Millennials are loosely gauged as anyone born from the early 1980’s to the 2000’s and will soon be the largest generation representing the global workforce. They have grown up with technology from computers in their primary school rooms, mobile phones, the internet and accessible information 24 hours a day. They represent a valued technologically skilled workforce and are different to all other generations that have come before them.
In a recent article by Jaleh Bisharat for Huffington Post, she states that Millennials are job jumpers. According to the 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce study, 58 percent of millennials expect to be in their current job for fewer than three years.
So how do we keep them happy in their jobs and maybe make these technology driven workers stick around?
Jaleha’s advice for today’s managers that may help retain millennial employees includes:
Care about your team
Having a manager who cares about the strengths and desires of their team and thinks of ways to amplify these strengths encourages loyalty especially with young people eager for mentorship and growth.
Show your own experience
Millennials may be used to accessing information whenever and wherever they need. But there are some skills that only come from experience, not a quick Google search. Provide direct mentorship to make sure millennials are developing the valuable collaboration, organisation and other skills that they can’t learn elsewhere, and you’ll find that your youngest workers are infinitely more engaged.
Measure results not facetime in the office
Millennials want independence and flexibility. Of course young team members need leadership and clear objectives. Now that work is moving heavily online, results can be measured more easily than ever before. Because we can collaborate and communicate over the Internet, people don’t have to be in the same physical office at all times to have an impact.
Granting flexibility in scheduling is a way to give millennials control over their experience. Given the evolving nature of work, there’s no reason we shouldn’t measure results instead of facetime in the office. It’s a change in the way things are done now but if we are to be future looking we need to adapt.
Invite Innovation
Millennials are known for their novel ideas, creativity, and tech savvy. What are you doing to harness that? Cultivate a culture that invites taking risks, being bold and providing unique ideas with room to grow.
Millennials will soon represent the largest generation in our workforce, if we want to secure and retain the best talent we need to adapt our processes to make them want to stay.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about how your business can attract and retain millennials please contact me paul@paulgreening.com
