How to engage the virtual Gen Z Recruiter
The Inspiration for the Gen Z Recruiter is not what it used to be
In a story from 2020 one of the leadership team at AMS, formerly known as Alexander Mann Solutions, wrote about early careers engagement. Today you can also call this graduate recruitment. Most importantly, though, this is about recruiting what many call Gen Zs. And engaging them to work for companies, often through virtual internships.
The author shared how the challenge for professionals in HR and recruitment is their lack of experience in recruiting and onboarding virtual teams. Yet so many employees coming to the market today demand to work from home, virtually. In fact, some even want to work many miles away from the companies actual offices. Even with limited experience in the workplace. With expectations of remote training. Remote everything.
Since the story there have been an abundance of further articles offering advice on how to best appease the newest employees in the workforce. And a flurry of social media posts on the topic. We regularly share about the topic on our channels too. The Master of Ceremonies at this year’s Wieczor Rekrutera we are hosting, Julia Chatys, just happens to be Gen Z. You can find her on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, TV, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Discord, and a whole host of other places you probably haven’t heard of.
Do we need Gen Z Employees?
Needing and inspiring a generation of workers are two very different challenges to overcome. Some of the most important things to bear in mind about these employees is how much they are tech native. But at the same time, how much more sensitive they can be, meaning an increased focus on mental health in the workplace.
Since Gen Z has joined the workforce the concept of the four day working week has also abounded. Some companies have implemented complicated mentorship plans to help with the new employees. Others have improved communication and upgraded their tech. But the bottom line is clear. Gen Z will be gaining a bigger voice in the workforce. They won’t be ignored. They are here to stay. Be prepared.
What about Gen Z recruiters in Poland today?
It isn’t by accident that AMS was mentioned at the outset of today’s story. AMS is probably the biggest employer of Gen Z recruiters in Poland today. Many of them being based out of Gdansk or Krakow where the company’s offices are located.
There is also a long history of collaborating with banks at AMS, which, back in 2008, wasn’t a great thing. Today? The company has increased its headcount exponentially since its first recruiter started to search for cashiers for Barclays from a small office on ul. Wadowicka in Krakow.
When Barclays chose to let AMS recruit their UK staff based out of an office in Krakow it was a revolutionary step. Not meeting candidates face-2-face? Impossible. As one of the largest banks in the UK, by market share, Barclays has always wielded huge influence. When it comes to recruitment, it is the same.
There might be a handful of executive search firms who now religiously try to meet every candidate that they can. Mainly because they are for highly paid roles. But, today, the majority of recruiters can go months without meeting a candidate face-2-face. It has become the norm.
Can we go back to how Recruitment was in the 90s? Or at least the 00s?
It still brings a smile to my face when I see people online who worked in recruitment in the 90s or 00s. Yes, the basic way recruitment is undertaken might not have changed much. But pretty much everything else has.
When Huxley Recruitment or Progressive were looking for IT recruiters in London in the late 90s and 00s it felt like a Boiler Room. With Ben Affleck shouting down a table full of newbies about his flash car and big house and all his gadgets.
Wouldn’t go down so well today, would it? If you are in Poland, GoWork would have seen to that. Even if it was Ben Affleck. However. To be the best recruiter out there in the 00s, like Ben Affleck would be looking for, you would be recruiting for the best. For Google. For Meta. Microsoft or VISA. And the bar remains high till today. The recruiters have changed though. So have their expectations.
Today, most experienced talent leaders have experienced this change. They have watched the evolution. It is up to these leaders to inspire and engage the newest generation. Especially as success looks different now. Zabka, with all the AI and cashier-less shops, doesn’t sound like such a bad company to recruit for like it would have in the 00s. Besides, do Gen Z really want to work for Google? Google which in June demanded that its employees return to the office? The tech firm even put up a hotel for employees to entice them back…
How the World sees You, not how you think the World sees You
Success is now more visible than ever before. As is failure. GoWork isn’t the only place you can see this. Glassdoor and other sites also show insights into whether a company really is as good as the social media and website looks.
Every few weeks another ‘hook’ is dropped onto company profiles on GoWork asking about what the company culture looks like. How much the pay is. And other prompting messages. And people respond.
Try to get a candidate to work for a company that is smeared all over forums like those above. Try to get a recruiter to work for you when that happens. It isn’t getting easier.
Importantly though, LinkedIn is the biggest player in the space in Poland. It’s no surprise. Personal branding is one of the trends that leaders like Joanna Malinowska-Parzydlo have been promoting for many years. And LinkedIn is where personal branding usually happens. Especially if you are a recruiter in Poland.
But LinkedIn is also one of the areas that talent leaders have remained competitive in when it comes to modern technology and social media. It’s also the biggest platform for recruiters in Poland. Many of them Gen Z. Is enough being done to help these new recruiters understand the importance of their online presence? Do they really know that they will be living on LinkedIn for the next few decades potentially?
LinkedIn is not the only platform for recruiters in Poland though. There are others that are less virtual. Magazyn Rekruter has been creating a community for recruitment professionals in Poland for over 12 years too. And the annual Wieczor Rekrutera event in Warsaw is the ONLY place where they can meet each other face-2-face. Something that most of the Gen Z recruiters in Poland have never experienced. Most of them probably don’t even know about it. In a recent poll by Jacek Krajewski posted a few weeks ago, 36% of the 153 people who voted had never heard of Wieczor Rekrutera.
Wieczor Rekrutera – the only place where in-house and agency recruiters will meet face-2-face in 2023
Everything is virtual. Working from home most days every week. Worrying about targets. Not having enough contact with your line manager. Not feeling responsible for your tasks.
There are many new problems in recruitment today. But, if you wake up in the morning, and you love your job, then there are much less problems. How do you do that when you sit in your room alone all day? Staff party once every few months? Pizza in the office every few weeks? It might have been ok in the 00s. But today?
If you lead a team of recruiters. Do you not owe it to them to be involved in the ONLY recruitment gala in 2023? Maybe you and your team could go a step forward and see if you can get short-listed for review by the Jury of Perly HR?
Today, more than ever, the newest and soon biggest part of the workforce needs inspiration. Get involved. Sign up for Wieczor Rekrutera now!
Categories are now open for:
In-house Recruitment Team of the Year
In-house Recruiter of the Year
Freelance Recruiter of the Year
#GenZ #Recruiter #Engage #Virtual #Face2Face #WieczorRekrutera
Author: Andy Samu
See Also:
Pracodawcy muszą się przygotować – czterodniowy tydzień pracy (magazynrekruter.pl)
Do the Best Recruiters in Poland need Intuition? (magazynrekruter.pl)
Is Creativity the Biggest Skill Needed by Recruiters Today? (magazynrekruter.pl)
