Millennials: today’s workforce and leaders of tomorrow

The term "Millennial" is typically applied to those born between 1980 and 1999, the largest age group to emerge since the baby boom generation, and a group that accountancy firm Deloitte predicts will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025. So what are employers doing to engage with them?

As a generation that came of age after the 2008 financial crisis and have never known a world without the internet, they have very different expectations about jobs and money. Several surveys suggest that these younger workers aren't motivated by the same factors as previous generations, such as a job for life or success at any cost, but instead value a good work/life balance and a sense of purpose beyond financial gain.

If by 2020, 50% of the workplace is populated with Millennials, it will mean that the other 50% will not. So the point is not that they are taking over but that we all have to learn to work together?

Millennials should not be seen as a problem so let’s stop trying to figure out how to fix them or change them. Instead of a problem to be solved, Millennials are an opportunity to be leveraged.

Millennial employees are buying into a new workplace. They base these buying decisions on peer recommendations and digital endorsements so let’s begin by trying to sell it to them, to attract the best employees. 

Stability, financial security and collaboration are what Millennials see as important to their careers and these preferences can shape how we speak to Millennial job seekers on the career portals and other recruitment marketing channels.

Millennials want to know they are not just a number, ensuring information about the company, culture, history and mission statement are easily accessible. Millennials are fast paced and are more likely to apply for roles from remote locations, and video interviewing software will give the Millennials more flexibility without exhausting time or money.

No matter what, the industry Millennials are future leaders and the two factors which should be highlighted to improve the chances of a job acceptance are as follows.

Implementing strategies to attract and retain them will make an organisation the most successful. Thinking strategically about the millennial workforce will also save money — if employees are happy, they’re less likely to leave, meaning you can take a break from the costly and exhausting hamster wheel of recruiting and training new talent.

Learning how to work with Millennials is not something we’re doing to be nice. Supporting Millennials won’t just help them, it will ultimately help all of us. 

When asked to choose one thing a good manager demonstrates, the most popular response was "empower their employees." 72% Of Millennials would like to work for themselves but if they have to work for a manager, 79% would want their boss to act as a coach or mentor.

Millennials also want to empower others; 40% said it was their biggest motivator to become a leader.

In short, Millennials are connected and diverse collaborators, born and raised in the arena of technology and social media. It is not an exaggeration to say that Millennials are connected 24/7, they want to connect, not just for sharing their personal moments but to advance their professional lives.

Millennials consider themselves accessible for work 24 hours-a-day and seven days-a-week, Millennials' desire to connect, drives them to workplaces that encourage teamwork and they are willing to take a risk to find a new path for themselves.

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