Here Are 3 Millennial Characteristics That Will Save Your Company

Here Are 3 Millennial Characteristics That Will Save Your Company
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Millennials are known for their job-hopping ways, but they continue to find one job after another because they are quality employees. Holding onto good employees is crucial for the success of your business, so we need to figure out what millennial characteristics companies should recognize to retain this generation of employees.

Engaging millennials doesn’t mean offering quiet napping quarters with bean bag chairs, rooms with selective colors to enhance creativity, or a quad full of cafes. This group gets knocked into a corner labeled “shallow” and “self-involved” far too often and it could be negatively affecting your company.

Recently, my company, Quantum Workplace, surveyed over half a million employees in our 2016 Employee Engagement Trends Report and found millennials are not only the least engaged group at 67.3 percent, the older millennial group had 1.7 times more hostile and disengaged employees than the most engaged age group.

Disengaged -- or worse, hostile -- not only put the organization’s success at risk, but also the motivation and productivity of otherwise great employees. The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016 collected responses from nearly 7,700 millennials from 29 countries and came to a disturbing conclusion: two-thirds of millennials hope to leave their current job by 2020.

It’s more necessary than ever to begin engaging your unattached millennials before even more decide to jump ship. Here are a few ways you can satisfy this eager group of professionals:

1. Show you care about the well-being of society

Millennials are strong in their beliefs of bettering the world around them. If your company doesn’t prove its leaders feel the same, be prepared to replace most of your millennial employees. Sixty-four percent of the previously mentioned Deloitte survey respondents believe businesses are too focused on their own agenda to care about the greater good of society. What’s even more disappointing is that 54 percent still think businesses can’t see beyond the almighty dollar.

Show your millennial employees that collecting profit isn’t the only thing on your mind. Involve them -- and your leaders -- in volunteering efforts to not only prove the organization has a philanthropic heart, but to also allow them to bond with leaders and co-workers. If the end result of your business is bettering the lives of others, show the chain reaction of millennials’ jobs to the end product of helping someone else.

For millennials who are concerned about their organization focusing only on the bottom line, try offering a donation matching program. Anyone who wants to contribute a certain amount of their paycheck each month for a charity will be matched by a percentage your company budget allows.

No matter how you choose to show millennials you’re not a modern day Scrooge, it’s best to allow them to contribute as well, so they feel personally connected to the cause.

2. Present development opportunities

Many millennials get a bad rap for being lazy or unmotivated, so it may surprise leaders that they’re actually chomping at the bit to learn and grow. Deloitte’s millennial survey shows 63 percent of millennials feel their leadership skills aren’t fully developed. This is a major issue because when looking for a new job, opportunities for career growth is at the top of their lists.

Development opportunities present themselves in varying ways, so it’s important to keep options and communication open. Millennials are looking to grow in their own field and as leaders, so why not offer both? Consider using surveys to pinpoint what training programs each employee would like offered, how they learn best, and what position they want to develop into.

Use these surveys to help you decide which opportunities to offer, who to pair millennials with in a mentorship program, and which line of succession should be explained to each employee.

3. Offer flexibility

Millennials are looking for life experiences, and they don’t want a career to hold them back. Deloitte’s survey found employee satisfaction is the number one factor millennials believe employers should focus on. What a simple concept, right? It should be, but if you’re not aware of what your employees need to keep them happy, you’re wasting time and money.

Meet with employees frequently in a one-on-one setting to understand what they need to work most efficiently. If your millennials are dying to work from a home office -- or while traveling the world -- offer a trial period to see how things go.

Leaders should always be concerned about making sure everything is in order. Try a 360 feedback approach to stay on track. This will allow employees, no matter where they are, to see where they’re doing well and what needs improved upon. It also gives leaders the chance to hear what their employees need to be put on a productive, motivated, and successful path.

Millennials aren’t the selfie stick wielding kids you once knew -- at least, not at the office. This generation is pushing for a better world -- one they want to see -- and they expect their employers to either be on board, or be left behind. Stopping the job-hopping trend begins with simply understanding what your employees need from you to grow where they are.

How do you engage millennials at your company? Let us know!

Greg Harris is the president and CEO of Quantum Workplace, a company dedicated to providing every organization with quality engagement tools that guide their next step in making work better every day.

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