Tod Maffin—recruiting the “Facebook generation

VANCOUVER—Google knows how to reach the “Facebook generation” of 18 to 32-year-olds. They have a simple “M” that is their logo for Gmail, and they put an ad on YouTube asking people to videotape themselves passing the M from the right side of the screen to the left. Then they used the responses to create an entertaining ad on YouTube. It wasn’t a recruiting ad—it didn’t even mention Google or Gmail—but it generated 6,000 job applications on YouTube in one month.

Social media maven Tod Maffin gave this example of how to enlist the Facebook generation, when he addressed a crowd of hoteliers, restaurateurs and publicans at the recent BC Hospitality Industry Conference held at The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver.
 
“This generation is interviewing you. They know they’re in charge,” said Maffin.  “They’re incredibly media savvy—they watch three and a half hours of TV a day. They are very keenly talented and skilled media creators who blog and podcast.

“When you’re trying to market to this group, they have an acute sense of when they’re being sold. They’re incredibly connected to each other, and at school everything is about the team. Big media are not as relevant [to this group].”

Changing the world
The Facebook Generation wants to change the world, Maffin added.

If you ask them what’s most important, 53 per cent will say fulfilling work, 27 per cent money and just 20 per cent job security.

In order to reach this group, “you must articulate meaning,” he said. Apple computers had what Maffin calls “the greatest ad of all times”—its Here’s to the Crazy Ones ad in 1997.  The company didn’t show its logo until the last second.

Maffin talked about the “dreaded mission statement”—usually generated at a two-day offsite retreat in the company of a highly-paid consultant.  Dilbert’s mission statement generator can produce statements that are just as good as the ones generated by this process, he said.

Mission statements should be simple like Wendys’ Healthy Fast Food,  Apple’s Think Different, and Mary Kay’s Enriching Women’s Lives.

Keeping the profile of the Facebook generation in mind, Maffin suggested a number of ways companies can use social media for recruitment.

Facebook: You have to be a person on Facebook.  Facebook keeps track of everything you do online—it takes friends and aggregates them on the news feed. On-air personalities can work. Use fan pages/Groups: Put videos online, click the share button and the videos are immediately available.  You can also advertise on Facebook.

Craigslist: It was started as a mailing list of parties in the San Francisco Bay area and has grown exponentially, pushing out other employment sites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com.

YouTube: Interview people in your office, have videos showing your company activities.
 
Maffin also recommends taking a look at Flickr, Freshbooks’ photos and Twitter.
If your company is to succeed in hiring the Facebook generation, they must give potential applicants something to believe in and a clear vision of what the organization stands for.  Analyze your mission statement and develop a mantra. Think about the impact your organization has on the environment.

Find out about the applicant’s personal career plan and think of ways to help them get there. Studies show that the more skills employees have, the more loyal they become.

Jack Butterworth of the College Place Inn in New Westminster, received a special award for his 35 years of service with BC hotel associations at the BCHA gala on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

BCHA Sterling Service Awards presented

The British Columbia Hotel Association announced its Sterling Service award winners at a special dinner Nov. 24 at The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel as part of the conference. The awards celebrate excellence in hospitality.

Here are the winners of the Sterling Service Awards of the year in various categories.

Serta Housekeeping Award: Samaria Panton, Comfort Inn & Suites, The Islands.

Canada Select Maintenance Award: Wade Bears, Sandman Hotel Quesnel, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.

Tourism British Columbia Doorman Award: Albert Wiebe, Executive Hotel Vintage Park, Vancouver Coast & Mountains.

American Express Front Desk Award: Kim Beedle, Sandman Hotel Quesnel, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.

EMC Publications Bartender Award: Jessica McKinnon, Shark Club at the Sandman Hotel Quesnel, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.

Warsteiner Food and Beverage Server Award: Mandy Tross, The Elkhorn Cabin, BC Rockies.
Coast Hotels Culinary Support Award: Jaswant Bains, Coast Harbourside Hotel, The Islands.

Canopco Culinary Team Leader Award: Patrick Fortier, Nita Lake Lodge, Vancouver Coast & Mountains.