Laurie Chamberlin, Head of Recruitment Solutions, North America at LHH, an integrated talent solutions provider.
getty
Gen-Z is often maligned by employers for not embracing traditional corporate values and lacking many of the foundational workplace experiences of older generations. According to recent research "31% of hiring managers say they avoid hiring Gen Zers" altogether—a tremendous missed opportunity for employers across the country.
With increasing labor shortages and Gen-Z expected to surpass Boomers in the workforce this year, companies can't afford to shut out this rapidly growing pool of candidates. What’s more, Gen-Zers have already shown themselves to be very adaptable and impact-driven, and they possess immense technological know-how. These are all valuable skills in the ever-changing world of work. To fill continuous openings and build stronger businesses for the future, hiring teams need to learn how to recruit and retain Gen-Z workers now more than ever.
Luckily, innovative artificial intelligence tools can jumpstart companies that are transitioning their approach to recruitment. If you're struggling to connect with Gen-Z, thoughtfully utilizing AI throughout the application process can help overcome generational bias and disadvantages faced by younger candidates. Here are three easy strategies that can help you create the most competitive teams possible across your entire workforce.
1. Leverage AI to ensure you aren't turning off Gen-Z candidates.
To bring Gen-Z into your organization, you must attract these candidates to your job listings in the first place. AI can help you construct job descriptions that appeal specifically to younger pools of candidates, highlighting the details most important to them. For instance, 87% of Gen-Z professionals reported they'd leave their jobs to work for a more value-aligned organization, and 74% said they prioritize opportunities to learn new skills. So you can leverage AI to ensure job listings reflect your company ethos and focus on professional development opportunities.
Furthermore, AI can be utilized to craft clear, precise job postings that accurately reflect a role's duties and required qualifications. It can also help fill jobs in harder-to-hire-for sectors, like retail and hospitality, by scanning career platforms to ensure listings are advertised to the most targeted candidates. This helps you receive higher-quality candidates across the board.
2. Leverage AI to prioritize candidates’ skills and potential.
Just beginning their careers and likely having spent some college or early professional years remotely due to the pandemic, Gen-Z candidates may lack many of the traditional markers of success that recruiters look for. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t as qualified as those who came before them. In fact, Gen-Z pairs new, valuable skills around technology and creativity with fresh perspectives and ideas that can help your business in the long run.
By utilizing AI-based algorithms in the recruiting process, you can evaluate job seekers based on skills alone and remove the subconscious influence that education or office experience often has. A more skills-based approach to hiring helps even the playing field for younger candidates, allowing them to demonstrate competencies through skills assessments and past projects. This reduces the emphasis you may have put on things like professional references, which many Gen-Zers don't yet have.
Integrating AI into hiring can also be fruitful in the long run for all candidates, especially those looking to pivot into new fields. Algorithms can quickly identify when an applicant has transferable skills, even if they lack relevant experience or traditional markers of success. By lowering barriers to entry for candidates, this approach can serve as an asset during widespread talent shortages because it opens up roles to a wider pool of candidates to plug existing skills gaps.
3. Use AI automation so you can spend more time on what matters.
Research shows that "current generative AI and other technologies have the potential to automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time today." For recruiters and hiring managers, this could expedite tedious administrative tasks like sourcing candidates and résumé scans. It would then free up more time and energy to meaningfully engage with applicants and truly get to know and understand candidates on a personal level. When those leading and participating in the hiring process are better equipped to look beyond generational differences and tropes, they're more likely to consider Gen-Z candidates as more than the lines on their résumé.
What’s more, across all generations, allowing recruiters more time for meaningful conversations with candidates can help assess soft skills that are more difficult to glean from résumés. Despite the rapid rise of AI, things like emotional intelligence and empathy remain critical to successful organizations. With 61% of workers reporting that "human touch is still more influential at work than AI," it’s paramount that companies can determine whether candidates possess these traits along with more role-specific skills.
Talent is increasingly important to the success and growth of a company. As more Gen-Zers enter the workforce, we must embrace this new guard and commit to working with them instead of resisting inevitable change. But we must remember that while AI is immensely powerful, it's still in its relative infancy and can possess dangerous biases. Leveraging machine learning to reach younger generations of workers and across all actions should always be combined with the safeguards of diligent human eyes and oversight.
With this in mind, let’s harness this moment to embrace the next generation of our workforce to build stronger hiring processes together for today and tomorrow.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
