AARP says every day, 10,000 baby boomers reach retirement age. That leaves companies with a lot of young talent waiting in the wings. Forbes says 86 million millennials will be in the workplace next year; that’s 40% of the workforce. How businesses will reach out to generation Y, more commonly known as the millennial population, is an important question at a time when there is a significant labor shortage in most job categories. Attracting millennials is the new battle cry of human resource managers whose goal is to create workplace cultures to attract this youthful talent.
Here’s what millennials want in workplace culture. How does your office measure up?
Understanding Your Current Culture
Workplace culture is the collective vibe of an office. It’s the collective norms of an organization, including values and work styles. Is the collective norm showing up to meetings late? Is it normal for employees to pop open their laptops during meetings? Do people make close friends at work or is it all business? Is the office deathly quiet or boisterous and fun?
All of these vibes indicate a certain type of corporate culture. What kind of vibe will attract the millennial population?
Cassandra (formerly the Intelligence Group) studied this population and carved out some basic characteristics of the millennial population. The majority of millennials are:
- Concerned about making the world a better place.
- Seeking the autonomy to be their own boss.
- If they have a boss, they want him or her to be more of a mentor or coach.
- Demanding more collaboration and less competition.
- Lovers of flexible work schedules.
- Concerned about achieving work-life integration.
This gives hiring teams some clear-cut marching orders for how their offices should restructure to attract more millennial talent.
- Companies should add an element of giving back to the community into their corporate culture. Their vision should include ways to make the world a better place.
- Companies should adopt 360-peer reviews, promote transparency, and provide continuous coaching for everyone on the team.
- Creating a culture of collaboration means setting overarching goals that teams can work on together.
- Allowing employees the flexibility to work from home is the new workplace imperative. Employees will waste less time and money on their commute and employers will save on office overhead.
- The work from home mentality means that employees can work when they are most productive, whether it’s 2:00 am or pm.
Creating these changes is just the first step. Employers should use their new millennial-friendly culture to attract more talent by sharing stories on social media. Encourage employees to repost job ads and share pictures of the office; happy employees make for engaging social media. Then reward them for their referrals.
Reassessing your culture within the context of the new millennial boom is a good way to update the company image. Modern culture begins with an honest assessment and an effort to adapt to changing times and a changing workforce.
When you’re ready, talk to Blackstone about the latest wave of talent. We can connect you to the brightest stars in the technology field. Call us.