Chamber panel discusses hiring, retaining young workforce

As the next generation of employees balloons into the majority, some businesses are still wrestling with how to attract the new talent.

A Kalispell Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday centered on hiring and retaining new employees in the rapidly-growing technology age. With the growth of a digital-native workforce, moderator and Flathead Job Service consultant Nick Moschetti said employees are still the moving force of any business.

“There’s change happening across the whole gamut, with interviewing, recruiting and retaining,” he said. “People are still our most important asset.”

Moschetti moderated the panel, which included human resource managers Kristen Heck of LC Staffing, Cindy Carpenter of Three Rivers Bank of Montana and Ronda Wakefield of Nomad Global Communication Solutions.

While speakers did note a diverse staff is key to a successful company, the presentation addressed the growing number of millennials entering the workforce as baby boomers cycle out.

Millennials now make up about 38 percent of the current workforce, Heck said. That number will reach about 50 percent in the next four years, and could be around 70 percent by 2025. She said this generation is typically looking for more purposeful work at a company that might direct some resources toward helping the environment or donating to different causes.

To attract more young people, Heck suggested companies should be willing to brag a little about its work toward social causes.

“You’re missing out if you don’t have these things,” she said.

Carpenter said employers should be trying to win over candidates during interviews almost as much as candidates try to win over the employers.

“Interviews will be a two-way street,” she said. “They’re judging you too, so put your best foot forward. There are a lot of openings and not so many candidates.”

Moschetti said there are currently about 800 job openings at the Flathead Job Service. In March there was a record-high 900 jobs available at the job service, up about 200 jobs from the year before.

Wakefield said company culture is one of the secret weapons in retaining new employees. She said Nomad puts the company’s ideas and goals in focus for the candidate by having them speak with other employees and the company chief executive.

Offering a candidate information on the company’s goals will give them a better idea of the job for which they’re applying, she said. This may even lead to candidates self-eliminating if they don’t feel right for the job.

“We have had people say they aren’t sure if it’s the right fit,” she said. “But isn’t that what jobs are all about, fitting the right people with the right careers?”

Focusing again on the incoming millennial workforce, Heck said finding the right fit for different companies means checking several references and conducting two or three interviews with the candidate. She said the top priority for new job candidates is schedule and workforce flexibility. Millennials fear a boring job, she said, and many new employees are looking for more than a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. desk job.

“Their thinking isn’t necessarily wrong; it’s just different,” Heck said. “The sooner you can adapt to that, the sooner you can hire up more talent.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.