The employees should attract young talent
The employees are the most important asset of the financial companies when it comes to recruitment of future talent. This is the result of a new survey from Academic Work. Slightly more than seven out of ten young academics consider good colleagues as most important factor when selecting a future employer.
If a financial company wants to attract future talent, it must involve and activate its employees. They are the most important asset and the most trustworthy ambassadors that future talent look to when selecting a place of work.
This is the message from Daniel Magnusson, managing director of the recruitment and consultancy company Academic Work, which conducted a survey to determine which employers young academics in Denmark – the so-called Young Professionals – find most attractive. The term “Young Professionals” ranges from young people who are starting a 3-year academic education to academics who completed their education and have up to 5 years’ experience.
Over 70 percent of the young academics in the survey indicated good colleagues and a good work environment as the most important parameters when selecting an employer. Daniel Magnusson therefore encourages the financial sector to focus more on company culture.
“The financial sector must communicate that it is more than just banks, salaries and career development, which is the general perception among the young people we spoke to. Companies must show that they are more than that and that they also offer good colleagues and a good work environment, otherwise they will not attract future talent,” says Daniel Magnusson, managing director of the recruitment and consultancy company Academic Work, to Nyhedsbrevet Finans.
Values young people deem most important with an employer
1. Good colleagues and a good work environment
2. Interesting tasks
3. Salary and benefits
4. Good managers and good leadership
5. Location of the workplace
6. Career and development opportunities
7. Flexibility and work-life balance
8. Job security
9. Reflects personal values
10. Equal opportunity, diversity and sustainability
Source: Young Professionals Attraction Index.
Young people want meaningful work
He believes that the banks must brand themselves better towards the new generation and to tap into the needs of the young people. According to Daniel Magnusson, the young generation is very knowledgeable, critical and holistically-oriented, and this affects the decisions they make, including the decision concerning their choice of employer.
"The new generation is more interested in soft values – in a good work culture, a good manager and good leadership, equal opportunity and sustainability. They are concerned with bank’s values and the purpose of the work. They want meaning in their work, and they would prefer it to be fun. Salary and career development are still important, but the other factors are also relevant today,” says Daniel Magnusson.
According to the director, young people also have other expectations and requirements towards their employers. They live in a time where they are constantly on the move and constantly receive feedback from social media, among other things. The financial companies must therefore prepare themselves to provide young people with more feedback on their work and, not least of all, on their career development, explains the director.
“Young people are under a lot of pressure from social media, where they constantly compare themselves with others, also with respect to their careers. It is therefore important that the financial companies clarify the career development associated with their title and where they are heading. Many young people believe that they know everything after six months on the job and want to move on,” says Daniel Magnusson.