When it comes to working, today’s young people have opportunities like never before. There are high-paying tech jobs, countless entrepreneurial opportunities, and even the ability to create a career out of posting videos on YouTube. With the possibilities for money-making seemingly endless for employees in their twenties and thirties, it leaves some businesses wondering what they can do to retain younger employees. Here are four incentives that companies can offer to keep their younger employees happy and productive.
Good Pay and Benefits
One surefire way to keep younger employees at their desks is to provide them with a good salary and benefits. It’s no secret that the cost of living only increases as time goes on, so making sure that your employees can afford the necessities in life is important. It also shows the employee that the company values their work and all that they’re doing for the company.
There’s even a trend where companies are choosing to raise the salaries of their employees. Major employers such as Walmart, Costco, and Amazon are just a few of the companies that have found it necessary to raise the salaries of their employees if they want to keep them on the job.
Reverse Mentoring
Everyone probably knows what mentoring is. As it relates to the workplace, an older and more-seasoned employee usually takes a younger and less-experienced employee under their wing and provides them with the information and insights necessary to perform the job well. It’s something that has been done practically forever in the workplace.
Reverse mentoring, however, puts a new spin on the coaching model. In reverse mentoring, the younger or less-experienced employee mentors the older employee. Believe it or not, older employees can sometimes get bogged down with the this-is-how-we’ve always-done-it mindset and close themselves off to new ways of doing things.
In addition, there are issues in the workplace today regarding diversity, technology, and work culture that older employees may not be aware of. Reverse mentoring is a way for senior managers to say ‘Hey, I don’t know it all. And there are actually things that I can learn from a younger employee.’
Flexibility
Another great way to retain younger employees is to foster a work culture that embraces flexibility. Today, more and more companies are experimenting with things such as allowing employees to work from home or to split their time between working at home and traveling to the office.
Companies are also experimenting with allowing employees to work flexible shifts and hours. Other employers have implemented shorter workweeks or workdays. The goal is to let the employee know that the company understands their time is valuable and that their life involves more than just work. One study showed that 80 percent of workers would choose a job that allowed for a flexible schedule over one that did not.
Culture of Caring
Maybe you’ve heard stories about big tech companies that provide extravagant perks, such as sleeping pods for employees or onsite gyms or game rooms. There’s no denying that perks are nice, and who doesn’t like perks? But it’s been shown that younger people don’t care about those things as much as you might think. They’d much rather have an employer that is invested in who they are as an individual.
An employee wants to know that a company is willing to work with them when they have job-related issues and even when there are issues in their personal lives that might affect their job performance. In an effort to strengthen bonds with younger workers, companies can still organize things like potlucks and pizza parties, but they should know that what really matters to the employee is whether the company cares about them.
Many younger employees have a lot of options when it comes to how they want to earn a living, and sometimes working a nine-to-five job for an employer isn’t at the top of their list. But there are things that companies can do to retain young workers, including offering a good salary and benefits, reverse mentoring, flexibility, and fostering a culture of caring. Companies that really want to hold on to talented young people must take the steps necessary to keep them on the job.
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