Amberjack’s latest webinar, hosted by Head of Learning and Development, Jenny Fitzgerald, explored how pre-boarding engagement activity is critical to keeping graduates warm and building loyalty.
Amberjack’s Early Careers Expert Series webinars with ISE share student insight, expert know-how and real-life case studies.
This time Amberjack were joined by Ellie Simpson, Co-Founder at Sixty, and Rachel Hollinger, Early Careers Manager at ScottishPower, to discuss how to keep new hires warm and line them up to thrive, while ensuring they don’t get cold feet.
Student insight
Combining economic uncertainty with the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to record numbers of applications. This is a big hill to climb for employers preparing to hire and onboard new talent.
For candidates, the issues are no less pressing. Recent data from Bright Network showed that only 53% of early talent are confident in securing a role. Unsurprising when they are up against hundreds of others for a single vacancy.
Furthermore, the mental health of our young people is in crisis, with only 52% of Gen Z rating their mental health as good or very good, and 40% reporting feeling stressed or anxious most of the time. It’s no wonder that 82% of the 20-25 age group report that they suffer with impostor syndrome.
Many candidates are asking if the roles they are applying to will even exist in 5-10 years’ time.
The incoming generation feel uncertain, anxious and under prepared. They also highly value learning, and development opportunities.
Amberjack sat down with two members of their Gen Z Advisory Board to ask them about learning opportunities and what they value most.
Rethinking pre-boarding
This generation are not just looking for a job, they’re looking for a sense of belonging.
They want to know that their work will make a difference. They want to develop and grow. With feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and impostor syndrome rife, they seek certainty. Without pre-boarding engagement, they may not feel supported in this way.
So, how do you flip the script and rethink pre-boarding for your early talent?
During pre-boarding, adopting the tried and tested three-step framework - engage, pre-skill and connect - can be your greatest tool.
It makes sense to position yourself as an employer of choice, and you can do this with pro-active communication, supporting the development of your hires, and making efforts to connect before day one.
3-step framework
1.Engage
Engaging new hires is about immersing them in your EVP. This includes communicating your brand and your mission to enable incoming talent to buy into your organisation ahead of day one.
This contributes to an excited cohort, and you can do this with authentic, scalable content. Video and blog content, especially those from existing employees, are key.
2.Pre-skill
Pre-skilling is about providing workplace fundamentals prior to joining, so that new talent feels prepared. It’s about building confidence and capability, so that they have a baseline level of skills and knowledge, allowing them to add value from their very first day.
With feelings of impostor syndrome exponential, equipping new talent with the skills that traditional academia might have neglected to cover is essential.
That being said, don’t hit them with a lengthy course that will take significant time out of their first education-free summer. Shorter modules and micro-learning playlists on topics such as networking, personal brand, and commercial awareness, are your friends.
Talk to us about the topics your organisation should be covering.
3.Connect
Connecting with incoming hires and creating a community is beneficial for candidates. In an often-isolating world, this enables them to realise that they are not alone and reduces uncertainty by knowing that on day one, they will see a friendly face.
Gen Z crave connection, knowing different people, and building relationships, but it can be something they find difficult to do alone. Your facilitation is invaluable to them and brings benefits to your organisation too.
With everything you do, ask yourself one important question: is this reducing uncertainty? If the answer is yes, then you are doing something right.