How McKinsey is losing the race for young professionals
This is a story about why young talents are catering to work for companies with sustainability at their core.
Every year, Academic Work releases YPAI (Young Professionals Attraction Index), a temperature check on young talent’s attitude towards numerous employers in Sweden. With over thousands of recipients each year, the report is one of the biggest indicators of which companies have been successful in their brand-marketing that year. The highest-ranking companies in Sweden have always been the likes of IKEA, Volvo, or Spotify — local giants with sharp core values and great reputation. While those companies are still fighting amongst the top 10s, 2020 marks the year of a new trend for the YPA-index.
The new kids on the block
Out of the 100 companies that made the list this year, 32 were new (or had previously been on the list before 2018). The most common denominator among the newcomers was that they have sustainability at the core of their business. We’ve seen signs that a shift like this was going to happen, but what surprises us is how fast it occurred. Comparing those to the newcomers of last year, when there was a huge mix of companies ranging from NASA to TV4. This time around, especially amongst the highest-ranking brands, the trend is starting to become very apparent. The companies are either directly working with environmental questions (eg. Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency at place 17) or work to solve complex problems connected to emissions and energy (eg. Northvolt at place 11).
But only being sustainable does not cut it?
A question that comes to mind when reading through the YPAI is of course, why these companies? What are these guys succeeding at that others don’t? Well, there is no obvious answer, and some companies have a more natural explanation as to why they made the list. Northvolt as an example has gathered a lot of attention through traditional media because of the magnitude of their new operation. But if we look just 4 ranks below them, we find a company that has found success in another realm of communication.
SCA is one of the largest players in the Swedish forest industry. Just by that statement, you might wonder why we bring them up as an example — they already have name recognition and a good cause. While that is true, they are actually newcomers on the YPAI, and they made it all the way to the 15th rank. So what are these guys succeeding at?
After a deep dive through their social channels and online resources, the answer becomes quite evident. The people at SCA have understood that they need to speak in the language of their consumers. They are investing heavily in well-designed communication, and it’s paying off. Instead of only talking numbers and units, they create graphs and images. Most people have no clue how big 2.6 million hectares of forest land is, but by comparing that to the size of Belgium, people can all of a sudden relate to it. And on top of that, their annual report earned the 1st place spot amongst 350 contestants, and their web agency is nominated for the Swedish Design Award. Disregard salary or cool offices. They are working for a good cause, and their communication is created for people to understand it, and that is key for young talents right now.
After a deep dive through their social channels and online resources, the answer becomes quite evident. The people at SCA have understood that they need to speak in the language of their consumers. They are investing heavily in well-designed communication, and it’s paying off. Instead of only talking numbers and units, they create graphs and images. Most people have no clue how big 2.6 million hectares of forest land is, but by comparing that to the size of Belgium, people can all of a sudden relate to it. And on top of that, their annual report earned the 1st place spot amongst 350 contestants, and their web agency is nominated for the Swedish Design Award. Disregard salary or cool offices. They are working for a good cause, and their communication is created for people to understand it, and that is key for young talents right now.
And how does this relate to McKinsey?
So by now, I hope we’ve made it clear that a group of sustainable and innovative companies is on the rise. But that begs the question, what group is on the decline? The most obvious trend we could identify when comparing the YPAI from 2020 to the one from 2019, is that consultancy firms are losing traction amongst young professionals. Names like Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co are nowhere to be seen on the list, something that has not happened since the index started. The most surprising one is McKinsey & Co, a company that has been a contender for the top 10 spots for many years prior, so why are they failing now? While looking through their website and the resources they offer, our take is that they’re unsure of how to communicate to their audience. I’ll show you an example to illustrate what I’m talking about.
This is a part of their most highlighted report, which is meant to describe what McKinsey is doing to conserve natural habitats.
At a first glance, the report looks very appealing. They have obviously spent a lot of resources on design and making their content look sharp. But for someone who is interested in their work, it’s confusing. Who are the decision-makers they claim to support? What do data layers refer to? and Why did they choose pixels are their unit of measurement?
And to be as clear as we possibly can, this is not a bash on McKinsey. They are surely taking steps in the right direction, and much more so than some of the competitors. The problem is that they have not created their content in a way so that people who are interested can consume it. We know that the younger generations are the ones driving change. Create content for them so that they understand your joint commitment.
What can we conclude from this?
What and how do you as a company want to communicate to attract new talents? This is an age-old question where the answer differs depending on what company, or what time period you talk about. I think we all remember when Google pushed their “Our offices are like a playground”-narrative and all of a sudden every workplace had ping-pong tables and beanbags as far as the eye could see. It’s 2020 now, and the landscape of company culture is changing. It does not cut it to talk vague promises or show videos of happy employees. Talents of today want to work with something purposeful, and they are good at sniffing out corporate fluff. Make your communication clear, and do so in a way that resonates with your audience.
And to wrap it up, here are some tips
We know that it’s difficult as a company to navigate through these changing times, so we sat down and scribbled down a couple of our best practices:
- Clarity is key. It might seem tempting to go all-in on flashy infographics, but we recommend you to start with minimal break-downs and work your way from there.
- Be concrete. Today’s youth are tired of vague promises and “inspiring” words. Show what you are doing right now, and where you are heading towards in the future.
- Get input from the right people. Trends indicate that students and young adults have a much bigger influence over the older generations now than ever. With such a fast-paced social climate, we highly recommend companies to reach out to the younger generations for input and insights into their current work.
Hope you enjoyed the read and if you have some insights yourself, hit us up on our Facebook or LinkedIn.
Our pursuit at Gokind is to create solutions for companies to become better at working with sustainability. We are on this journey because know that innovation and engagement stem from great communication.
