Time is the ultimate harbinger of change. This is true in all aspects of life – including the pool of potential employees. With the new year well under way we are facing a large pool of Millennials that are ready to join the workforce in any and all capacities you can imagine. In the US alone there are almost 55 million Millennials ready to work hard. This cannot be ignored if you are striving towards an agile, young and dedicated workers.
Millennials are a special generation that is absurdly tech-savvy and able to adapt in a very quick fashion. If you are looking to innovate, compete, and win in this fast-paced and tech-driven market, Millennials are the way to go. This introduction thus feels like they are a next-gen kind of worker—which they are. However, this doesn’t come without downsides. Most HR managers will agree that they are a lot harder to retain than their older counterparts.
In order to take your piece of the millennial pie you will have to change some things you do and make the right moves in order to attract the cream of the crop of this emerging generation. We will list some aspects that will definitely sway you towards success when it comes to recruiting this amazing talent.
Transparency
Depending on what kind of business you are running, the flexibility for this point will vary greatly. Being transparent is key when it comes down to attracting Millennials. Remember that they literally don’t know how it feels to live without the Internet. They rely on pools of instantly accessible data that informs their knowledge and sparks their decision making. If they feel like you are withholding information or, even worse, obscuring their perception of the company by feeding them false data, and the consequences will be dire.
Avoid this by creating meetings where their opinions can be heard without fear of judgment or reprisals. This, by all means, doesn’t mean that you should listen to their opinions like gospel. They aren’t kids anymore and you can challenge their ideas with counter-arguments if you feel like your position is a correct one. They value knowledge and if you change their minds with a solid explanation why A is A, and B is B you will actually gain a lot of respect from them. Just remember to be respectful and articulate.
Tweak Your Values
Millennials are attracted to working for a cause that matters—for themselves and society at large. It doesn’t matter what you produce or what industry waters you are swimming in. Think holistically because that’s how your future workers are thinking. It’s not enough to focus only on your product and the best people to create them.
Progress towards a position of inclusion and communal activity. Reach out to charities and NGOs and help them in any form you see fit. Donations and voluntary work, when combined with a strong mission statement, are pivotal in swaying top emerging talent to come to your company. Millennials want to be a part of something larger than themselves. By doing this you are enforcing positivity and building stronger values within your workers.
Offer Self-Improvement Opportunities
Remember that these people are still young adults. They don’t have the life experience or the skill set that they are completely content with. Working and achieving success isn’t enough at this age. Millennials feel like they have to improve themselves constantly in order to move through life with success.
Even if the improvements aren’t necessarily connected to your business in a capacity that will improve your bottom line, never underestimate the value of personal growth. Skills that can be applied in a general sense like constructive English classes for business can go a long way.
Flex Up Your Working Hours
Rarely can you find a Millennial that is an early bird. Their culture is night-oriented and they tend to stay up late at night a lot more (maybe an understatement) than previous generations. Balancing this lifestyle, while maintaining a stable 9-to-5 commitment within the workplace can be nerve-wracking—even depressing—in my opinion.
Allowing flexible work-hours that can be catered to the individual is probably the ideal solution for this. Many businesses, sadly, don’t have this privilege due to the team-oriented way work gets done in a lot of industries. If you are faced with this challenge, simply moving the starting hours from early morning to late afternoon can go a long way. This will be greatly appreciated.
These are just some of the angles your business can take to attract a Millennial workforce. Keep in mind that your business comes first, and adapt accordingly. Don’t let your business take too many hits to the chin due to these new tendencies. Every company can create some sort of a compromise between the wishes of the employees and productivity. Think smart and reap the rewards.
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