ON BOARDING New Staff

Onboarding is now more broadly defined as the entire process of aligning an organization around recruiting, hiring, and helping the new employee reach full productivity as quickly as possible. Older staff understands that attracting younger staff members is more difficult than it used to be. It isn't difficult to convince them, but they don't necessarily understand some of the newer methods of attracting them, says Sarah Jialanella, recruiting coordinator at Akron, Ohio-based BCG&Co. Contests and cutting-edge entertainment software and hardware are big draws for younger staff prospects. Some firms are using social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook. Others are pursuing younger and younger prospects, too. Younger staffers also seem to respond to fun. Mark Kraft, partner at Hansen, Jergenson, Nergaard & Co, Minneapolis, says his younger staffers participate in the young professionals group at the state society, which conducts such outings as bowling teams with staffers from other firms.