The ordinary Millennials perceptions we have is of being “entitled, keen, disloyal” group of young people disrupting the business world right now. It caused enterprises to doubt or miss the energised and exciting opportunities they bring to their workplace. But to know them better, we have to understand the context they have grown up.
• Millennials have witnesses how the Economy collapsed in the late 2000's.
• They watched how just graduated-fellows struggled to find work.
• How they still fight to recover their decreasing-salary because of that collapse.
• Many of whom saw their parents struggle with jobs and mortgages during the recession.
• They distrust institutions because of those recessions.
What Millennials are now and what do they want from your firm?
• Millennials have witnessed many examples of young people who are having a significant impact.
• They have grown up in an environment where Social Media has given everyone a voice.
• Their thoughts will be heard in a way that young people were not previously heard.
• Millennials are burdened with more student debt than other generations.
• They now are depending on themselves (e.g. their career).
• They trust less and have fewer attachments to traditional institutions.
• They are hardworking, authentic, frank, and wonderfully cheerful.
• They want to identify and trust the organisation they work.
• Most of them want to give something relevant to the company.
• Brings innovation and consequently progress, transforming business for the better.
• They have very entrepreneurial mind-sets.
• Corporate ethics and social responsibility.
• They seem to care about how their work affects the world.
Many Millennials are, more or less, in the midst of a quarter-life crisis — the inflexion point characterised by pressure to make something of life and career. Many have shown a grave concern about how to the incursion into a meaningful balance between work and life. It's important for Millennials to feel that their work means something and has a purpose.
They are concerned about the old meaning of success as being mainly money or luxurious life. What are they pursuing success? It is about setting personal goals and achieving them. They are indeed not chained to a job, waiting for a pension, and yes, they are impatient. But above all, they demand organisations for new levels of engagement, opportunity and a higher meaning in work.
What you, as an organisation, have to do to attract Millennials to your workforce?
• Offer clear descriptions, honest and complete, of the career paths you compromise as an organisation.
• Offer stability. Discuss not only what Millennials bring, but what the organisation might bring to their developing career paths. (What will they learn? What role models will you provide?)
• Build community. Build confidence in the Millennial through the certainty that there is an entire within-organisation community to support him/her and their career.
• Create an environment of excitement for your employees. Make them feel welcome, invite them to create growth, to connect people, give them a voice, make them love what they do to engage quickly with your company’s goals. Provide them with the right stimulus to stay around for a long-term project.
This younger crowd is challenging organisations to be transparent. Corporate layers used to block out everything, suffering from a lack of communication among teams. These days, everybody wants to see as much as they can about promotions, wage raises, what the opportunities are, what the future looks like. When everybody knows what’s going on, everybody is in the game, you’ve got a better company, a faster, competitive growing company.
SUMMING UP: do not see those Millennials as just having an extravagant comfortable lifestyle. Millennials have an entirely different understanding of what success means, and for sure it is not based on money and luxurious life. They generally have less interest in buying the big house, sports car or designer clothing that previous generations hunt for as status symbols of success. Their preferences go to pay for the right experiences and technology. The quirkier and more unique the experience, the better. Find a project to attract Millennials and invite them to your corporation’s journey to success.
Dave Food
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