I have a theory.  If you can learn how to market to Generation Y, you can use those very same tactics to get Generation Y to work for your company.

One company that knows a thing or two about this is Jones Soda.  A hot company with the Gen Y crowd, Jones Soda appeals to the young consumer by being outrageous and quite quirky, offering  soda flavors like blue bubble gum and turkey and gravy  at Christmas.  There is one thing to know…Gen Y loves something quirky.   So, Jones is playing into that along with Gen Y’s desire for customization by offering customers their own branded label soda with their personal photo on the front.  And, they are now tying their retail products back into an online  community which offers users the chance to participate through My Music, My Videos, blogging  and message boards.  

Founder Peter Van Stolk is well known for being a maverick in the business world, doing things differently and with an unusual bend that has teens and young adults going well out of their way to buy his Jones products.  The company even has a wild RV (with orange and dark   grey teeth on it) that goes with them to unconventional events such as snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing.

If you go to the Jones website, you can peruse the people who work for Jones (you’ll see several Gen Yers).  They comments can give you quick insight into why Jones is getting it right on both the marketing side and with attracting young talent.    As one young careerist for Jones, Nancy Bucher – Human Resources/Investor Relations says:  ”As the HR person, I have the pleasure of finding more great people for Jones, and taking care of existing Jonesers! A newcomer in the fall of ’04, I’m having a grand time with all the wacky people here, and love what Jones is all about. “

One of the hottest young businesses right now is a little (but big) company in Boston, MA known as CollegeBoxes.com.  Founded in 2004 by Scott Neuberger and Josh Kowitt (both are in their mid-twenties), the company offers college shipping and storage services to over 48 colleges around the United States and posted $2 million in revenues in the past year.

Kowitt and Neuberger are both examples of Gen Yers who have been inspired by an entrepreneurial spirit.  Because they know that most Gen Ys share this same entrepreneurial spirit, they decided that grooming future free agents was the approach they would take in attracting young workers into the company.  Every campus they reach has a student who runs the operation on that campus.  And, to keep building a strong company and increase their exposure, Collegeboxes provides the training and support needed to help students launch, build, and maintain a lucrative operation while still in school. 

Scott and Josh are featured in the book (Millennial Leaders), which I co-authored with three colleagues.  I have spent a great deal of time with these two men, and there is one thing I can say for sure…they are not trying to “sit” on their employees.  They know that when their college campus employees graduate, they will be moving on from CollegeBoxes.  However, they believe in cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit of Generation Y.  They also are firm believers in developing future business leaders for our world, and they are very gracious and giving of their time and talents.  This abundant mindset and free agent spirit are getting CollegeBoxes.com noticed by colleges around the country and by well respected media including Entrepreneur.com, Inc.com, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

So…if you want to know what to do to attract Gen Y talent, check out what CollegeBoxes is up to.  You might just learn something new!

The other ads which followed were equally witty.

 This is a blog about attracting the new workforce, so this journal would not be complete without talking about Senator Barack Obama.

The  latest issue of Fast Company trumpets the man who has become well known for having Gen Y groupies.  The cover reads The Brand Called Obama and shows us a photo of a young presidential candidate who is striking a thoughtful, confident pose.  He is certainly rock star quality, and this was evident in the college tour interview with Chris Matthews last week.  College students were screaming at the top of their lungs, grabbing for him...trying to reach out and touch him.  It reminded me of the Beatles or Elvis Presley in concert as the crowd of both young women and men fainted from an overdose of passion and excitement.

You may be reading this and asking "What in the world does this have to do with attracting the new workforce?"  My answer:  "Everything!"

Senator Obama is showing us exactly what it takes to appeal to Generation Y, and he is showing us the shift we are all going to be called to make in the next few years to make way for a new generation.  He is creating a new brand, a new movement, a new era.  So, let's look at Obama's recipe for success:

1) Obama has leveraged the internet to create a viral campaign (and has leveraged it to the nth degree...his website alone is vibrant and open).  Obama made a very smart move by hiring Chris Hughes, one of the brains and co-founders of Facebook to help him organize his online campaign (duh...that's a no-brainer, but who else thought of this?...No one!).  The other candidates have tried to catch up to this brilliant online campaign, but they have just not been able to do it.  As we all know, Millennials love online social networking, and Obama knew this out of the starting gate, launching his campaign on You Tube before going to traditional media.

2) Obama is using the contest approach to attracting Generation Y.  The Obama camp has been using the "Dinner with Obama" campaign to entice people to donate to his efforts.  By donating even $25.00, your name went into a drawing for a tiny chance at having dinner with the superstar.  Gen Y LOVES a contest...very cool indeed.

3) The website and messages are updated throughout the day.  I subscribed to Obama's mailing list, and I have been quite impressed with how quickly his team is able to disseminate information and election results (within minutes of the final votes being counted).

4) Obama turned down an invitation to attend an AARP event this past summer in order to attend an Usher concert.

5) YES WE CAN!  These three words are music to a Gen Yer's ears.  Millennials live with the belief that they can do anything/be anything.  Obama is speaking their language.

6) Obama's own heritage represents a cross of both Caucasian and African American, Christian and Muslim.  Generation Y values diversity, and Obama is the epitome of a cross of cultures and backgrounds, which makes Gen Y feel quite at home around him.

7) Ready for change?  Obama is saying this over and over again.  Millennials live, eat and breathe change, from the many jobs they hold to the ring tones they use to the clothes they wear.  They even change the name they are called frequently (one day they are Gen Y, the next day the "Thumb Generation" and then on to the Net Generation...it's good to have options and a variety of names, depending on Gen Y's mood).

So...look at this list.  While this may seem like a study in political strategic agility, I like to think that this list symbolizes much of what we need to know about how to attract Gen Y.  From my perspective, the strategies you use to get their vote, their purchases or to get their brains into your company are really all one in the same. 

You don't have to look very far today to discover why Google is attracting the Gen Y worker in droves.  The superstar company has been trumpeted by the Great Places to Work Institute, Fortune Magazine and Fast Company for being innovative, smart and doing things the way they need to be done to get young talent in the door.

My daughter Ann (who is a sophomore at Duke University) and I were talking about Google recently, and she informed me that for a young Dukie, working for Google is one of the highest accomplishments a graduate can achieve.  When I asked "Why"?, she said "Because my friends who work there tell me that they feel empowered, inspired and as if their work truly has meaning."

After this conversation with my daugher, I went back and re-read the article in Fast Company which highlights a few of the top employees with Google.  One story that still has me thinking today is the one by Matt Glotzbach, Product Management Director For Google Enterprise.  He mentioned in his interview that on his first day at Google, he was assigned to "figure out how Google could launch Enterprise [applications for corporations] in Europe".   He was the new kid on the block without international experience, but a few months later, Google launched in Europe on the heels of his being empowered to take on this task.

This story ties back into what my daughter and the numerous Gen Y careerists tell me...that they are pulled in by a great salary and the perks but what really seals the deal is the culture of the company and the feeling of empowerment and doing great work.  It is evident from the many stories I am hearing and the research I am conducting that Google is getting it right.  They trust their young employees to take on big, meaningful, WOW! projects and as a result, the Gen Y's who work for Google feel like they are honestly making a difference in the world.

I would like to leave you with a question today "What are you doing and saying to empower your Gen Y employees, to show them that you trust them to do great work and to instill in them the knowing that they are truly making a difference in this world?"  If you cannot answer this question, then it's time to answer it!