1. Attracting, retaining
and managing top
talent across the
generations
www.badenochandclark.com

2. Attracting, retaining and managing top talent across the generations
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When you work with Badenoch & Clark, you can expect
to benefit from the specialist approach of a boutique
business, with the reach of a global brand.
That’s because, with the backing of parent company
Adecco Group, we’re supported by a wider infrastructure
that extends to all specialisms, and covers every corner
of the globe; giving us the freedom of multi- disciplinary
representation, whilst allowing us to exercise the
expertise, speed and instinct of a niche agency.
About Badenoch and Clark
What’s more, we tailor our service to your business based
on a thorough understanding of your needs and company
culture. We invest our time in getting to know you, and
building relationships that last beyond a successful
placement.
You can also be confident that when you trust your
staffing needs to Badenoch & Clark, you’ll only ever work
with industry experts. Extensively trained in best practice
recruitment, our consultants specialise in their own
vertical markets; so you benefit from advanced candidate
attraction and management techniques, targeted thought
leadership, and access to specialist talent networks
within your chosen field.
© 2013 Badenoch & Clark. All rights reserved. The information contained in this publication is intended for general purposes or guidance only. It does not purport to
constitute professional advice. Badenoch & Clark accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.

3. Attracting, retaining and managing top talent across the generations
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Attracting, retaining and
managing top talent
The modern day business landscape is unique in its appearance.
Senior leaders and their employees are faced with a complex
environment with a backdrop of almost unprecedented
technological change, challenging economic conditions and
ever increasing sources of competition. There is no doubt that
finding and keeping the right people, skills and capabilities is
crucial to achieving business agility and ultimately sustainable
competitive advantage.
Due to the phasing out of the UK’s default retirement age,
organisations and their employees can face a reality that
includes five generations within the modern workplace,
including a generation of graduates and young people,
many of whom are demotivated by their lack of opportunities.
Business leaders must answer the question as to whether the
traditional business models, cultures and working methods
that are so familiar to the leaders of today are ready and able to
transform for the modern employee. Put another way, how do
employers attract, harness and retain the native skills, methods
and mindsets of each generation to effectively contribute to this
transformation?
After hosting events across the UK with a range of expert
panel members and senior leaders, plus research of over 1,000
professionals, we have developed this guide. It is designed to
provide senior leaders, line managers and HR professionals with
practical advice for attracting, retaining and managing multiple
generations in the workplace.
Business leaders must answer
the question as to whether the
traditional business models, cultures
and working methods that are so
familiar to the leaders of today are
ready and able to transform for the
modern employee.

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Feedback from leading organisations highlight that
employers are struggling to respond to the realities of a
multigenerational workplace and in some cases, believe
that there is no longer a one size fits all when it comes to
attracting, retaining and engaging top talent across the
generations.
Although our research of over 1,000 professionals
supports that Gen Y do have higher expectations and are
more likely to leave a role if they aren’t satisfied, when it
comes to attraction and retention the importance of key
factors highlighted in this document were similar across
the generations.
Top tips
Communication methods, working environment,
management styles, organisational reputation,
clear progression and training & development are all
necessities for attracting and retaining top talent, but
they must be tailored to the needs of each employee
to really engage them.
These top tips have been developed to provide practical
advice on attracting retaining and managing multiple
generations in the workplace.
Management styles
Organisational reputation Clear progression Training & development
Communication methods Working environment
All are necessities for attracting and retaining top talent, but they must be tailored to the needs of each
employee to really engage them.

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Induction & onboarding
First impressions count - over 85% of employees
expect a formal induction when starting a new job
and 89% believe an induction is a good indicator of
what to expect from their employer.
• Invest time in developing a structured induction and
onboarding programme, but consider the different generations
in your audience.
• Create an induction experience rather than a presentation
- long gone are the days when employees expect to just turn
up and listen. Use interactive sessions to engage them in
your company.
• Arrange a pre-start meeting, lunch or a social outing for a
chance to meet colleagues.
• Use creative media - send facebook links and an introduction
video before a new employee’s first day.
• Have a ‘graduation’ process when induction is completed
- sharing experiences as part of an engagement and learning
process is key for Gen Y.
• Throughout the onboarding process use the best leaders as
talent scouts, encourage them to identify top talent.
Be conscious of who you choose though... are they the right
leader for the employees you are trying to connect with?
Invest time in developing a
structured induction and
onboarding programme,
professionals have left a role as
a result of a poor induction.

