Hiring and retaining millennials is the focus of UH event
Q: How do I attract the next generation of workers ? I have a couple of employees who are set to retire, and I’d like to find younger ones I can train from the ground up and keep for the long haul. I’ve heard millennials don’t like to stay in one job for too long.
A: While it’s true that many millennials have already had a variety of jobs, there are reasons having nothing to do with them being fickle or disloyal.
Post-recession, downsizings and the lack of business growth were a reality that impacted all generations, and it’s not surprising that many millennials moved from job to job.
They’re also young. Born between 1981 and 1996, some of them are just now graduating from college and entering the workforce. Except for those with a very specific career path in mind, sampling companies and careers comes with the territory.
In reality, as millennials grow older and take on more traditional responsibilities of home and family, they will tend to stay at jobs longer.
But how do you attract millennial workers in the first place? Jason Dorsey, co-founder and president at the Center for Generational Kinetics in Austin, says millennials expect to be able to apply for a job on a tablet or smartphone, and they typically find jobs online.
But more than the ease of applying, the company and job itself need to appeal. Using findings from a Best Places to Work for Millennials award and other national studies, Dorsey concluded that a business’s brand is key, online employment ratings make a difference, and a prospective employee has to be attracted to — and believe in — the business’s mission and purpose.
Once a millennial employee is on board, according to Dorsey, they are not as different from the baby boomers and Gen Xers as you might think. Who doesn’t want interesting and challenging work, a boss and co-workers they like, a sense that they belong, and adequate compensation?
But there are some key drivers if you want to keep millennials engaged. They tend to want more frequent feedback and will move on if they don’t see a desirable career path. They can be highly motivated by interaction with leadership, even more so than by a raise or promotion. They want to know that you see them as having talent worth developing.
Dorsey will be in Houston on April 24 as the headliner of The Generational Divide Summit being hosted by the SBDC at the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business. He will share new solutions on how to hire, manage, sell to and simply better understand the millennial work force, as well as insight into Generation Z.
Jacqueline Taylor is deputy director of the Texas Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center Network, a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business. Information is intended to provide general guidance only.