Why generation-based recruiting makes no sense

1. different generations, too much in common

From baby boomers to Generation Z: The concept of generations helps us understand certain age groups. So it's no wonder that Sinus Milieus and Co. are irreplaceable for many companies. As a result, companies are investing a lot of budget in campaigns that are specifically designed to appeal to Generation Z. A strategy that is generic, but not very effective. Why? Because generations have too much in common. That's the conclusion of a 2012 meta-analysis by Costanza and colleagues, for which the authors analyzed work-related thinking and behavior of different generations based on more than 19,000 data sets. The comparison of parameters on job satisfaction, company affiliation and willingness to change showed that the differences between generations are too small to derive strategies for successful recruiting. This is also the conclusion of a representative cohort study from 2018, for which Martin Schröder compared 70,000 data items that provide information about the life goals of people from different generations. In the survey, the test persons were all of the same age. According to Schröder, the different attitudes of people cannot be traced back to their time of birth.

2. experience counts more than age

Even if generation-based target groups are useful for initial classification: There is a lack of significant differences for strategic decisions. This is true at least if one focuses exclusively on age. The situation is different with life and work experience. It depends less on the year of birth and more on the social environment, the educational background and the general experience of people. This is where the data-based Candidate Persona comes in, taking all aspects of life into account: From educational background, to interests, to family environment. In short: data-based candidate personas close knowledge gaps by providing answers to open questions. In contrast to generation-based models, which leave much to chance, data-based candidate personas provide a scientifically sound basis for successful recruiting strategies.

3. stereotypes prevent diversity

Recent research also shows that differentiating values, attitudes and behaviors based on distinct birth cohorts makes little sense. For example, in a 2021 article, Parry and Urwin conclude that recruiters should refrain from developing strategies based on generational concepts, as this promotes stereotypes. (S. 864). If a company bases its applicant and personnel management solely on generations, individuals take a back seat to stereotypes. For example, recruiting campaigns take into account the supposedly liberal Generation Z, but ignore the fact that potential desired candidates tend to come from a conservative background. Also important: Those who focus exclusively on stereotypes make inclusion and diversity in companies more difficult. This is a serious disadvantage, as a diverse and inclusive corporate culture has been proven to lead to higher profitability and value creation. data-driven personas addresses this by putting individuals before stereotypes. The prerequisite for establishing diverse teams in the long term.

4. it depends on the department

Another disadvantage of generation-based recruiting is that while it takes into account the age and possible views of candidates, it neglects the specialist area. And it is precisely this area that is crucial when it comes to recruiting. The world of work is changing more than ever: the World Economic Forum predicted that 65% of the jobs people will be doing in 2025 did not exist in 2015. In the world of work, this is making itself felt, for example, through automated work processes, new job profiles and the increasing specialization of the workforce. One example of this is the social media industry. Started as communication channels to make and keep contacts, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Co. are now a billion-dollar industry. Whereas social media managers were once solely responsible for expanding the company's presence, social media is now a separate department made up of managers for the respective platforms, photographers, video editors, and ad and community managers.

5. personas are agile

People are different and they are constantly changing. For this reason, successful recruiting requires that target groups be regularly checked for changes. Although there are also testing mechanisms for generation-based models, these are primarily effective in the event of drastic changes. Fine-tuning, for example with regard to media usage behavior, interests based on current trends, or new skills, is more difficult to map using these models. Not so with a data-based persona from the Persona Institute: Your own web analytics data, CRM data, social media metrics and survey evaluations form the basis of the data-based Candidate Persona. The Persona Institute evaluates these and supplements these findings from a dataset with more than one million interviews based on scientifically standardized questionnaires. Added to this is a database with more than 1 million statistics on more than 70,000 topics. This data is representative of more than 12 countries, 1,000 markets and industries and is updated four times a year. This enables your recruiting to respond to changes at short notice - fully automatically and without additional research.