Door of Clubs: Minorities Entering the Workplace Survey
While a lot of recent research has focused on what young minorities are facing when they enter the workforce, our team at Door of Clubs was curious what they collectively desire in the workplace. Specifically the type of workplace environment they want, corporate benefits they’re most interested in, etc.
That’s why we recently asked over 150 minority Millennials entering, or about to enter, the workforce to give us their thoughts on their ideal workplace. The sample size included soon-to-be college graduates from across the country, from a variety of different minority backgrounds and between the ages of 21–23.
Not surprisingly, like their millennial peers, millennial minorities are bigger fans of business casual than having to wear a suit 9–5 like their parents may have embraced decades ago. That said, it doesn’t mean they are on board with sandals and shorts in the workplace as we hit summer’s highest temps. More of our respondents were in favor of business casual over very casual outfits.
This generally aligns with the workplace moving to a more casual and less ‘uniform’ environment. According to the Society for Human Resources Management 2015 Employee Benefits Survey, 62% of businesses nationwide allowed casual dress once a week, while 36% allowed it every day — an increase increase from the 2014 figures of 56% and 19%.
In terms of the actual environment these minority millennials will be wearing their clothes within — more preferred an open environment versus a closed environment. As our CEO Pranam Lipinski recently highlighted, this is something that workplaces looking to improve inclusion should take notice of. It’s not enough to hire unique minority talent; it’s even more important for them to feel a sense of belonging when they join the company. Open layouts and floor plans within an office make that much more easy.
So while some research notes that open floor plans hurt workers’ productivity and creativity, it may be worth exploring ways to create environments that are open for building real connections.
When we asked respondents to rank the benefits that most appeal to them it was somewhat surprising that flexible work schedules and work from home options were top of the list for entry level workers. Perhaps they have learned something from their slightly older peers who are losing out in the work-life balance pull. There is, in fact, some previous research from Deloitte that also uncovered millennials interest in building healthy work-life balances from early on in their careers.
Meanwhile, Ernst and Young’s past Work-Life Balance Survey found Approximately half (46%) of managers globally are working more than 40-hour weeks, and four in 10 say their hours have increased over the past five years. Minority millennials seem intent on making sure that isn’t an issue.
Minority millennials are also interested in health care and tuition reimbursement. The latter being little surprise given 38 U.S. colleges cost more than a quarter of a million dollars to attend for four years! Any future break on additional schooling will be needed!
Finally when we asked these diverse students what types of corporate social responsibility efforts they were most passionate about over 75% noted they were passionate about improving social equality. As these minority students have likely had to fight for their own social equality over the years, they’re interested in working with employers that are willing and interested in fighting the same fight.
As you can see by the numbers above, more than three times the amount of respondents noted this was their biggest passion in the world of CSR over supporting environmental causes.
All-in-all these hard working millennials that are about to enter the workforce want a lot of the same things that other millennials desire in a great workplace. However, there may be some subtleties that hirers and recruiters should pay attention to as they really look to build both diverse and inclusive teams.
More importantly speak with your diverse teams to find out what their ideal workplace looks like. Working with them to build a better collective workplace will build solid footing for a long term, mutually beneficial, relationship.
