In today’s dynamic business world, young talent plays an increasingly important role in the growth of companies. Young professionals bring a fresh vision that drives transformation and competitiveness in the marketplace by bringing new perspectives and being able to adapt to the ever-changing world and business.
Sometimes, we think that the beneficiaries of joining the labor market are young people, since they gain experience, but the time has come to ask what companies gain from having young talent in their teams and why this type of profile is so valuable. In this post, we will explain how young talent has become a vital asset for companies and how its integration can boost innovation, productivity and the achievement of business objectives.
The value of young talent
Young profiles increasingly have a more updated and quality training, which allows companies to broaden their horizons, discover possible new markets in which to operate, create new proposals or keep updated on new trends.
In addition, young talents help to improve the work environment thanks to their energy and enthusiasm, characteristics that usually go hand in hand with this type of profile due to the great motivation and ambition with which they start their working life. All this leads to the creation of new challenges in which the company and its team grow and a greater number of objectives are achieved, consequently increasing productivity.
As we are seeing, experience is obviously important but it is not everything. In fact, the mix and coexistence between senior and junior talents are the basis of learning in many companies. With cooperation and empathy, senior profiles can pass on valuable knowledge to junior profiles, which, in turn, can motivate more experienced team members.
Strategies to attract young talent
When devising strategies to attract young talent, it is important to bear in mind that younger profiles value certain issues that previous generations did not even consider. Besides, companies should be aware that it is not only important to attract young talent, but also to retain it. For this reason, companies understand that it is wise to create new strategies that adequately communicate the organizational plan they are carrying out so that employees are heard and feel comfortable and identified with the actions they will be conducting in their workplace.
In relation to this, it must be taken into account thatattracting and retaining young talent requires changes and constant evolution in a company’s organizational method. Young talent is innovation, so the ways of attracting it must also be innovative.
These are some of the keys that companies use to attract younger talent:
- Flexibility and teleworking:young people today prefer to avoid fixed schedules and impositions. Therefore, they want to feel in control of their time and be able to define their working day according to their personal life and needs. If a job gives them this, they are motivated and experience greater happiness in their daily lives. Consequently, the result is more motivation, involvement and creativity in their jobs.
- Learning, professional development and adaptation: being able to generate possibilities for growth, learning and professional development is one of the keys that makes a company stand out as an employer brand. Continuous learning of new functions and skills in the workplace motivates young talent and makes them experience dynamism in their day-to-day work. In addition, it also fulfills their expectations for professional growth through training and career plans.
On the other hand, it is important for companies to change the perceptions imposed by previous generations. Today, it is essential to find talent that is able to adapt itself. This way, the company can adapt the workstation to the person and his or her skills rather than the other way around.
- Diverse and inclusive organizational culture and good working environment: el young talent is looking for all the progress achieved at the social level to be reflected in companies. This way, they seek safe spaces, based on diversity, inclusion and tolerance, where all people have the same opportunities regardless of their life context.
This makes for a good and relaxed workplace environment, a factor that increases creativity and productivity.
- Competitive and emotional salary: young talent has experienced a change of vision with respect to their predecessors in relation to salaries Due to the high mobility in certain sectors, the increase in payroll is one of the decisive factors when making decisions in this type of profile. Even so, emotional pay has become more important in recent years, and workers are looking for non-monetary complements that add value to their position.
Reverse mentoring and young talent
As I said before, it is obvious that, within companies, senior profiles can bring a lot of value and knowledge to younger profiles. But can it also happen the other way around?
Reverse mentoring is one of the fastest growing trends in companies in recent years. This dynamic consists in the fact that, contrary to what usually happens, younger employees are the ones who guide and teach older employees on certain issues, especially in everything related to the use of technologies or moving in social networks.
This methodology has a great value as it can instruct – through the experience of the younger employees – people who do not have so many technological skills.This allows the older ones to broaden their perspective on their roles.
The objective of reverse mentoring is to retain young talent and leverage their knowledge in the organizations, in addition to fostering the commitment of young people by making them feel valued and actively contribute to the organizations.
For reverse mentoring to develop properly, it is essential to have the support of the company. It is a strategy that promotes intergenerational collaboration and, if successfully developed, can transform organizational culture, provided there is committed leadership and open-mindedness.
In many cases, young people are not aware of their potential, so the work of companies will be fundamental in order to make the most of this type of professionals. Undoubtedly, companies that manage to surround themselves with qualified and motivated young talent will manage to give a boost to their development and become a breeding ground of talent.
