional.
Would they rather work at Google, Twitter, and Facebook? The answer is yes. And they would also rather work at smaller companies like Snapchat that just turned down a multi-billion offer to be sold. In fact, most I talk to would choose to start up a career at well, a start-up.
This is not to say that a great company like S.C. Johnson that owns the Drano brand cant attract great people. But, it does mean that the competition to attract the best and the brightest for traditional brand name companies is tougher.
And, part of that challenge is an incredible difference between the generations on what constitutes success.
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As a board member of a few young fast start-ups, I see this first hand.
The majority of talented students are not targeting the Fortune 500 as a place to work or even Wall Street. And the reason? That target is off the radar of the lifestyle they want to lead.
Before, when I noted these great young minds want to start at a startup the driver is not money. Although, money is nice, lifestyle is more compelling.
For millennials, titles like CEO, COO, and CFO have little cache.
These bright people are just fine if their next job is sideways and even down the organization. I
In swinging from job to job, or project to project, millennials are really seeking a career track where they can make a difference.
They ask, Am I growing professionally and personally. Plus, they manage their personal off hours to fit their lifestyle and budget.
Think about how money is not a driver for them. When I was young, it was cool to have a cool car. Now it is cool to have a cool phone. They do not care about the coolest apartment, but the coolest app.
It means that as HR professionals, we have to meet their needs. If your company does not, it might be in danger of a brain drain.
So, how can you as an HR pro entice the millennials that are the best and the brightest?
First, eliminate the corporate ladder and think in terms of the jungle gym.
Second, show millennials key initiatives at your company where they can make a difference. It does not have to be about saving the world, but it can be about updating the company.
So, if your company is not perceived as cool, find an initiative that is cool that meets the goals and objectives of a division or company. Then present it as a way that a millennial can be part of a team to make a difference.
The point is that the traditional everything is changing. One example is that traditional brand management is giving way to social media. While traditional brand management, and other traditional careers are not totally going away, traditional thinking is.
So, it is up to you to find the exciting projects that will excite millennials to create new traditions.
Robert Damon is executive Cchairman, Americas, for Korn/Ferry.
