You need to keep one step ahead when employing millennials

employing millennials

Millennials are notoriously choosy in terms of where they work. They vote with their feet if a wide variety of aspects of their job don’t live up to their expectations.

According to Gallup, millennials are the job-hopping generation. 60 per cent are open to a new job opportunity at any point in time, which makes them most likely among all employees to switch jobs. In 2016, 21 per cent of millennials did so.

It’s certainly costly having to constantly recruit and train new staff as millennials get tempted away into other positions.

Having a high turnover of millennial staff could create a knock on effect meaning you lose clients who feel they are not being adequately serviced. Or it creates a domino effect where one team member leaving leads to more heading for the door.

You certainly can’t ignore millennials in terms of recruitment. Firstly, because they are the future, but secondly because 30 per cent of the current labour force is now made up of them.

Employers today increasingly have to think smart when it comes to hiring millennials and stay one step ahead of the game.

Attracting them and then retaining them has become something of an art form for many H.R. departments.

This involves implementing a strategy which has multiple layers of communication but also offers the best package. Remember, your package is going to get compared to everything else available on the market at any given time.

You also have to be prepared to strike while the irons hot and recruit the ideal candidate, even before you have a vacancy available for them.

When you’ve hired them you certainly can’t rest on your laurels. Constant feedback is a prerequisite. An Aon Hewitt report from 2015 shows that 53 per cent of millennials appreciate a “thank you” from peers and managers and that 42 per cent want public recognition from senior leadership as a method of praise. According to a PwC study, 41 per cent of millennials want to be recognised at least once every month, compared to only 30 per cent of non-millennials.

Building personal development plans for all staff members also encourages the referral of new talent as employees can start to manage their progression pace. In turn, their friends and peers see and recognise this development and want to get involved too.

With high levels of youth unemployment, you would have thought you would get your hand bitten off with potential candidates wanting a job working for your firm.

But in today’s digital world, merely placing a job ad in the local newspaper doesn’t necessarily work anymore.

Staff acquisition tips for Prism have seen us create an employment strategy called ‘Destination Employer’, which aims to attract talent for tomorrow.

We have used open days, apprenticeships, encouraged our internal team members to recruit friends and family through their own social media channels and advertised on radio.

Ensuring your company has millennial lifeblood to guarantee future success means taking a totally holistic approach to recruit and turning  some preconceived ideas about the recruitment process totally on their head.

By Gary David Smith, Co-Founder of Prism Solutions