By 2025, millennials will make up as much as 75% of the work force. Millennials are a growing part of the workforce, today and tomorrow! Organizations today are facing major challenges in attracting and retaining millennial talent. Last year, Time magazine carried a cover story on this generation. Joel Stein called them the "ME ME ME GENERATION," and said that the millennial rate of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times higher than the generation 65 or older. This article definitely fueled a lot of debate and discussion on the different working styles of a multi generational work force, but more importantly the need to adapt to their needs.
Millennials represent a pragmatic generation that is redefining the workplace. They are an inevitable wave and it’s time for organizations to rethink their talent strategy and focus on leveraging millennial potential.
The two studies below address specific findings, talent strategies and tactics you should consider adopting to grow, develop and sustain millennials in the workplace.
Millennials are unlike preceding generations. They are tech-savvy continuous learners, team players, collaborators, diverse, optimistic, achievement oriented, socially conscious and highly educated. The nearly 80 million millennials in North America, who are about to enter or who are already in the workforce will fundamentally change how business is conducted in the future. Management practices designed to attract, develop and retain this vast cohort must change to reflect this generation’s work—and life—expectations.
The largest, most comprehensive global generational study ever conducted into the attitudes of “Millennial” employees has found that in order to foster a greater sense of commitment among millennials (those born between 1980 and 1995)it will be necessary to transform the core dynamics of the workplace. Conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a global professional service consulting firm, the University of Southern California and the London Business School, the survey captures the various forces at play that are influencing the experience of millennial or “Generation Y” employees.
Millennials as a group want a flexible work life and a fast paced work environment. The leadership and working style demonstrated by them is often diametrically opposite to that of the older generation. However, the key to retaining top talent amongst the younger work force is to build a strong organizational culture based on understanding their requirements and aspirations.
