Mindi Cox, Chief People Officer at O.C. Tanner.
What is the number one thing that makes a job listing appealing to Generation-Z applicants? Here’s a hint: It’s not company growth or familiarity with a company’s brand. It’s job stability.
Handshake, a recruiting platform for college students and alumni, recently surveyed members of Gen-Z (those born during the late 1990s and early 2000s) on their employment priorities. When asked what factors make them more likely to apply for a job, 85% of respondents cited job stability. Just 29% said they’d be more likely to apply for a job if it was at a fast-growing company and 35% cited familiarity with a company’s brand.
But this isn’t just about Gen-Z. People across the board crave long-term, stable employment. A recent LinkedIn survey of more than 6,000 U.S. professionals found that stability is more important than flexibility for the majority of employees (56%). (Just 22% of respondents disagreed, saying that flexibility trumps stability, while the remaining 22% either weren’t sure or didn’t answer.)
The premium on employment stability is welcome news for strong companies that struggled to compete for talent during the Great Resignation. In the face of hefty signing bonuses, residual stock options and flexible work arrangements, stable organizations with excellent cultures often found themselves hard-pressed to attract top talent who seemed to be searching for unsustainable raises and work-from-anywhere flexibility. Now that’s changed.
New priorities demand new questions.
We’ve noticed a significant shift in interviews with prospective technical talent, in particular. As a privately held company that prizes our culture and values our people—but can’t offer stock options or the enticing prospect of an imminent IPO—we had to work unusually hard last year to sell ourselves to talent with backgrounds in startup tech.
These days, tech talent is much more interested in what we have to offer. They’re asking different questions: When was your last layoff? What’s your retention rate? How do you take care of your employees?
True job stability is about more than just job security. It’s about creating a workplace environment where your team members can learn, stretch and grow over time. We encourage applicants to ask about these things during their interviews. Hiring conversations go both ways, after all, and the strongest candidates usually come prepared with meaningful questions of their own.
Here are four interview questions you might get that are specifically related to job stability—and tips for showcasing what your company has to offer.
What does your onboarding experience look like?
Research from the O.C. Tanner Institute shows that for more than half of employees, onboarding consists of just a day of orientation and a folder of benefits—at most. But the way a company treats its newest hires says a lot about how it thinks about the employee experience more broadly.
Do you have a great onboarding program that helps new hires connect and belong to the broader mission of the company while providing the on-the-job support they need beyond Day 1? Make sure to add it to your interview talking points so candidates know they’ll be taken care of if they join the team. Even better? Let them talk to other recent hires.
If your onboarding program needs some help, make the required investments. You’ll see returns across your business. For example, an analysis by Gallup found that employees who have exceptional onboarding experiences are 2.6 times as likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace (and more likely to stay). Additionally, the analysis found that 70% of employees citing exceptional onboarding experiences say they have “the best possible job.” This suggests a strong correlation between the quality of the onboarding experience and long-term satisfaction.
How do you recognize employees for great work?
Everyone wants to feel seen and validated. This is especially true at work. To be meaningful, recognition should be highly personalized and fully integrated into the everyday work experience.
As with onboarding, integrated recognition has the potential for major business impact. Our research shows that done well, recognition boosts employee engagement eight-fold, reduces burnout by 80% and reduces attrition by 29%.
Do you have a culture of recognition? If so, talk to job applicants about how your company facilitates peer-to-peer recognition and how you celebrate personal and company milestones. Candidates care and want to know if their great work will be seen and celebrated.
What do you expect of your leaders?
Traditional, authoritarian leaders see their roles in a top-down way. Modern leaders, on the other hand, seek to unleash their teams’ true potential. They prioritize mentorship and are continually thinking of new ways to provide employees with opportunities to stretch themselves and develop new skills. Not surprisingly, job candidates want to work with modern leaders.
Think about how you can answer the following questions during interviews:
- How often do leaders hold one-to-one meetings with team members?
- How do leaders focus on career development?
- How do leaders coach and mentor employees throughout their careers?
Can I job shadow?
Today, candidates look beyond job descriptions to make their career decisions—they are looking for a fulfilling experience. They want to make sure they land somewhere they’ll be happy for the long haul. Some candidates may request an opportunity to immerse themselves in company culture by sitting in on meetings or chatting with team members.
Are you prepared to offer candidates this experience? Candidates will see it as a sign that you’re willing to go the extra mile to find a good cultural fit—and to help them make an informed choice.
Stability works both ways.
Employees’ new focus on stability is prompting them to turn fresh eyes on companies (and entire sectors) they may not have considered a year and a half ago. In a world where nothing is truly stable, the best job is one with ample opportunities to grow, stretch and change over time.
As you prepare to attract the best talent, don’t overlook spotlighting the stability your company offers. It’s likely to be the workplace element your candidates care about most.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
