Why organisations need to change the way they engage with the millennial workforce | Calibr

Being a millennial, today, comes with the baggage of assumption on the employer’s part. The assumptions include beliefs that millennials are spoilt, lazy, and the worst of all, entitled. The assumption that millennials aren’t ready to put in as much effort to succeed as the previous generation has given them a bad reputation which the …

Being a millennial, today, comes with the baggage of assumption on the employer’s part. The assumptions include beliefs that millennials are spoilt, lazy, and the worst of all, entitled. The assumption that millennials aren’t ready to put in as much effort to succeed as the previous generation has given them a bad reputation which the employers have, in turn, believed as true. It is this mindset towards millennials which has guided their engagement with the millennial workforce and it does need to change.

The prime expectation of this generation has been to strike a perfect balance between their professional and their personal lives. A job which provides them opportunities to grow professionally while maintaining a healthy social, personal, and individual life is the ideal workplace for them. A company, for example, now needs to realize that work and leisure play in tandem and their policies should reflect the same.

Collaborative structure

Prior to this generation, employees could work as islands. They had individual responsibilities and work which, in turn, came together to fit like a puzzle. Millennials, however, have diffused work culture. They like overlapping responsibilities and prefer working in collaborative environments. Shared working space, a diverse set of colleagues, and learning a bit of everything is a strong motivator for them.

The urge to express

Millennials, more than any generation, has grown with the idea of expressing themselves freely. Be it through their work, art, or personal life, the expression of individuality plays a great role in generating satisfaction. A platform like Hush where they can express themselves and means through which they can voice themselves are some of the things they look at while selecting companies. They are no longer just concerned with work but they wish to put their personal mark on it.

Stability

It is wrong to assume that millennials are not looking for job stability and that they switch way too often to find one. The fact is that stability has still remained a prime motivator for millennials but they are going about it differently. Earlier, stability required working at the same firm and growing there. Today, they look to switch, upgrade themselves, and then remain there. The time frame for stability has increased though.

Perks

Millennials, when looking for a job, have indeed become selective which means that in order to attract the best talents, companies need to offer more than mere salaries. The job-seekers of today are not only looking for pay packages but the associated benefits as well. Things like paid leisure, flexible working hours, engaging work environment etc. are playing a great role in helping them decide. Organisations may need to adopt flexible policies to accommodate such aspirations.

Purpose

Last, but not the least, the millennials are not at all satisfied with a job which does not give them a sense of purpose. The alienation of workforce has been acutely felt by the generation themselves and through the examples, they have seen growing up. They do not stand for a job which does not appreciate their work and despise the ones which fail to even acknowledge their efforts. Their sense of entitlement when they indeed work towards a goal is justified.

It is this background that the organization-millennial engagement needs to focus on to gain productivity. The workplace is no longer being defined by the work itself but through the culture it creates. The aim, today, is not only to create jobs but cultures which encourages them.

Originally published at Calibr