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Communication methods
Communication methods need to appeal to all
generations in the workforce. Vary your methods
regularly so that you reach a wide range of people,
as one type of communication per message may not
be enough.
• Employees are less likely to read emails - try using other
channels for delivering internal messages such as Facebook,
twitter, and company intranet/website.
• Hold quarterly networking meetings for staff to attend and
mingle with senior figures, including the CEO.
• Set up committees and groups who are active in the business
and that new joiners can get involved with.
• Set up ‘Fresh Perspective’ meetings for junior staff to
brainstorm ideas and give feedback.
• Approach your workforce as internal customers – segment
each generation as they have different needs, understand your
employees’ working styles and communication preferences.
Give them a choice of delivery.
• Consider replacing annual reviews with real time feedback
from peers and management.
Set up “Fresh Perspective”
meetings for junior staff
to brainstorm ideas and
give feedback.

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Career progression
Just under a third of Gen Y would leave a role
without a clear long-term career path. Gen Y has a
reputation for moving around more, but is it because
organisations aren’t providing a clear career path
for them? Opportunities for development are crucial
across all generations, however the speed at which
each generation expects to progress differs (Gen X
& Y expect significantly faster progression than
Baby Boomers).
• Ensure you introduce career development early enough to
employees.
• Understand each individual and their aspirations and check
that your career paths allow individuals to progress at the
correct pace for them.
• If there are no direct line promotion opportunities, perhaps
they can progress elsewhere. Look across the organisation to
find development opportunities and projects.
• Create movement through cross-department talent pools - you
will need a strong talent acquisition pipeline to facilitate this
and avoid resistance from team managers.
• Focus on skillset and give employees accountability and
exposure through projects and recognition - let them become
a hero or heroine.
• Set up mentoring opportunities and expose new employees
to a wide range of people, set up work groups and share
challenges. Make them feel like future leaders and valued
employees.
Focus on skillset and give
employees accountability and
exposure through projects and
recognition – let them become a
hero or heroine.

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Training & development
Over a quarter of Gen Y would not accept a job
without training and personal development
opportunities, compared to nearer one fifth of
Baby Boomers. Nearly a third of Gen Y and nearly a
quarter of Baby Boomers will leave a role without it.
Gen Y is about potential not experience - so how can
we create opportunities for different generations to
help develop each other?
• Identify what skills are crucial to your organisation’s core
competencies and provide training and development
opportunities in these areas.
• Facilitating knowledge sharing and opportunities to
experience new things across the generations is a simple way
of providing two way learning between employees, mutual
respect and understanding.
• Choosing projects for employees based on their development
needs and being explicit about how new projects will
contribute to personal development will demonstrate
investment in your workforce.
• Ensure you are providing the right type of learning & development
styles (not just the traditional workshop or classroom method).
Consider e-learning, research and pre course work.
• Set up taskforces in local offices to address feedback from
employee surveys; these workgroups can be responsible for
affecting change in many aspects of the business for example
career management or team collaboration.
•Try reverse mentoring - Can your senior leaders learn from your
new recruits?
Over a quarter of Gen Y would
not accept a job without training
and personal development
opportunities, compared to
nearer one fifth of Baby Boomers.

