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Millennial Recruitment & Retention: Can Your Company Compete?

There is no doubt that millennials are entering the workforce at an accelerated rate and filling the vacancies once held by baby boomers. If we look at current estimates, the forecast is showing that millennial workers will make up 50 percent of the labor force by 2020 and 75 percent by 2025.

Additionally, recruiting the millennial generation can bring hardworking, enthusiastic employees who are eager for new opportunities to your company, however recruiting and retaining these workers is different than it was for previous generations. Are you prepared to develop a new recruitment strategy in order to retain top talent?

What do millennials want?

According to a recent Gallup Study, millennials are the most disengaged of all working generations and the most likely to say they will leave their jobs in the next 12 months if the job market improves. However, while nearly half of actively disengaged millennials want to find new jobs, only 17 percent of engaged ones do.

How does an employer engage its millennial workers? Millennials who are engaged usually have a strong sense of what their organization stands for. Find ways to help these employees verbalize and internalize what the company’s mission and purpose means to them.

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina, “Maximizing Millennials in the Workplace,” found that millennials want their employers to have four critical traits, including:

  1. Coaching. Millennials were raised with constant coaching and feedback and expect it to continue in the workplace.
  2. Collaboration. Employers should be clear about the big picture so employees understand their roles.
  3. Measures. Millennials were raised with a lot of structure and evaluation rubrics and are accustomed to understanding how they will be judged and assessed. They expect these metrics to continue in the workplace, so employers should define clear and consistent job assessment criteria.
  4. Motivation. Millennials want a work environment that is comfortable and inspires them to contribute without fear of being criticized.

Recruiting and Retaining Millennial Workers

Successfully recruiting and retaining employees from this generation will require a completely different approach than the traditional HR techniques. Here are some ideas when differentiating your company in recruitment and retention of this generation.

  • Utilize current millennial employees in your recruiting efforts.
    • Have them attend job fairs and discuss the day-to-day details of their jobs while also touching on some topics that may interest other millennial workers, such as company culture or flexible scheduling.
    • Have a company executive present as well to support younger employees and answer questions.
  • Can the paper and PowerPoint presentation.
    • Instead, utilize videos and other technology that they associate with.
  • This generation is more social than ever, try reaching them using various online social platforms, or grab their attention with a well-designed website experience.
    • Recruit employees online using LinkedIn, job boards, career building sites and industry-specific forums.
    • Many millennial workers do their homework on the companies they are interested in and look at these sites before thinking of applying formally.
  • Connect your employees with the issues that are important to them.
    • Millennial workers want to find substance in their lives, which includes their careers.
    • To motivate them, offer on-staff career coaching so employees can move around within the company and hold different positions. This will produce loyal employees who want to stick with your company for the long haul.

Acknowledging the generational differences in your workforce is a huge step in effectively managing and navigating your company culture. Remember that regardless of age, individuals generally desire similar benefits (e.g. job security and stability, respect) and finding a balance between noting and accommodating the apparent generational differences is crucial for successfully managing a multi-generational workplace.

To learn more millennial best hiring and retention practices or for support developing an effective hiring and onboarding process, visit OneDigital’s HR Consulting page or contact your OneDigital Consultant today.

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