If you were previously unaware of the term Millennial, it refers to people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
Millennials (for the most part) have a bad reputation – they are perceived as lazy, expensive and constantly distracted by social media!
However, they do have some positives too – ambitious, always-connected, tech savvy and always-learning.
I have recently been providing consultancy to long-established businesses who are struggling to retain good talent when hiring ‘Millennials’ and I believe its all about
understanding the differing needs of a Millennial and where possible, leveraging those needs to create a better and more efficient workplace.
“Being a Millennial myself (just!), I sympathise with some of the requests that are raised by Millennials.”
1. Money isn’t everything
A recent survey showed that employee benefits are more desired by Millennials rather than any other age group. Gym membership, Travel Loans, Health care are all very important, as is the number of holiday days!
2. Access to everything, everywhere and at any time
Millennials want access to company emails and data wherever they are and at any time – they particularly like working strange hours, so remote access is a definite must!
3. Constant connection to Social media and friends/contacts
Blocking Facebook and other social media sites isn’t going to work – and I have heard of Millennials resigning over this before. Nowadays everyone can access these sites from their phones so blocking them on the corporate network isn’t that beneficial anyway.
4. Having the right tools for the job
Millennials are used to working on good tech, so make sure you invest in a good quality machine that is fast and has the latest software. Similarly, access to data from their phone and/or tablet is a must have.
5. Work/Life balance
Above all else, Millennials want a good work/life balance. They want to be able to flexible work hours that suit them – and ultimately allowing them to do this results in better engagement and most companies find that they will happily pick up a project or emails late at night which is very useful in the 24/7 world we live in.
If you consider that by 2025 Millennials will make up more than 75% of the workforce it’s important to understand the shift that has already started in the workplace and take action.