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Working environment
Gen Y in particular expressed the desire to be
themselves in and out of work, whilst one tenth of
Baby Boomers would leave a role without flexible
working. Changes in modern lifestyles have resulted
in a disconnect between the traditional working
environment and latest attitudes and working styles.
What can organisations do to address this?
• Challenge the status quo - use pilots and trials to reduce
resistance to new ideas and contribute to culture change.
Lose tradition in the ‘way we work’.
• Flexible working is key - blurred personal and professional
boundaries are becoming the norm. Give employees flexibility,
freedom and trust to deliver. Is your company ready to change,
both culturally and technologically?
• Gen X and Y will be the first that have to look after parents
and children, support employees to achieve home/work
life balance. e.g. give a maximum time per day or week for
personal internet/social media access - this will reduce stress
if employees work late or at home.
• Create a trust culture - Don’t treat employees as if they will
abuse trust and rather than setting policies on what not to
do, start with organisational values and create expectations.
Younger generations want to own policies not be governed by
rules, so if you need rules, make it fun.
Flexible working is key. Is your
company ready to change, both
culturally and technologically?

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Leadership &
management styles
When it comes to staying in a job, a massive 50%
of Baby Boomers would leave a role if they had a
bad relationship with their direct line manager,
compared to one third of Gen Y. Senior leaders and
middle managers play an important role in managing
multiple generations - what strategies have you
deployed to up-skill this group to rise to this
challenge? Are your leaders nimble & agile enough
to manage different generations?
• Don’t allow the confidence exhibited by Gen Y to be
misconstrued as arrogance - instead find ways to harness and
utilise that confidence. Become coaches, give feedback in the
moment, empower and provide independence, freedom and
mentoring.
• Be accessible - traditional middle management feel the need to
shelter Gen Y and protect the executive team, but they need to
allow transparency and accessibility.
• Review the interview process - traditionally interviews were
interviewer focused with an expectation that all applicants
were eager and willing to take the job upon offer. Now,
especially for Gen X & Y, it is both interviewer and interviewee
evaluating each other.
• Commitment starts from the top – it is crucial to ensure key
performance indicators around employee engagement are
measured, with engagement linked to bonuses.
• Acknowledge that there isn’t one right way. This requires an
appetite for senior leaders to challenge their own mindsets,
the culture, methods and working styles of the business to
better accommodate them.
Embrace the confidence of Generation Y!
Ensure leaders involved genuinely care
Listen & don’t get defensive
Be transparent & follow up on things
Understand that Generation Y have
the same basic needs

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Find us on:
Organisational
reputation
Although Baby Boomers are more demanding in this
area than Gen Y, reputation is a key factor across the
generations when deciding whether to apply for a
role. Environmental consciousness and community
spirit are a higher priority for Gen Y with around
one tenth who would not apply for a role if their
employer was not actively pursuing the same causes
as their prospective candidate.
• Support personal and corporate CSR - Create a method for
employees to run their own initiatives and generate ideas
for company-wide participation. Take the opportunity to link
activity to corporate reputation and promote through your
communication channels.
• Does your company have the right employee value
proposition? Ensure job descriptions and all communications
throughout the recruitment process promote this. Ensure your
leaders send the right message to prospective candidates at
interview.
• Create roles for employees such as ‘community ambassadors’
who can help you attract talent and build a positive reputation
within the community.
• Run open days and invite school children in to the business to
learn about careers. Select ambassadors to present in local
schools on business and career opportunities.
• Fund university courses; including running the syllabus,
providing lecturers and employing graduates of the course.
• Remember, reflecting society (and generations) in front of
clients is good for business.
Support personal and corporate
CSR – Create a method for
employees to run their own
initiatives and generate ideas for
company-wide participation.

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Our research shows that communication methods,
working environment, management styles, organisational
reputation, clear progression and training & development
are all necessities for attracting and retaining top
talent, but they must be tailored to the needs of each
employee to really engage them as individuals and across
generations.
The important thing for leaders of today, is to recognise
the need to adapt - or risk losing out on the talent
pools created by the newest generation of employees.
A willingness to challenge the status quo and
acknowledging that there isn’t one right way is key.
To conclude...
This requires an appetite to adapt the culture, methods
and working styles of your organisation to better
accommodate the individual needs of all employees.
Utilise both old and new methods of engagement to retain
and attract your top talent. Ensure that you have our top
tips in place as a starting point and consider new tools
that will work for your organisation.
Be open to new ideas and vary your methods of
communication regularly to ensure you capture the widest
possible audience. Most importantly don’t stop evolving.