For the last few decades the workforce has been made up with dedicated, hard-working and diligent employees. These employees started on the ground floor of the company and worked their way up to the corner office, while earning service awards and anniversary rewards along the way.
Among baby boomers and earlier generations, job hopping was something unheard of. You stayed with one company, put in your time and climbed to the top. It was the way of life.
Bring in the next generation, the Millennials. The millennial age group ranges from people born from 1977 through 1995.
While this generation can still be characterized by the words "dedicated", "hard-working" and "diligent", they tend to focus more than ever on the bigger. Millenials are future focused and look at their current position as a stepping stone towards further growth and learning. While this has strong beneficial implications on the business world today, many companies have taken the backseat when it comes to aid this generation.
The question then becomes, how can we learn to adapt to these factors and actively work to engage millennials within our business?"
To make a better assumption of what can be done as a company to help engage the newest generation, we need to understand what millennials look for in companies. Throughout the many different theories, statistics and reports about the millennial generation, there are several underlying themes. We have used these themes of work-life balance, futuristic thinking and need for corporate responsibility, to develop our Top 4 Ways to Help You Engage Millennials.
Even as the economy continues to grow away from this downturn, it is important to remember others going through hard times. The notion of social or corporate responsibility involves giving your employees the opportunity to help others and give back to their community. Not only is this a beneficial trend arising in business today, but also something millennials heavily look at when choosing where to start their career.
Millennials, more than any other age group, are heavily concerned with maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Help them achieve this goal by offering flexible work hours, the ability to work from home or even the opportunity to leave work early for a family or friend’s event.
With continuous learning and feedback at the top of most millennials list when job hunting, your company cannot afford to not offer development opportunities. We suggest coming up with a list of opportunities beforehand, so your new recruit knows exactly how you are going to work to better them throughout their journey with your company.
Make sure you reward your employees with what they want! Millennials are looking for flexibility and freedom when choosing rewards, so make sure to implement a unique solution to fit their needs! Whether it be an On the Spot or Strategic Recognition rewards, Millenials seek instant gratification and ability to have a digital platform to use their rewards. With today's technology, it's easy to set up a program to meet Millenials where they want to be met.