9 Topics to Include in Your Campus Recruiting Business Case

This is Part 2 of...
5 Steps to Developing a World-Class Campus Recruiting Program

In Part 1 of this article, I described the importance of building a solid business case for campus recruiting. This is the first step in developing a world-class campus recruiting program. Your business case plays a vital role in helping you get the resources you need for a successful program. Here are nine topics you may wish to research and include in your business case:

1. The demographic shift

This is probably the most compelling (and perhaps obvious) argument for investing in campus recruiting today. A Google search will quickly provide you with plenty of evidence of the aging population, declining birth rates, and the fact that fewer workers are going to have to support more retirees. There is plenty of evidence (and those who debate the opposite as well) that this will lead to shortage of workers within the next few years.

But that’s not the only aspect of the demographic shift that may affect your company. January 1st of this year (2011) marked the date that the first baby boomers turned 65 – the traditional retirement age. Most companies are sitting on a potential mass exodus when your senior employees decide they can afford to retire. What are the projections for your organization? Obviously retirees can’t be immediately replaced with new grads, but foresight is required to put your organization in a good position to fill future gaps.

Seek out national data, industry-specific data and then complement that with information about your own organization. Include labour market details specific to your industry. Data is best, but opinion pieces and case studies will help support your case.

2. Eye on the competition

Compile evidence of what your competitors are doing in terms of campus recruiting. Is this your opportunity to get ahead of competitors by attracting the best young talent? Or are you in severe catch-up mode? Either way, learn your position among your competitors and build your argument around that.

3. Future workforce

The world of work is changing: how it gets done, where it gets done, and who does it. Young employees are keen and able to work in collaborative work environments; they know how to connect and communicate with others around the world through a variety of technologies; and they may adapt more easily to how businesses will operate in the future. Understand how the changing workplace is affecting your business and add details to your business case about how new grads can support that change.

4. Building diversity

Simply put: if your business is trying to re-balance its workforce to reflect the diversity of the population, campus recruiting can be one of the most effective ways to attract and recruit your target audience. Ensure that your efforts, and your business case, align with your organization’s diversity efforts (and you may even be able to acquire support and resources from that area of HR).

5. Understanding changing times

The world outside your organization is changing in ways that older workers sometimes don’t grasp. Compile information about how your business is expected to change and make the case that students in the programs you recruit from are being trained for these changing times.

6. Creativity and innovation

Few will argue that young talent can bring creativity and innovation to an organization. If this is something your organization values – it may even be built into your organizational vision – be sure to demonstrate alignment with campus recruiting.

7. ROI – corporate examples

Seek out case studies of successful organization and articles by respected business leaders that endorse the case for recruiting and “developing your own” talent straight out of campus. It may not be “data”, but it can be persuasive.

8. Future customers

If your organization directly serves or sells to consumers, there is likely an effort to ensure that your employees are also a reflection of your customer base. Make the case that it takes young people to understand, market, and sell to young consumers.

9. They “get” technology

Never before have we been in a position where all young new hires have wealth of know-how that is in demand by more experienced workers: how to use new technologies. Develop opportunities for younger workers to share their knowledge of these technologies and add this as evidence to your business case.

Collecting this information may seem like a lot of work – but unless you’ve been asked for it right away, you can work on this over time. Always be on the lookout for new statistics, hiring trends, and case studies to support your argument.

That’s it for Step 1. The next step (coming soon!) is to evaluate your recruiting programs, processes and people to help you determine the highest priorities in your recruitment strategy.

What else do you include in your business case for campus recruiting?


If you would like to be notified of new blog entries or upcoming events/programs from Brainstorm Strategy Group, please join our email list; connect with me on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grahambfdonald; or follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/grahamdonald.

5 Steps to Developing a World-Class Campus Recruiting Program (Part 1)

In my next several articles I am going to discuss five steps involved in developing and implementing a truly strategic campus recruiting program. This information is also the subject matter I have been presenting at the Campus Recruiting Forums this fall. If you can, consider joining us at the last Forums of the year in San Francisco on December 12th (www.CampusRecruitingForum.com) and Waterloo on December 15th (www.CampusRecruiting.ca).

These are the five steps:

1. Build a solid business case
2. Evaluate your current programs, processes and people
3. Create your campus recruitment strategic plan
4. Focus on your Employer Value Proposition
5. Implement

Your process does not necessarily have to occur in this sequence. Chances are that you are in the midst of implementation right now – and it’s unlikely that you can take a lot of time away from that to prepare your business case or develop your plan. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but completing the first four steps before your next recruiting cycle will dramatically enhance your success at implementation.

My approach to this process is based on two fundamental truisms:

1. Failure to plan is planning to fail; and,
2. That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially. (Karl Pearson)

Step 1: Building Your Business Case

Building a solid business case for investing resources into campus recruiting is the first step towards developing a truly strategic program. Even if you’ve been “thrown” into the job and told that you already have a clear mandate, the sooner you can get to work on building a solid business case the better. For one thing, it will help you better understand the needs and opportunity that support your organization’s investment. It will also provide some clarity that will support better decision-making when it comes to the many choices you will have to make regarding marketing, target school selection, program types (co-op, leadership development, internship), and so on.

Regardless of your situation, there will inevitably come a time when you’ll be asked: “why exactly are we doing this?” In fact, even if your current support comes from the CEO level, there will undoubtedly be those in your organization – people you rely on – who will not be completely convinced of the importance of your work. This could be your boss or your boss’s boss; your direct reports; hiring managers; colleagues in the marketing department; others in HR; recent hires you want to bring to campus; and many others. And of course, if there are leadership changes, you may find yourself having to defend your costs there too – or risk starting from scratch!

Part of your job is to ensure clarity among others. Your colleagues may think there is an endless supply of young talent or they may feel threatened, or concerned, by new hiring on campus when there are layoffs elsewhere in the business. Almost certainly, the colleagues you need support from are very busy with other tasks and responsibilities. The reasons for recruiting on campus may seem obvious to you, but often they are not; everyone deserves the opportunity to see the case clearly laid out. And remember, anecdotes are not data. You will need both.

Building your business case is a continuous process. You can continue to add data, case studies, and competitive intelligence to your business case on an on-going basis – the stronger your case, the more secure your role and your potential to expand your programs.

In my next article I will share eight topics that you should include in your business case.

Of course, if you’d rather discuss all five steps in person (along with many other topics at the conference), join us an upcoming Campus Recruiting Forum:

• San Francisco, December 12th (www.CampusRecruitingForum.com)
• Waterloo, December 15th (www.CampusRecruiting.ca)