How To Get Millennials To Stay At Your Company Longer Than A Year Or Two

You gotta do what your competitors aren’t.

It’s no secret that older generations take one look at Millennials and label them flight risks in regards to a lot of things, but especially in the work place. Unlike our parents and our parent’s parents, we are one of the only generations who works to live rather than the other way around. When my mother turned 18 and graduated college, she moved out of her parent’s house and immediately started work. She’s been working ever since. Work is a huge part of who she is. She loves to work. She lives to work.

For Millennials, not so much.

We are constantly looking for the best way to do everything. We practically came outta the womb as continuous improvement analysts. We have mastered the art of having options and not being afraid to explore them. One of those options being work and not staying at a job that does nothing for us.

Here’s how to get one of the smartest and fastest generations to stay at your company for longer than a year or two:

1. Choose to understand us
   Do away with the negative connotations surrounding the Millennial cohort that plagues our society. Instead, choose to understand us. Choose to rework your assumptions and see things for what they really are. We are not self-absorbed, we are self-aware. We are not spoiled; we work hard for the things that we want. We are not fleeting; we recognize what works and what doesn’t very quickly.
2. Make us feel valuable
   A little truly goes a long way with Millennials (and mostly everyone). People go above and beyond for the people that they like. And since you know we have this innate need to be instantly gratified, use that to your advantage! What’s your new hire process like? What’s your internal engagement like?
3. Trust us
   If you hired us that means that you believe in our capability to perform. So let us perform. Nothing pisses us off more than being hired to do a job then micromanaged and nit-picked the entire time. Show us how you want it done and we’ll do it. Quickly and accurately. And we’ll probably improve the process while we’re at it. We want to show you what we can do.
4. Grant us the autonomy we want and deserve
   We don’t want to hold your hand just as much as you don’t want to hold ours. We’re young, but we aren’t immature. We are all different types of employees, but we know what works for us and what doesn’t. We can set our own schedules and work at our own pace. Yes, we may need several mental breaks to get up and stretch our legs and maybe grab a beer, but we will get shit done.
5. Be willing to do what your competitors aren’t
   Don’t only study your competitors from a business perspective, but from an internal perspective as well. It’s important to know the offerings of your competition because more than likely, if someone is leaving your company it probably has very little to do with the job itself. Figure out what is important to the kind of employees your business attracts and go from there!