4 Keys To Retaining Millennials

In this – part six of our series decoding the Wicked Millennial Problem – we look at the four key things required to retain millennials in a modern workplace.  In part one we explored what makes Millennials tick.  In part two we looked at the best ways enterprising employers might try and recruit Millennials. In part three we took a look at the challenges facing Millennials.  Part four considered the best ways to motivate Millennials and in part five we looked at engagement.  Now, in our final instalment of this series, we talk about the holy grail of employment – retention – and speak from personal experience.  So then, how do you retain the mythical Millennial?

Offer the right kind of stability

Yes, there’s a right and a wrong kind.  The wrong kind is the same desk in the same building in the same office block doing the same job for forty years.  The right kind is enough money to feel satisfied, enough flexibility to never feel boxed in and enough “say” to feel like it’s partially their organisation as well.

Help them see a future with you

We all know what a 3 and 5 year plan looks like.  What about a forty year plan?  Millennials want to know where they’re going and you want to be part of that journey, so infuse your future into theirs.  Hear them mention a big trip they’d like to take or a cause they care about?  Invite them to talk with you about how you might help them make that happen.  Private life changing?  Brainstorm ways you can be accommodating.  Their concept and personal and public has been completely blown apart thanks to technology and social media.  If it’s melding on their side, let it meld on yours as well.

Make sure growth is regular

Stop tying growth, promotions and progress to time.  Instead, base it on performance and achievement.  There is no logical reason to have reviews annually.  If something big occurs note it, praise it and reward it.  Remember that not all rewards need to be financial in nature.  Praise – particularly in public – goes a long way.

Let your mission and vision evolve with them

Times, they are a changin’.  So much, in fact, that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. Millennials are actively trying to consume ALL of that data.  The more that’s available, the more anything and everything is constantly influenced.  Let that include your organisation.  We’re not saying rewrite your raison d’etre every other week but present it as a living, breathing document that can evolve with you and your team.  Again, don’t let time be the primary influencer here.  Let inspiration do that instead.

AKCG is a multi-generational, multi-cultural, global workforce that loves wicked problems like decoding the values, passions and struggles of an entire generation.  This article is part of a <series we’re writing> (Blog 2016-01-14) about the Wicked Millennial Workforce Problem.

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