By Jonathan S. Reiskin, Associate News Editor
This story appears in the Oct. 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
GRAPEVINE, Texas — Successful recruiters must communicate with truck-driver applicants in a fashion consistent with his or her preferred technology method, which is often different based on age.
The three generations that make up the nation’s current workforce have distinct styles of communication, said Lori Furnell, a multimedia sales executive with ACS Advertising, Brentwood, Tenn.
Her Oct. 17 presentation here was part of the Management Conference & Exhibition of American Trucking Associations.
The three generations are baby boomers, now 46-65; Generation X, 35-46; and Generation Y, 18-34. Approaching boomers and their Gen Y children in the same way will not work, Furnell said.
“The problem is that current recruiting departments were created by boomers to hire boomers,” Furnell said. Because that generation is approaching retirement, personnel strategies must change, she said.
Differences are most pronounced between boomers and Generation Y, but members of Generation X are now at a very desirable age, so they cannot be ignored either, Furnell added.
Baby boomers generally like to talk in person or by telephone, which could be a cellphone, but not necessarily a smart phone. They like e-mail and use computers, but that might be a desktop model, she said.
They have often looked for jobs in print publications, and listen to the radio. While they use the Internet, the frequency might not be daily, Furnell said.
Generation X members are likely to be individualistic and entrepreneurial, Furnell said. They like flexibility and generally do not like formal meetings.
She said they do a lot of Internet research, so pay-per-click ads on search engines on banner ads on websites are a better way to reach them than print advertisements.
If looking for employees of this age or younger, Furnell said having a website is not enough, it must be one that is readily compatible with a smart phone. Applications for mobile devices, apps, are a good tool for retaining existing employees, she said, but a smaller website for smart phone is a better way to recruit new employees.
Generation X also likes e-mail, she said.
The members of Generation Y who are in the early stages of their careers “depend on technology for everything. They can’t function without their phones,” Furnell said, offering her daughter as an example.
“If you took her phone she would curl up in a fetal position,” she joked.
This group would rather text or use Facebook and other social media than talk.
“They like all forms of technology. They read blogs and cellphones that aren’t smart phones are a waste to them,” Furnell said. Gen Y members play games on phones, prefer online training rather than face-to-face encounters and know that a pound sign, #, is really a hashtag on Twitter.
Generation Y requires immediate feedback, so a deliberative process will not appeal to them. Respond quickly to keep their interest, she urged.
For general recommendations, Furnell said a company can keep paper forms, but the complete catalog of them also must be available online to satisfy younger applicants.
She also said it is important to avoid accusations of spamming with e-mail, so she recommended that all recruiting e-mail provide the chance to unsubscribe from further communication.
