5 Employee Personas to Focus Your Recruitment Efforts

The last years have been a wild ride for employers.  Worker mentality has shifted in many fundamental ways, and there is a disconnect between the needs and wants of employees and employers. Being able to identify and respond to what *your* employees need will help you be a more successful employer for your current team and it will give you a way to expand recruitment efforts in more impactful ways. 

In reviewing the “Great Attrition/Great Attraction”, McKinsey’s research team has shown there are five main employee personalities emerging with different needs and motivations. These personas allow you tailor your response more effectively and opens opportunities for groups you may not have considered.

Here are the Five Personas:

The Traditionalists

Persona Summary & Motivations

This group seeks traditional jobs and were unlikely to have left employment during pandemic.  If they did, they would have quickly sought out another traditional job.  These are the dependable type that employers can rely on. They’re motivated by advancement, competitive compensation, amicable colleagues and inspirational leadership. 

Challenges & Opportunities 

The challenges of this group is that there are fewer and fewer of them. They are easier to attract with the tools you’ve been using, they’re easier to keep, however, they’re harder to find which means you may need to dip into other personas to grow your team.

The Do-It-Yourselfers

Persona Summary & Motivations

These are workers who have made changes to start their own businesses, be contractors or gig workers. They tend to be in the 25-45 year old range. They’re motivated by flexibility, meaningful work and compensation.  They are big on purpose and being their own boss. 

Challenges & Opportunities 

The challenge with this group is that they have been working and living by their own standards (some of them have never worked in an office space before), so you’re not just meeting their needs for compensation but will have to meet the more emotional aspects of employee retention like purpose and flexibility.  

For this group, you’re not just up against competitors - worldwide - who want the same talent, but also lifestyle: how do you prove you’re a better boss than someone is to themselves? This is the largest group of available employees, however they require a sincere review of your mission and purpose as a company.

McKinsey has indicated one clear path forward with this group: economy-proof compensation. Pay is important, and as the economy wobbles, there is opportunity for an employer to provide stability and more options than an individual employee can get alone. Trust, however, will have to guide the conversation around return-to-office policies.

“They really value flexibility, meaningful work, and compensation. To get this group back, you’re competing with them, because they’ve created something for themselves that’s paying the bills, that’s providing them a sense of purpose, and gives them all of the flexibility they could ever want, because they’re their own boss. Getting them back means you’ve got a bit of an uphill battle, but it’s also probably the largest group out there.”

The Caregivers

Persona Summary & Motivations

Caregivers are predominantly women aged 18-44. They have children or maybe elderly parents at home and need flexibility for those additional demands. They are motivated in similar ways to the Traditionalist, however, they are limited by things like unreliable childcare, its astronomical cost, and the health of those they care for. They cannot return to work without flexibility and are seeking more balance and a workplace culture that embraces more fun and community.

Challenges & Opportunities 

Millions of women lost or were forced to quick their jobs during the pandemic due to caregiving duties that tend to fall on their shoulders. Most Caregivers who aren’t working would like to be and enjoy the purpose, impact and ability a career provides to advance.  McKinsey also points out that they are motivated by benefits packages and creative solutions - anything that reduces their burden so they don’t have so much on their plates:

“If we want to attract them—and many of these individuals would like to return, it seems—we need to think about how we can truly create flexibility and how we can align the benefit packages we offer to their needs. So you see the increased provision of childcare, of on-site childcare, of benefits like that.

“One of the other benefits I really liked when I spoke with a company recently was thinking about how they could offer housecleaning or landscaping benefits. And their thought was, ‘You know what? A lot of people would enjoy these benefits.’ “

The Idealists

Persona Summary & Motivations

This group tends to be younger, the 18-24 year old range.  They are in a very different space in terms of responsibilities:  families, mortgages, car payments - these aren’t concerns for most of them. They are motivated by flexibility so they can keep exploring their interests and passions outside of work. Balance is vitally important and they also really want to develop and grow.  Purpose is also a key factor for this group. 

Challenges & Opportunities 

This group has a relationship with technology that has been more infused in their lives than any previous generation.  They are interested in making an impact, they want to advance at work, and they want a career path. But it  needs to be meaningful work, and they require flexibility to pursue interests and passions.  This group has also been significantly impacted socially by the pandemic.

The Idealists can help your organization grow and expand in new and innovative ways, however, they also need support and guidance from more experienced perspectives.  

The Relaxers

Persona Summary & Motivations

These are the workers who have retired or semi-retired. They aren’t as motivated by pay as they are likely set financially.  However, this group is still interested in contributing to their legacy or the opportunity to make a bigger impact. Again, flexibility is a huge factor in their coming back to work, as is relationships and fun.

Challenges & Opportunities 

Finding work that engages them will be key.  Contract positions with clear opportunities to build a legacy will be what keep them engaged. They may even be interested in providing coaching or mentoring for younger generations.

“We call them the ‘Gronks’ because of what happened with Rob Gronkowski, the American football player. He retired. His best friend, Tom Brady, called him and said, “Hey, you said you were retired. I was thinking about it too. But do you want to come back and win a Super Bowl?” And he came back to play. It was a short-term contract. He did a year-to-year approach. He got to work with his best friend, and he had the opportunity to do something big.”

These personas give employers another way to understand employee types and main motivations.  It provides a useful framework to focus efforts and spending for retention and recruitment. Thinking of employees in terms of personas helps employers understand the hurdles that are stopping workers them from coming back to work, or staying employed and allows a more creative and varied response.

If you’d like to chat more about this or discuss ways to provide solutions for your team, set up a Discovery Call with Jill at a time that is convenient for you:

Podcast & script:

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/to-slow-down-attrition-pay-closer-attention-to-what-workers-really-need