Values of the Emerging Workforce 101
Millennials are taking over the workforce and with that comes a new way of thinking and a new set of values. As you begin to hire new workers, you must ask yourself how does your company attract young potential staffers? Here are some areas these fresh recruits investigate when looking for the right company and how you can set yourself apart from the competition:
Work-life balance
It’s the dream of all workers to be able to do their job, do it well, and still have time to have a personal life. But millennials don’t want it to just be a dream, they want to make it a reality. When searching for the right job and the right company to work for there are two major factors of work-life balance they look for:
- Flexible Hours: Say goodbye to the punctuality of the outdated 9 to 5. Gone are the days of having to use vacation time for an oddly scheduled doctor’s appointment or an annoyingly long window of time the repairman provides. When you offer flextime to employees it increases productivity and employee satisfaction by allowing them to keep their appointments without sacrificing their paid time off (PTO).
- Remote Work: With the technologies we have available, remote work opportunities are becoming more of a necessity for businesses. Having the ability to hire remote workers opens up your pool of applicants to so many other incredibly qualified people that would love to work for your company, but do not want to have to uproot their whole life or family.
Benefits
This one seems like a no brainer. The younger generation cares about benefits, just as the generations before them. Millennial workers are becoming more informed about the benefits employers provide for them. Health, vision, dental, and PTO/vacation are always a must. But what are they looking for specifically in a benefits package, and what do they view as a dealbreaker when deciding on a company to work for?
- They are appreciative and their interest is peaked when there are added perks. If your office does not include parking and your employees need to pay to park in a garage or an open lot, allotting them a parking stipend is highly recommended. Adding a health club membership to your benefits package is also a great idea for attracting new employees, too. Including a wellness incentive shows employees that the company cares about them as more than just a member of the staff. One option is using Gympass, a complete corporate well-being platform that will connect your employees with tons of great fitness and wellness activities both virtually and in-person.
- Parental leave opportunities are also important to them, especially PAID parental leave. This type of leave gives them a sense of security and builds a stronger relationship between company and employee, fostering loyalty to the place that understands the importance of both parents having time with their children.
These benefits also tie into the work-life balance mentioned earlier in this piece. When creating your company’s benefits package you want to make it as similar as possible if not exactly the same for your remote employees.
If you offer a discounted or free membership to a local health club, that club may not be accessible to your remote employees. In cases such as those, consider offering them a stipend so they may join a health club in their city, or you can offer an alternative like a universally accessible weight loss program.
A major plus of programs that have such easy accessibility for both remote and home base employees is that it allows everyone to be as flexible as they would like, whether it be attending in-person meetings in their area or being a digital program participant. Making sure your benefits can be adaptable for all types of employees ensures confidence and trust in your company.
Proper on-boarding
No one wants to get thrown to the wolves. And nothing scares a new employee more than sitting in a training session with a wearily unprepared instructor and the next day they are given a desk and are expected to work at full speed. Having an extensive and thorough on-boarding experience for your new staff will make them feel confident in the company and confident in themselves when they finally start the daily tasks of their job.
Recommended Swag: A great addition to your on-boarding practices would be to have your new employees’ desks prepared with a company t-shirt and the Swag Desk Gift Set or an Employee Welcome Box. This provides a nice touch to their initial experiences with your company and shows them that you are excited to have them aboard!
Workplace culture
Here are a few aspects of company culture your potential employees will be on the lookout for:
- Support and communication: Beyond their initial on-boarding at your company, new hires will be looking to see how your team incorporates communication into the day-to-day. Instead of doing annual performance reviews, which are scary, not as productive as we would like, and frankly, they just don’t work well, try having more frequent career conversations. These conversations could be quarterly or they could even be monthly. Your staff will be more receptive to both positive and negative feedback when it is given in a more timely manner.
- Volunteer opportunities: Participating in volunteer opportunities as a company builds many positive relationships. Job seekers believe that if a company does good things in the community they are a good company to work for, so participating in, or creating volunteer opportunities, builds a positive reputation for your company. Having those opportunities to volunteer as a group creates stronger bonds between coworkers, which positively impacts the culture of your office. Consider participating in local walk/runs, holding donation drives, or even creating your own charitable events as a company.
- Employee appreciation: This new class of employees won’t say that this is high on their list of company attributes, but this is that extra edge that will separate your company from the rest. An employee getting acknowledged for the great work they have done outside of the structured performance meeting makes your employee feel appreciated and valued, in turn, it will motivate them to continue to succeed.
It also doesn’t hurt to have a workplace that has a few fun snacks or lets a dog come into the office here and there.
Having this knowledge under your belt and preparing your company for the expectations of these younger workers will help you craft packages for your potential employees that can lead to quality recruitment and retention.
