THE NEW GENERATION OF TALENT: Engaging and Integrating your New Workforce

Millennials, GenY, Me-me-me Generation, Generation We, Global Generation, Generation Next, Net Generation…many different names have been assigned to the latest generation of graduates entering the job market. Nonetheless, despite how we may want to call them, by 2025 members of this generation will make up 70% of the global workforce (source Financial Times) and companies, in order to remain competitive, must quickly understand how to best attract and retain this pool of graduates. But how can companies face up to the challenge?

With the 2013 London Recruiters Breakfast, EDHEC Business School has once again helped companies to shed light upon key issues in order to sustain long-term competitiveness. The event, held on EDHEC’s London campus on Friday 21st June 2013, united recruiters and HR professionals from some of EDHEC’s top employers in order to create a forum of exchange around what is new at EDHEC, talent acquisition topics that are front of mind and what the young generation is after in the first few years of their careers. "GenY don’t expect to have a job for life but a job that provides transferrable skills and that is what it is all about in our company' stated one of the graduate recruiters."

The event kicked off with welcome speeches by Financial Economics Track Director Prof. Pascale Viala and EDHEC Career Centre Manager Fernanda Diaz. Then, Monique Valcour, PhD, Professor of Management at EDHEC, supported by EDHEC’s think-tank NewGen Talent Centre’s results, provided detailed insights on the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of GenY as well as the benefits and challenges that employers are likely to face by attracting and retaining recent graduates. “Managers need to develop competencies around transparency and communication and open the mindset of their young employees. They need to have interest in the people reporting to them and in their skills and need to be coach facilitators. The quality of relationships between managers and young employees in a company is critical and very important for GenY” explained Monique Valcour.

Following the presentations the guests split up into 4 groups, led by Nomura Global Head of Recruitment and Head of HR EMEA Malcolm Horton, to discuss in depth more specific aspects of GenY’s attributes and characteristics. One of the four groups, discussed the challenges to increase the flexibility of highly structured and planned career paths within finance as well as the need to provide young employees with more qualifications to bring away from their training programmes.

To conclude the event, the guests had the opportunity to exchange further ideas with Fernanda, Monique , Rosemary Goater - Head of International Corporate Relations and EDHEC students, who are also founders of the EDHEC Finance Club, Francesco Lupis and Charles Dequeker while enjoying some early morning refreshments. “It is so important to have direct engagement with our corporate partners and understand their needs as we all have similar challenges” concluded Rosemary Goater when wrapping up the morning event.