According to INC.com, millennials will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025. Since this generation will soon be representing a majority of the working population, it’s time for employers to focus on making changes to the way they hire and retain talent in today’s job market.
Millennials often have a bad rap for not sticking around at their jobs, but loyalty is often a two-way street. To keep these workers, employers need to put a recruiting and retention strategy into place that aligns with the people in this generation.
To be successful in keeping top talent, you need to ditch the old ways and create a blueprint that matches the unique needs of millennials in the workplace. Here are six different strategies you can implement to hire (and keep) millennial workers.
Create an Attractive Workplace
While many companies think pay is the number one factor for younger employees when choosing a job, that’s often just one of the factors attracting them to certain positions. Millennials sometimes take lower pay if it means working for a company with a great culture because they want an environment that’s engaging and inclusive.
Millennials crave a job that aligns with their core values and passions. To keep these employees, companies need to develop an attractive workplace that offers in-office and out-of-office events, learning and development programs, and competitive benefits. Checking these boxes will aid in attracting and keeping top talent.
Invest in Their Personal Growth
Did you know the average millennial has held 7.8 jobs between the ages of 18 and 30? You can prevent job-hopping and create future leaders in your business by investing in a learning and development program. Millennials place a high value on career development because they are looking to grow, gain experience, and take their careers to the next level.
This working generation wants to feel secure in their jobs. According to Harvard Business Review, 71 percent of millennials are likely to leave their current job in the next two years if their leadership skills aren’t being developed. Providing opportunities to grow and learn shows that they are valued and that you are willing to invest in them and their long-term future. Providing this internally means they won’t need to look outside your company for growth.
Offer a Work-Life Balance
If you want to retain millennials you should consider offering a healthy work-life balance and flexibility for employees outside the conventional 9-5 schedule. Sixty-nine percent of millennials think regular office attendance is unnecessary and choose companies that allow work-from-home opportunities and flexible schedules over others.
Millennials are attracted to flexible hours, working remotely, casual dress options, and ample PTO. If your goal is to retain employees from this generation, you need to support their lives outside of work. Encouraging a healthy work-life balance can positively impact all people in your company.
Provide an Innovative Workplace
Teamwork and collaboration rank pretty high on the list for millennials. They value being a part of the bigger picture and enjoy working with a team to help reach goals. Whether working from home or in the office, they want efficient collaboration with their peers. Having a tech-savvy workplace is attractive because it simplifies communication, streamlines projects/tasks, and eases workload in general.
Give Constant Feedback
Evaluating performance regularly is important to millennials in the workplace because constructive feedback is essential for growth. Providing reviews and recommendations on a monthly (or even weekly) basis demonstrates that you care about their development and that you’re invested in helping them reach their professional goals.
Millennials often leave jobs because of poor management. Providing feedback not only helps them see how their work affects the company as a whole but also helps build strong relationships between employees and leadership. A transparent culture and accolades for a job well-done help millennial employees to feel they are valued members of a team.
Build a Strong Mission
Employers who have a strong, defined mission stand out to millennials because these companies create a higher level of motivation, engagement, and productivity. Millennials want to know and understand what they are working toward – and having this helps give employees the sense they are making a difference.
The truth is that millennials are dominating the workplace. They have unique needs and are setting new standards that differ greatly from previous generations. It’s critical to evaluate your long-term recruiting strategies to adapt to the desires of this working generation. Creating more opportunities, offering work-life balance, and providing the benefits they value will help you hire and retain top millennial talent, and ultimately give you the edge in this competitive job market.
