Uncovering talent in a tight job market

Tommy McClam has some advice for businesses about their hiring.

“If you want to be Nike, you better have somebody at the table who’s young, because otherwise, you’re going to miss it,” said McClam, the former senior director of the Boys & Men of Color initiative for Say Yes Buffalo.

“Whatever your business actually is, you’re going to have to hear from this generation,” he said. “And what better way to do it than to hire someone and then hear from that person who has an invested interest in the company?”

McClam was part of a recent Buffalo Niagara Partnership discussion about cultivating “hidden talent.” The speakers agreed that employers can find good people to hire, if they know where to look for them.

It is a pressing issue as employers try to recruit workers amid a low unemployment rate.

McClam said it is in an employer’s interest to hire young people to better understand the next generation of workers and consumers and stay viable.

“I would say any organization that does not have young people or a youth voice as part of their board or some type of committee that they’re hearing from young people, they’re missing a whole generation,” he said.

The Center for Employment Opportunities works with people who are re-entering the workforce after being incarcerated or having some other interaction with the justice system. Jessica Centeno, deputy executive director, said the organization tries to dispel myths about these workers.

“Its a great population to work with, because when people are coming home from incarceration, they are highly…