Hiring and Retaining Millennials… and Other Workers
May 26, 2017
By Taylor Gerrie
Despite their youth, Millennials understand that life isn’t just about making money. They believe in life experiences and in making a difference in their communities, both in a personal and professional manner. Accommodating these differences can help you hire and retain Millennials. Better still, you can apply the process when hiring workers of any age.
Let’s start with Millennials, also known as Generation Y. When it comes to hiring them, you want to think of what is important to them. Offering flexible schedules, allowing to work at home or providing extended leave for new mothers and fathers shows your understanding of the importance of work life balance. This in turn leads to quality performance in the workplace. Being involved in the community is also very important to Millennials; having your company involved in programs for helping the homeless, the environment, etc. can really show one’s company values. This will help to boost company image for not only employees, but the community in general.
Hiring Millennials is one challenge, keeping them is another challenge. Having incentives in place is a great way to boost office morale and as a result increase employee retention. This is important as one of the biggest costs a company can incur is turnover. Having to re-hire and train for a position repetitively takes a lot of time. Not only that, but a new employee is not as knowledgeable as a seasoned employee. During this period while the new employee is still learning, other employees have to work harder to balance out the increased workload. This is why employee retention is so important. Some great incentives are restaurant gift cards and paid time off, these can be offered for reaching monthly or quarterly goals. It’s a great way to experience what the community has to offer and shows the company’s effort to promote spending time with friends and family.
Another great incentive is giving away free company merchandise like gym bags, clothes and sunglasses for reaching smaller goals. Millennials love getting realistic gifts that they will actually use on a regular basis and this is great for the business too as it’s free advertising. However, keep in mind that Millennials are all about the environment and the community so making sure that items are locally resourced and eco-friendly is important. Making that extra step is what will set you apart and make your business where Millennials want to work.
Millennials may be a bit different from the generations before them, but they’re well worth the investment for your company. As technology advances, members of Generation Y have the knowledge necessary to ensure your company is successful. With their open minds and alternate views of success, Millennials are the right choice for any company.
Putting this to work with all employees
The same best practices you use to hire Millennials also apply to workers in different age groups. It’s the details that vary. Here are three best practices drawn from this that you can apply to hiring and retaining other workers
- understand their personal and career priorities
- keep them engaged in the work
Taylor Gerrie is an automation specialist with Gerrie Electric Wholesale Limited. Also from Taylor: “Value Selling” (http://www.electricalwholesaler.electricalindustry.ca/latest-news/1575-value-selling)
