Staffing Smart Series: post 3 of 6

Success factor #2: Offer on-the-job learning for successful youth employment

In our discussions with Canadian millennials about youth employment, the Mobilize team gained some great insights into what makes them tick – and what would make them want to pick up and relocate to a hospitality job in rural Alberta, for example. We came away with five key insights about tailoring employment to millennial thinking.

In our last post, we talked about making it an adventure. Next up? Giving them the educational experience they’re looking for. It’s not just a paycheque to them. They want to get something out of it they can apply to the future.

Young Canadians know that if they want a career, they need knowledge. A university degree isn’t enough anymore, and they’re tired of hearing that you can’t get experience without a job, and can’t get a job without experience.

Teach them something new.

Millennials aren’t afraid to work hard. But they aren’t temporary foreign workers. These are motivated, career-oriented people who want something with a future. If they were looking to be food counter attendants, they would be doing it back home and not travelling to Red Deer or Banff or Jasper to take the same job.

We need to give these young Canadians the opportunity to LEARN SOMETHING. Don’t treat them as disposable assets.

Change the focus of the position.

A few small tweaks can turn an entry-level minimum wage job into a skills development program. Instead of working in a dead-end job or slaving away in an unpaid internship, attract millennials with youth employment opportunities where they can build valuable skills while getting paid. For example, you’ll find they’re not afraid to scrub toilets if you give them a shift or two shadowing the management team.

Mobilize is a youth employment program designed to help young Canadian employees gain skills, absorb knowledge, and build a network that will serve them for their entire careers. We encourage our employer network to rethink the jobs they offer to make them about building skills and learning on the job. And it works. We’ve found that if you change the way the position is perceived and teach them as much as you can, you’ll be surprised by their drive and their thirst for knowledge.

Next insight in our youth recruitment series: how to give millennials the career advancement opportunities they want.

What’s Mobilize?

It’s an exciting new approach to youth employment. We place young Canadian workers in positions that would once have gone to temporary foreign workers. We recruit in areas with low youth employment, looking for motivated people with the desire to work and travel. They do seasonal placements in hard-to-staff industries, gaining experience and skills – while employers get the people they need to serve their customers.

Want to know more about us? Watch us on Canada AM.