Millennials have been the driving force of workplace changes since they started graduating from college nearly 20 years ago. This generation desires many of the same things that everyone, regardless of age, is looking for from their employer and in the workplace. Flextime or remote work and development are among the top priorities. They also want companies to have a mission, a goal, and they want to feel like what they’re doing matters in the world. Understanding what this generation is looking for as they mature and enter into the mid-point of their careers will build trust and instill loyalty.
What they want
Flextime and Remote Work
As we have explored each generation, this is the one major unifying desire among every generation currently in the workforce. Everyone wants to have more control over their time and how it’s spent. Millennials generally feel that life is too short to spend it all in a cubicle. Offering employees the ability to work remotely when possible is a mood booster and inevitably raises office morale.
Learning and Development
Millennials are hungry to learn new skills, partly because they want to gain promotions and partly because they have an insatiable curiosity about the world. They want to hone their skills and be marketable. The rise of social media in relation to their career, through platforms such as LinkedIn, made personal branding paramount to career success. Thus, their drive to learn and develop more and more workplace skills makes their self-brand more marketable, either to current employers looking to promote within, or other employers offering a chance to move up.
Social and Philanthropic Policy
Young Millennials were idealistic in their worldview, not unlike the hippies before them. Their search for social change was birthed from seeing 9/11 during their formative adolescent years, witnessing the financial crisis from college and high school. According to a study by Deloitte, most Millennials believe it is corporate responsibility to make a stand for social change, and yet most believe companies only care about their bottom line. Millennials dream of working for companies that have a position on social issues or have philanthropic policies. Boomers and Millennials have both, at one time or another, looked at the world with positive, rosy glasses. Millennials want to work in corporate jobs and be successful, but they also want those jobs to have positive contributions to the world and leave it in a better place.
As Millennials move to the next stage in their careers, their workplace desires don’t look drastically different than generations before them. They are looking for flextime and remote work, because the balance between work and life is important. As they move into management positions and seek raises or promotions, learning and development are near the top of their list when seeking employment benefits. It’s not only important for their own personal branding, but for the companies who wish to see less turnover. Millennials are also seeking jobs or companies that make them feel they will have a positive impact on the world, either through philanthropic efforts, green energy solutions, or social stances. As the largest generation in the workforce, companies can benefit from understanding Millennials as they move from idealistic twenty-somethings into mature, benefits-seeking adult employees and managers.
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This blog is the final in a series looking at the needs and desires of the five generations that now make up the workforce. Critical Research is committed to providing educational information for our clients and readers. We are here not only to service your background screening needs, but to educate on hiring practices, policies, and current events. Please contact us for more information on how we can help you make smart hiring decisions.