The New Generation Gap

“I would say the number one factor people are looking for is work-life balance,” Back says. “No doubt, money is an important factor, and the dollars have definitely been driven up in recent years. But it’s the combination, led by the environmental issues.”

Sooner than later, next-generation managers and executives will probably realize they can have their so-called cake and eat it too, offers Karen Oman, president of Certes Financial Pros, a placement firm in St. Louis Park. “In a shortage, employees are in control,” she says. “As soon as they understand they can move anywhere they want, the good employers will be rewarded and the bad employers will be gone. Because employees will go where it’s good.”

Competing for Talent

Herein lies a potentially problematic area in which many companies—especially large, publicly traded firms—will struggle to compete for young talent, according to Beard. Here’s why: “In the public companies today, their day-to-day operations revolve around one thing and one thing only—creating shareholder value,” he says. “And while that’s important, what has happened in many public companies is they’ve lost sight of what makes them special in the first place. They’ve lost track of what they need to do to retain their good employees, and what’s in the best interests of the employees and the company, instead of what they need to do to appease ‘the street.’”

Consequently, there is increasingly a philosophical disconnect between a company’s CEO, about 80 percent of whose compensation may be tied into company stock, and the employee base, whose total compensation typically is composed of base salary plus incentives. “So while the CEO, in many cases, feels pressure to increase shareholder value, that might not necessarily be in the best interests of everyone else,” Beard notes.

So what’s a labor-starved employer to do? Start by rediscovering or recreating your company’s story, Beard advises. You could sell your company on your progressive, flexible work environment, or the fact that your firm has enjoyed two dozen consecutive quarters of increased earnings per share and record sales. “There are many different ways to identify why you’re an attractive company,” he says. “But when the courting process starts, you can’t be complacent and assume that because you’re a big-name company that people are going to flock to you. If you’re looking to fill a senior leadership role, the people you want to court are being courted by all these other companies, as well. So you have to have your game plan on in terms of how to sell this opportunity—how to sell them on why they want to come work for you.”