How to Attract and Retain More Millennial Workers for Your Business

With the increase of millennials in the workforce, businesses need to understand the differing values of this generation in order to be able to recruit and retain new employees. Currently, 40 percent of companies employ 50 or more millennials, but by 2025 they will represent 75 percent of the workforce.

More than 60 percent of millennials ages 22-32 have changed jobs one to four times in the last five years and 44 percent state they will leave their current position within two years. With these quick turnover rates, it is imperative that businesses understand the importance of the millennial generation workforce as well as what they expect from their employers.

Millennial top career priorities include:

• compensation,
• flexible work schedules
• the opportunity to make a difference.

Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers look for job security and structure. In 1940, only five percent of adults had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Compare this with the fact that 58 percent of today’s high school graduates are expected to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Millennials have different needs than previous generations of workers as well. For example, 72 percent of millennials want to be their own boss; however if they do have a boss, 79 percent want that boss to act as a mentor. They want work-life integration and prefer a collaborative environment over a competitive one.

All of these different expectations may be overwhelming for employers, but keep in mind that millennials bring many new and beneficial traits to the table. Millennials are more tech-savvy, socially conscious, compassionate, confident and entrepreneurial than other generations. In fact, millennial entrepreneurs are responsible for more than 100,000 startups every month.

Employees from the millennial generation can help companies have a competitive edge in today’s ever-changing market because they are innovative, risk-takers. Almost one in four millennials want the chance to showcase their leadership skills and opportunities to develop into a future leader.

In order to find the best millennial candidates, companies need to provide appropriate benefits such as competitive wages and the opportunity to grow within the company. To be able to retain those employees companies need to keep them engaged in the workplace by providing an open and honest environment about business decisions and by letting them voice affirmations or concerns. Companies also need to provide structured feedback and create a community among employees.

Business that grow their hiring rate of millennial workers will have positive results that help them advance their companies. To learn more about recruiting and retaining millennials, check out the infographic below created by Pepperdine University’s Online Master of Business Administration program.

Marketing Executive | MBA Online Pepperdine

Author: Madeline Harris is a recruitment and human resources specialist professionally, but a writer at heart. When she isn’t watching basketball or trying out a new recipe, she enjoys reading, discovering new music, and making connections with people of various backgrounds and cultures.