It’s estimated that by 2025, Millennials will make up a massive 75% of the global workforce. Undoubtedly, you will already be working with, or looking to hire Millennials. Here’s what you need to know.
- Job hopping
Young people are predicted to have 17 jobs over 5 careers and research says Millennials (when compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers) are the most likely to be looking for new employment in the near future. Obviously this isn’t ideal for the employer- taking into account aspects such as lost productivity, recruiting fees and retraining, research suggests it can cost up to 150% of a departing employee’s salary to replace them.
It’s easy to look at these stats and assume Millennials have no job loyalty but don’t let this scare you away from hiring them. Research has shown that 86% of young people rank job security as highly important and it seems Millennials are adapting to the casualisation of the workforce, the rise of freelancing and the automation of jobs rather than actively seeking to leave their employer.
Millennials are constantly searching for new opportunities for growth and the best way to combat this is to offer chances for progression within your own business that the Millennial can say “yes” to.
- Pay isn’t everything
Only 28% of young people agree that money would motivate them to “work harder and stay with their employer longer,” according to research by Millennial Branding. When hiring Millennials, it’s important to remember that other factors, such as a positive workplace culture and opportunity to progress, is often a greater motivating factor than a fat pay cheque.
For young people, a key factor in being satisfied and productive at work is finding meaning in their employment with 77% of Millennials looking for ways to live a more meaningful life. Finding ways to connect your company’s values to the Millennial employee is a crucial part of keeping them productive and engaged within your business.
- Flexibility is important
While Millennials are searching for job security, they are also digital natives and highly aware of the flexibility that new technologies provide them. With 54% of Millennials feeling like they are “always on” due to technology in the workplace, it’s important that they’re given the opportunity to use these technologies in ways that work for them so they can achieve a healthy work/life balance.
With successful work/life balance highly correlated with job satisfaction and lower frequency of high stress levels at work, offering flexibility in the workplace can reduce absenteeism and increase chances of retention among Millennial employees.
- Technology plays a massive part in their lives…and on the job
Young people are increasingly connected and using technology to communicate. A survey by the Australian Psychological Society showed that teens are using social media platforms five to nine times a day with some reporting using their favourite platforms up to fifty times a day. Often called ‘generation mute’, young people are increasingly preferring to communicate via messages versus actually speaking on the phone
While it’s easy to think that this will only cause distraction for the Millennial in the workplace, it’s worth considering how a young person’s skills in technology can be used to increase productivity rather than diminishing it.
Being digital natives, Millennials are often able to use technology in complex ways that can help them more efficiently do their job.
Millennials switch their attention between media platforms such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets 27 times per hour on average while previous generations only average 17 times. It’s clear that technology shapes their work and this context of connectivity affects their mindset in the workplace.
The traditional notion of completing work solo doesn’t play to this strength and while you don’t have to implement a whole new work strategy to cater to your Millennial employees, it’s worth considering how your business can encourage collaboration in order to maximise their participation.
- Recognition is important
For the young person, acknowledgement of their hard work is often a major driver of productivity in the workplace. The ideal boss, according to a Hays survey of young Australian workers, is mostly a mentor (50%). The four qualities that young workers wanted in a boss were support, expertise, motivation and fairness.
It’s clear that Millennials have a broader view of employer/employee relationships than other generations and, with research showing that that workers who do not regularly receive praise or recognition for a job well done are more likely to experience frequent high levels of stress at work, it’s important to keep this in mind when interacting with younger employees.
