Millennials are taking over jobs all over the world. That’s right: and they plan to stay. They are the generation with the biggest labor footprint and they are destroying the increasingly popular 10-hour cubicle day. These kids have brand new ideas about how, when, and where they want to work and they are paving the way for their up-and-coming Generation Z siblings. This means that organizations that do not offer flexible work arrangements can risk the potential to lose a lot of highly qualified and talented individuals. But not all hope is lost: companies can fix this problem by taking the time to listen, consider, and implement what these youngsters want from their jobs.
What Millennials want
There has been a vast amount of studies conducted with Millennials in a wide array of topics. One topic that seems to be the common theme is the study of what Millennials really want from their jobs and their leadership. The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey found that Millennials want to feel that their leaders take into consideration what is needed by this generation to reach their full capabilities at work. They also want to have a good work-life balance, access to different technology platforms.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Millennials is that they do not like change. They do, the issue they have is when they are working for a company and they begin to feel they are not appreciated and/or are being overworked. When this happens, they will most likely not hesitate in finding a job elsewhere. Millennials do not want to feel like they are slaves to their work. In reality, who really wants to do that anyway? The Millennial generation is absolutely one of the most hard-working ones out there. And just because Millennials prefer to change jobs rather than be miserable at a job, does not mean that they are not loyal. Millennials want greater opportunities for growth and to be able to explore what they are capable of.
Flexibility
So, how can your organization take advantage of what the Millennial generation is looking for, while also being able to keep them interested in your organization? One of the biggest changes that any organization can take is to shift their mindset. For example, many companies are increasingly against flexible work arrangements. Organizations feel that these kinds of arrangements make employees less productive. Making the shift to have an open mind and recognizing that having greater flexibility with employees is something that can make a huge difference in regards to productivity. If remote work is not an option, then organizations should also consider flexible work-hours, where compressed work schedules can be tailored to each individual in order to accommodate this request without hindering the organizations’ mission.
Room for Growth
Successful organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve the lives of their employees. Millennials are constantly wanting to improve their skills and want to be recognized for doing a good job. With the expansion of online learning tools, training new work tasks has become increasingly easy. If an organization makes it a point to offer benefits like employee training, flexible and/or remote schedules, access to technology, and employee recognition, this Millennial generation will definitely want to stay and work for them.