Nowadays, Generation Z or popularly known as zoomers, have become an audacious lot. They can voice their concern easily, speak their mind and also quit their current job without having a job in hand. So when an organisation has to hire them as candidates, a lot of understanding is important when it comes to providing the right kind of EVP (Employee Value Propositions) to them. 

At this juncture, it is critical to understand how organisations can redesign workplace practices to deliver on the expectations of the candidate pool in terms of new value propositions. May Cheo, Head of Talent Acquisition SEA, Johnson & Johnson and Victoria Murphy, Head of Talent Acquisition - APAC JLL discuss the culture of authenticity and greatness at the workplace at People Matters Talent Acquisition Conference 2022.  

Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:

Key demands of the candidates organisation can’t really ignore

There are three key areas that organisations and hiring managers need to know:

• Deeper focus on new talents of tomorrow - Candidates can read everything on the internet hence they know what to and how to expect. Hence it’s important for the hiring managers to provide them clarity while offering them EVPs.
• Guilt-free hybrid workforce - The candidates look for an organisation who truly lives by what they say. Hence when it comes to hybrid working, the talents don’t want managers to have a different set of expectations on them when working in an office vs working from home. They want managers to have clear communication on this topic.
• Inclusive place to work - The candidates expect to feel included in the organisation’s culture. They should feel they are welcome in the group activities, have a voice in meetings, given time and space to adjust, inclusion should be practised, not just preached.  
• Inclusive place to work - Gen Zs live a very dynamic life and demanding life with the aim of living with purpose. Some are even working on side gigs and with hybrid here to stay, they will look for opportunities where they can fully dedicate themselves in the projects. With that in mind, hiring managers and HR leaders have to be vigilant about what experience they are offering to the zoomers.

Are leaders ready? What’s working and what’s not?

In today’s time, leaders have to take a step back and rework on their attraction and retention strategy. It is important to identify the motivators for Gen Z and other talents as it will be different. Hence, it is really important that packaging and communication for said expectations be articulated and executed properly.

Another important aspect is that Talent acquisition in every organisation just needs to facilitate the attraction strategy. The onus is on the HR leaders - They should review and rework on the strategies and develop business understanding that today’s market is now different and partner with their HR colleagues to make a difference in the hiring strategies.

Tech adoption is a valuable facet of today’s working world. Hence its important that building on new ideas, responding fast while keeping technology and the human touch close to these changes. For example, companies have been using social media to strengthen their branding on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram etc.

Sensitising stakeholders to uphold organisation’s mantra 

The candidate experience is important and so, empowering the hiring managers to be part of the candidate experience is equally important while looking for the right kind of talent. It is important for our organisation to maintain authenticity in how we treat our candidates i.e practice what you preach. 

The concept of Glocalisation is such that instead of globalising the way of working, it's more important to maintain the freedom within the framework. This is possible only when the process is regionalised and then it is localised so that that candidate experience feels more personal at the level. 

For example, a candidate working in the USA may not be so familiar about the APAC region hence personalising their expectation by making the experience more regional and can win the hearts and minds of the candidates in a faster manner.

Also, it will enable the hiring manager to be more connected with the talent. Additionally, the communication will create a frictionless environment where candidates will be the centre of everything.

Putting ‘reinventing the candidate experience’ in practice: The conclusion

The leaders agree that the first quintessential part is to make time and create the agile ways of working. 

It is also important that authenticity & inclusion be maintained in tandem as Gen Z will notice if they don’t have a voice in the group and it's really important for the conductor/hiring manager to take care of the same. Authenticity has now become an important aspect of any talent hiring experience and shoehorning into something has to be avoided at all cost.