We’ve Fallen and We Can’t Get Up!

You’ve noticed that most of the talent that you rely on to run your business are sporting reading glasses and gray hair. If you don’t focus your recruitment on applicants that are newer to the workforce, you’ll soon experience a mass exodus of talent and the tacit knowledge that accompanies each position. What if your recruitment efforts fall flat? This is what happened to Troy, who emailed me after a keynote presentation in Dallas on recruiting and retaining talent.

Troy is the director of a small town ambulance service that relies on volunteers for staffing its evening shifts. While he has a number of long-timers who serve faithfully, his attempts to recruit young people have fallen completely flat. Even the ones who show interest walk away when they find out that the initial training is 120 hours long and costs $300 for books and equipment. Troy can’t survive forever on his old faithfuls. What should he do to better attract and retain young volunteers?

Let’s begin with recruiting. Today’s young people have not come of age with the same sense of local pride and duty being drilled into them as in previous times. With all the distractions around them, they are naturally more likely to wonder, “What’s in it for me?” when considering any endeavor. One of the best ways for Troy to deal with this is to create an image that the ambulance service is a cool place to be. The best way to do this is through the testimonials of other young people. This is best and most easily accomplished by interviewing young people who are already serving with the organization. If none exist, then interviews can be conducted at ambulance services in the surrounding communities.

Another crucial recruiting tactic is to create a simple website to showcase testimonials, or add a page to an existing website. Young people turn to the web for information before they turn anywhere else. Results won’t come overnight, but one can’t afford not to be there. If a website has not yet been created, start by making the domain name something creative and memorable. Then add some simple text about what’s involved, the requirements, and a simple form to complete.

Another strategy is to record the testimonials from people who have benefited from the service and create a slogan to use for a branded campaign. Following up with those who show interest needs to be timely and preferably done by someone who is the same age as those who are being recruited. At this point, it is more important to establish a relationship with those interested than get into all the details that a long-timer is more likely to provide. New recruits could be easily scared away by providing too much information on first contact. Of course, visiting schools, talking with local leaders, and making announcements at public events will buttress Internet recruitment efforts.

The other consideration is training and cost. The restrictions and requirements around training can conflict with the natural impatience that seems to have been bred into the emerging generations. Since most of this training is both detailed and structured, it is critical that instructors take time to get young learners invested in the training. Simply saying “This is what’s required, so deal with it” will not be tolerated.

Then there is delivery. The number one no-no in any classroom today is the talking head. This means instructors will need to be more engaging and proactive in their delivery. Rather than focusing strictly on content knowledge when training trainers, for instance, focus ondelivery, developing activities and fostering interaction. Adults learn best when they are doing and discussing.

While the number of required training hours cannot be reduced, the training itself can become more engaging. Even something as simple as recording some of the training on video and playing it during training sessions will make a difference. Young people are so attuned to video clips these days, so this practice will make it seem more acceptable to them. Besides, it will discourage live trainers from rambling and telling irrelevant stories.

These efforts don’t have to cost a fortune. The “price of admission” for both websites, electronics, and the services to create these efforts can be had for a small fraction of what was necessary even five years ago. Troy should team up with the ambulance services in other local communities who may be facing the same challenge.