How to land top millennial clinical candidates
Whether you love them, loathe them, or are indifferent to generational stereotypes, in 2016 millennials became the largest generation in the workforce.
Hopefully, you are already an expert at deciphering potential future leaders through your interview process, but in this competitive market, top millennial talent always has competing offers. Let’s take a look at how this generation makes decisions to give you a leg up in landing your top choice.
Generational differences are heavily studied in commercial strategy and marketing. An article by Marc Iskowitz of MM&M shares:
"When it comes to millennials, patient-centricity pretty much equals authenticity, said John Vieira, executive director, global brand strategy at Daiichi Sankyo. “One of the discerning characteristics of this audience versus others is they can probably smell inauthenticity real fast,” he said. “And so the challenge — if you really want to go full-on with the millennial group — is, ‘How authentic are you prepared to be?’”
This is the first, and the most valuable lesson you need to embody to land future leaders.
Authentic leadership is defined as a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced information processing, and relational transparency. Easy, right?
Luckily we can count on Brene Brown to break it down; “Choosing authenticity means cultivating the courage to be imperfect, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable; exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of strength and struggle; and nurturing the connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we believe that we are enough.”
So if you want to compete for the top millennial minds in clinical research, try reading this quote before you step into an interview. Take a deep breath and allow yourself a moment to recognize your own humanity, strength, and vulnerability, because the most authentic connection the millennial feels to a potential future mentor will be the driving factor in her career decisions.
And let’s be real, to be authentic you shouldn’t be trying too hard.
Attempting to develop authentic leaders may only result in leaders who are trained to superficially exhibit authentic leadership behaviors. So be prepared to call out your peers as well.
All this effort adds value in the long run. When working under a leader who demonstrates self-awareness and moral perspective, employees are more likely to share information and express their true thoughts and feelings. These employees then report higher level or autonomy and self-efficacy and are more likely to “go the extra mile. There is also empirical evidence that authentic leadership will increase subordinates’ proactive behavior decreasing workplace deviance behavior.
So not only do you get to land them but if you keep up your authentic leadership, you’ll retain them and empower them to flourish.
Circling back to Daiichi Sankyo’s brand strategy to capture millennial attention, Vieira hits home our second point: patient centricity.
Has your company and department taken tangible steps to consider patient experience when designing your trials? If so, don’t lob out a general statement that your company cares about patients, speak with (authentic) enthusiasm about meaningful changes your department has made and how your candidate's role will contribute to this trajectory.
If not, don’t lie; they’ll sniff you out a mile away. Since authenticity is #1, this in your opportunity to be vulnerable with your candidates during the interview. Let them know the frustrations you’ve had in creating more patient-centric trials and how you plan to present and implement future changes. You’ll get points for keeping the patient journey front of mind and earn bonus authenticity points for sharing what can be perceived as a company or personal weakness.
The final factor you can’t ignore is how millennials like to work. The rise of flexible work schedules, communication technologies, and the competitive landscape has created a perfect storm for this group to demand employers to step outside the traditional workweek agreement.
Candidates are looking to work for companies that reinforce their values, and "flexible schedules and work-from-home options" are increasingly a high priority for millennial employees in comparison to previous generations, according to Gallup.
If the senior leadership at your company is old school and demands 5-days a week on-site work, you need to think outside the box. Can you negotiate gym memberships or even an on-site gym? How can your company help with childcare or transportation? Or maybe you could convince your executives to at least budge a little, offering ‘summer hours’ where employees can work from home on Fridays, or wrap on Fridays by lunchtime.
Millennials are looking for companies and leaders who put their money where their mouth is, meaning your mission-driven statements must also impact your employees.
Want more advice on how to attract and land the best millennials to your clinical teams? Let’s chat.