According to this quick blurb from the Pioneer Press – Talkin’ ’bout Y Generation (emphasis mine):

Generation Y is coming of age, and “manage” – as in telling them what to do and how to do it – appears not to be in their vocabulary.

Gen Y was born between 1977 and 1995, and Fortune (June 4) says the 20-somethings really are different. “This is the most high-maintenance work force in history. The good news is they’re also going to be the most high-performing,” the magazine reports.

…

Companies that want to attract the stars of this highly competitive generation must be creative. At JPMorgan, for instance, job candidates can play Fantasy Futures, a virtual trading game in the fantasy football mold. Spotting a Gen Y member isn’t especially difficult, says Fortune. Just look for the boombox earphones, hipster clothes, designer coffee, BlackBerry, iPod, laptop and digital camera.

We have a customer who refers this generation as “wired.”  An apt description.

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Great article at abcnews.com from my friend Bob Rosner titled Working Wounded: Recruiting Top Talent for Your Organization. Recruiting top talent takes an incredible amount of work to be successful. Bob’s article hits on 3 important topics to any hiring process.

DO identify top talent.
DO ask: Why would top talent work for us?
DO showcase your talent.
DON’T abuse top talent.

All are good tips and you can read his description under each topic. I wanted to point out his section under his second point:

Does your company pay a higher salary than the average for your industry and community? Do you let workers control as much of their job as possible? Do you offer great benefits? Do you offer opportunities for personal growth? Do you have a group of managers who know how to reward a great performance? If you could only answer yes to two of the questions above, you have some work to do before you’ll realistically be able to recruit top talent to your organization.

This subtle topic is extremely important in regards to retaining top talent. Just like candidates can masquerade through the interview process, companies can present a less-than-authentic appearance of the culture.

An important point – hiring a superstar will push a company in new ways. We are constantly explaining this fact to our clients. If you have never hired a superstar or if you don’t have any on your present sales team, you are in for a surprise. Superstars, through their successes, strain companies in a good way.

Superstars tend to look for efficiencies in all processes. They desire to sell and move to the next prospect. Any underperforming areas in your internal processes are likely to be discovered by the superstar and pointed out to you for correction.

Companies that have always performed in a certain manner struggle with these issues. At times it appears that these companies want to grow profitable revenue without making internal adjustments to fuel the desired growth.

We always recommend companies make strong hires, but you have to be prepared to handle the new directions that the superstar will take your department and company.

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What is your company doing to accommodate remote employees? That question is becoming more common in each subsequent interview I run with our customers. Sales has always been an “outside-the-walls” position, but now that truth is being taken to new levels. From Managesmarter.com’s Get Competitive, Get Mobile (added emphasis):

The study polled more than 500 executives globally on whether or not their organizations had implemented mobility initiatives and how often those initiatives were being used. The results show that business mobility is now implemented in most companies and executives report that one fifth of their employees are mobile, spending at least one day a week working outside the office.

Reasons behind the mobility trend overwhelmingly point to retention incentives and brand reputation (75 percent). Other benefits of office mobility include:
* Competitive advantage: 36 percent
* Improved collaboration: 27 percent
* The ability to work with multiple partners/suppliers: 12 percent

This is an international poll and business practices in Europe are quite different than here. The results are still notable in that remote offices are a retention incentive for employees. That’s true. 80% of the national sales positions I am working on right now are mobile (home-office based). Salespeople working in the office environment are also looking for mobile accessibility. If you have salespeople covering a specific, local geographic territory, it is often more effective to have them base out of their home instead of the office.

In regards to hiring, the topic of mobility is now discussed in almost every interview. The savvy sales candidates want to know what tools are provided to allow them to spend their time in the field with prospects and customers as opposed to in the office. If this topic as not been addressed at your company, I strongly encourage you to start today.

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We’ve just released a new article regarding a popular topic in this present market – How to Lose Strong Sales Candidates. The job market has definitely shifted to the candidate’s favor since there are more sales positions available than strong salespeople. Companies that want to make the best hires need to avoid 3 important missteps in their sales hiring process.

Please read the article to learn what the 3 missteps are and how to avoid them.

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Welcome back from the long weekend.  Let’s start this day with a strange closing from a cover email:

I possess SELF-ASSURANCE that naturally helps me to form conclusions, make decisions and act

Excellence, not average, is my measure. As a MAXIMIZER I enjoy transforming something strong into something superb.

As an ACTIVATOR I cannot wait to start a task. I am eager for action.

If you€™re interested in talking please email…

If there was any momentum in the cover email, it was stripped away with that last line.  It is a subtle, but salient point – asking for an email to talk is a bit passive for an “ACTIVATOR.”

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