Dive Brief:
- Last year, millennials became the largest demographic in the U.S. workforce, a fact that is forcing employers to reconsider their recruiting and retention strategies for younger workers, especially onboarding, according to Talent Management.
- One company doing things right, according to the article, is defense contractor Raytheon. They opt to create a "brag-worthy" impression on every candidate during their hiring experience, an idea that is baked right into Raytheon's recruitment and job offer process.
- Victor Settergren, Raytheon’s missile systems director of global talent development, told Talent Management that any problems a job candidate experiences can cause a ripple effect, mainly because millennials are "highly networked" compared to other generations, meaning their impressions, positive and negative, are likely to hit social media platforms.
Dive Insight:
Raytheon follows a “Top Grading” concept, which means that value derived from sourcing and hiring “A” game candidates (top 10%) justifies any extra effort. So to attract that talent level, the company creates hiring events that excite candidates about the career opportunity and differentiate Raytheon from competitors.
New employee orientations and onboarding are designed as a "defining event," with basic components that include an executive welcome and overview of the business to better integrate new hires into the culture. That also means added onboarding features such as buddies, mentors, and employee interest groups that help new workers quickly gain traction. Raytheon even offers spousal networks to help make the transition more positive for the whole family.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Raytheon's onboarding process is that it can extend as far out as five years into an employee's career – a strong commitment from any employer.
