Partner Article

How to attract a millennial

Millennials now make up the majority of the workforce, making it impossible for firms to ignore this group when looking to secure the best talent. However, many companies are struggling to make themselves attractive to this group, and also creating effective strategies to retain them.

More often than not, millennials are using their first corporate job as a stepping stone in their career – and then simply moving on when a better opportunity presents itself. As such, businesses need to consider their offering very carefully in order to attract employees from this age group and keep them engaged after they are employed. However, this is easier said than done. So how can corporates attract and retain millennials?

The first thing to consider is why millennials are attractive to large corporate firms in the first place. In general terms, millennials tend to be an extremely desirable target for businesses, as they often have the technical skills that the generation before them did not.

Their digital prowess, ability to understand code, and regular use of social media platforms are valuable assets in the modern workplace. However, the truth is that millennials who have these skills may not consider a large, well-established corporation as a good match for them. Generally speaking, this generation is attracted to innovative, forward-looking companies like Facebook and Google, so corporates need to consider what they are offering to employees – both before and after they are hired – in order to compete.

For this reason, understanding what drives a millennial is crucial for any business that is looking to employ them. Previous generations have often prioritised salary above all else, in some ways has suited larger businesses, as it is an issue that can be easily addressed. For millennial workers, however, financial gain is not the be all and end all. Instead, this group tends to seek personal development and the pursuit of happiness, which can be harder for businesses to manage in the short term.

Even so, there are steps that businesses can take to ensure that millennials are happy within their role and feel as if they are developing. Engaging with these employees on a one to one level is the first step a manager can take when trying to understand and retain them.

Millennials want to feel valued and feel like they work with their employer, rather than for them. It is therefore crucial that an organisation looking to bring millennials into the workforce takes the time to understand what motivates them. Despite the stereotype, this generation does not enjoy working alone; millennials gain the most from businesses that offer a mentor system, as they see this as good for their personal development. Of course, there are challenges to overcome too. Engaging and keeping an employee focused at work is often more complex when it comes to millennials. Businesses obviously want to appeal to this group in order to make the most of the digital and technical skills that they possess, but in return it will be important to make sure that employees are given regular ‘face time’ with their manager in order to ensure they feel both valued and motivated.

Businesses will also need to consider the way in which they reward their employees, as this age group typically view job perks and rewards as more important than their salary alone.

Big businesses already have all the necessary tools to attract and retain millennials, but these can’t be used affectively unless companies take the time to understand and work out what drives a millennial. A large corporate cannot always offer the same job opportunities as new start-ups and innovative technology firms, so they need to ensure their offering includes a mix of rewards and personal development that will help millennials to see that a role within their organisation can be more than just a short-term fix.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Aliya Vigor-Robertson .