Once upon a time, back when I was just a bright-eyed baby admissions counselor, I returned from a conference excited about the idea of IM’ing with prospective students.

While it seemed like a no-brainer to me (I had IM’d my way through most of my college years), the concept was met with puzzled looks and not-so-enthusiastic responses.

Years later, IM isn’t much of a hot topic anymore, but the scenario I’ve described does illustrate a common workforce issue we hear about on client campuses (particularly from Millennial counselor-types).  They’re usually very quick to point out their professional frustration and feelings that “no one listens to us.”

These days, there’s lots of attention being paid to marketing to Millennials — see last week’s Recruitment Minute for an example.

But have you considered the benefits of tapping into your own Millennial staffers for ideas on how to engage this much-stereotyped generation?

While I understand that not every good idea is legally legit, fiscally feasible or authentic to your institution, cultivating a culture of creativity in your office can have its major benefits.  Especially when it comes to marketing.

Of course your seasoned opinion on what’s worth pursuing and what should be back-burnered needs to come into play.  While it may be tough to manage egos and ambitions, the idea here is to foster brainstorming and enhance your recruitment efforts — not give everyone a trophy;)

So give your in-house wunderkinds a shot.  Whether your conversations lead to the limited use of an emerging medium or the adoption of comprehensive and brilliant new campaign — I can assure you that you’ll reap the rewards of including them in your process.

Now I’m no Millennial, but this cynical cusper-marketer thinks that’s worth telling Mom and Dad about.

Adrienne

P.S.  Did you know that TargetX offers education and training on managing multiple generations in the workforce? Learn more here.
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