What Millennials are Looking for in Potential Employers
Attracting and retaining the best players in the younger set means catering to their people- and purpose-centered ideals.
By now, some generalizations have been repeated ad nauseum: Millennials are fickle, selfish, and lazy when it comes to their attitudes about work. While you may or may not subscribe to these damaging stereotypes, it’s important to try and understand this generation if you’re in charge of hiring at your company (or if you’re a manager).
Take loyalty, for example. While the jury is still out on whether Millennials are truly fickle or it’s simply that they have a different definition of loyalty, the fact still remains: they do indeed display unique traits as a generation. Tapping into these traits can help you transform your company into the kind of place Millennials want to work.
We dove into the data and came up with this short list of what Millennials are looking for in a potential employer. Take careful notes, since the future belongs to this generation: they now represent the largest chunk of the workforce, surpassing Boomers in 2013 and Gen Xers in 2015.¹ (Pew Research)
1. Millennials Want Mentors, Not Managers
According to a sweeping review of research published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation², Millennials want more out of their managers than simply being told what to do. They see their managers as coaches or mentors, and they want a close relationship.
For some managers, that may mean switching gears so you have regularly scheduled time with your Millennial team members. Give them feedback and help them see how their jobs can lead to better places at your company, for example. This also feeds into their desire to be offered lots of learning opportunities as well as more consideration for leadership roles.
2. They Want Great Leaders Who Have Vision
Millennials are notoriously fickle when it comes to loyalty to their place of work. However, it’s important not to misconstrue this fact. They are actually perfectly capable of being loyal, but only if employers meet their standards. In other words, it’s not blind loyalty they will provide. They won’t work three decades for a company simply “because.” They’ve seen what blind loyalty can get you: layoffs when it suits the bottom line.
Instead, they reserve their loyalty for leaders they admire. They seek leaders who can show them the way to a great career, whose ideals are similar to their own, and even whose lifestyle they’d like to mimic someday. In short, they seek leaders with vision.
3. They Crave a Good Work-Life Balance
If there’s one thing that tops all the lists of research on Millennials and what they want out of their jobs, it’s the proper work-life balance. Most recently, this fact pops up in The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey³, which notes this generation’s “fairly traditional” personal goals.
For managers, fulfilling this desire can take many forms, from generous vacation policies to more flexibility with telecommuting.
4. They Want to Work for a Tech-Savvy Company
Millennials have grown up with technology and they don’t want to work for a company that’s stuck in the 90s or even the aughts when it comes to tech. So it should come as no surprise that three-quarters of Millennials judge a workplace by its use of technology.4 (New Comptia Study)
5. The Want a Company That Reflects Their Values
This is a well-known fact by now: Millennials crave a sense of purpose at work, and want to work for a company whose values are aligned with their own. In other words, they want to make a difference and they also want interesting, challenging work that makes them feel fulfilled.
A carefully written vision statement that’s properly cultivated for maximum buy-in goes a long way towards aligning company values with employees.
To recap: from a desire to learn and be challenged at work, to the need to feel fulfilled and to work in a tech-savvy environment, these are the things Millennials want in their potential employers. Now it’s up to you to see how your company can provide.
References
Fry, Richard. Millennials surpass Gen Xers as the largest generation in U.S. labor force. Pew Research. Retrieved 12/17/2016 from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/
The Millennial Generation Research Review.. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Retrieved 12/17/2016 from https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reports/millennial-generation-research-review
2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey. Retrieved 12/17/2016 from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pdf
New Comptia Study Offers Insight Into How Millennials May Change the Workplace. Retrieved 12/17/2016 from https://www.comptia.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/2015/11/04/new-comptia-study-offers-insight-into-how-millennials-may-change-the-workplace