The days are getting
longer, the breeze is getting warmer, and the everywhere you turn there are
graduation caps flying through the air. It’s hard not to smile at the
ambitious, enthusiastic, I-can-now-take-on-the-world look of the shiny new
graduates with those precious pieces of paper clutched in their hands. For
those graduating high school, the recession has severely shaped their frame of
mind and ambitions – with nearly 69% of graduates planning to attend college (60%
at four-year universities, 9% at community colleges or technical programs)1,
with financial security in mind. Meanwhile, the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) projects 1,781,000 students at the bachelor's degree level
will graduate as the college Class of 2012. The NCES national employer survey results
indicated that employers will be looking to hire about 19.7% of this year’s
grads, with the median salary currently at $42,569.
For those employers
looking ahead at the impending talent crisis, a great option, if available, is
to set up a job shadowing program with local high schools, technical schools,
and maybe even four-year colleges. Not only is this a great way to introduce
yourself as an employer, but it will help to guide future employees into fields
that they had maybe never considered, and provide a realistic job preview,
versus what they may envision due to media, school, and other sources. Creating a robust internship is also crucial - read last month's post (http://inspirationalhumanresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/very-very-intern-esting.html) for more on that!
For those employees who
currently work while going to school, graduation can take on a whole new
meaning; new job potential in terms of growth, meeting employer expectations
for your current role, or perhaps a pay increase for your new skillset. HR
departments will need to set this expectation early on with employees and
remain consistent; typically policies that reward employees for improving their
education with additional pay and job responsibilities see less turnover and
increased company loyalty, however, whether or not your organization paid for
the additional education, you should only reward employees in this manner for
schooling related to their current/future roles, or potential roles within your
company. For those that make it a habit to not do anything for employees upon graduation, don't be surprised when your newly minted graduates leave at their first opportunity. If you do pay for tuition, and don't plan to reward the employee upon graduation, make sure you have a clause in your policy for payback or that they must work for you for a certain period of time (but that the policy does not change the employee-at-will relationship!).
For those companies’
looking to attract this year’s grads, a new Towers Watson survey that was just
published shows that the most important job factors for attracting younger
employees is as follows:
1.) Job security
2.) Base Pay
3.) Health Care Benefits
4.) Vacation / PTO
5.) Reputable Workplace
6.) Commute
7.) Career Development
8.) Retirement Benefits.
Why is this
earthshattering you say? Not only is “Base Pay” not first on their minds (which
wouldn’t be a first, but is still uncommon) but “Job Security” is first –
something clearly affected by the recession. Also, it’s the first time we’ve ever
seen “Retirement Benefits” enter into the top ten. This is a clear indicator
for employers to review the way they position their offers to new grads, and
need to start ‘selling’ what they offer in terms of security and retirement as
part of the whole package – usually something that is either glossed over or
unaddressed entirely.
On a completely different
note, for those employees who are parents of the new grad, this will also come
as a busy, albeit stressful time of year. Tuition payments are at an all-time
high, with public universities seeing increases around 110% since 2000. A great out-of-the-box benefit that many
companies (that can afford to do so) do is to set up a scholarship fund for employee’s
family members. Another option is to set up an internship program or
summer work program for employee family members who are currently in school,
which will not only help teach them job skills and responsibility, but also
off set some of the schooling costs.When deployed correctly, these types of solutions can greatly affect the loyalty and moral of your workforce.
Until next time, be
inspirational!
1 United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011 report
