A question that arose from our recent Rising Above session was how to entice young people into our business. That has been a burning topic the entire time I have owned this business – since 1993!

Traditionally as an entertainment business, we didn’t need to use much muscle to hire sellers. There was a line out the door of hungry recent grads who couldn’t wait to get into advertising. As employers, we treated them poorly with little to no training, low compensation plans to hold them for 90 days, and no expenses covered. Those days are long gone.

To attract a new generation of workers, you need to treat them how they want to be treated and probably change how you have done business for years. They have different goals and needs which need to be addressed. They need to be ‘educated’ on why a media career is something they should consider.

Start promoting your company as one where people want to work.

• Share your culture on how people thrive, enjoy work, and give back to the community.
• Provide examples and testimonials from people they can relate to and not the person who is about to retire
• Talk up the new technology. They need to be sold on new tools, new ways of doing business, and how those help a client grow.
• Use social media to paint pictures of your staff – show them having fun; share team-building events; show teamwork.
• Present to them. Don’t attend classes to sell your opportunities but discuss how you use new tools in marketing situations. Sell them on aspects of the job, which include research, positioning, relationship building, etc.
• Be patient. This is not an overnight quick fix.
• Don’t call it sales.