The Secret to Hiring and Retaining Millennials | Pt 1

When it comes to hiring and retaining millennials it is essential we understand how they operate within the workforce - check out part one of my two-part blog series.

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In my two-part blog series on The Secret to Hiring and Retaining Millennials, I will explain how their impact on the workforce, misconceptions, company culture and emotional intelligence all play a role in effectively integrating and working with millennials moving forward.

During the research phase of my writing on millennials, I had the pleasure of working with Lukas Pesa, a researcher of generational differences and trends in the workforce. We connected to collaborate and develop three podcasts on millennials and discuss the millennial impact on the workforce.

Let’s start with the definition, considering ‘millennial’ is a nebulous term for many.

• Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation[1] or Generation Y, abbreviated to Gen Y) are the demographic cohort between Generation X and Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when the generation starts and ends. Demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and use the mid-1990s to the early 2000s as final birth years for the Millennial Generation.
  - Wikipedia

 Understanding the Uniqueness of Millennials

There are lots of myths out there about millennials so it’s important to understand what they are because they have recently become the largest generation in the Canadian workforce.  We need to get on board and adapt and learn to respect and work with millennials if we want to continue to succeed and flourish within the workforce.

Graham Scott explains,

As we’ve enumerated before, millennials aren’t from a different planet—mostly, they want the same things their parents did. But there are generational differences that will change the way many companies work over the coming years. As employees they are eroding the organizational structures that many of their predecessors took for granted: The traditional office is most squarely in the crosshairs, with 70% of millennial employees saying they’d rather work remotely. (That may be because most offices are awful places to work.) Their early experience of the job market has also been different. Unlike Generation X, unemployment hasn’t been the main problem for the majority of millennials. Instead, underemployment, temporary contract positions, lousy pay and never-ending “internships” have eroded their expectations, and in the process, their sense of loyalty to any given employer.”

Graham makes excellent points that are hard to refute and I tend to agree with him overall.

Common Complaints about Millennials

Through my consulting I often hear many managers negatively speak about millennials' work ethic; something Graham elaborates on. He explains that when it comes to millennials in the workforce managers love to complain about their;

• Sense of entitlement.
• Lack of respect for hierarchy.
• Frequent job-hopping.

In part one of this two-part series on The Secret to Hiring and Retaining Millennials we have covered off on understanding how unique millennials are, what common misconceptions and complaints about their performance within the workforce is and how and why they operate the way they do.

Make sure you check out part two of this two-part blog series to learn more.

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Millennial Podcasts with Lukas Pesa