We need a new recipe for millennials

It was a Sunday evening. Ankita entered my office at 5 pm sharp. I could not take my eyes off her royal blue suit, covered with tiny yellow flower print it was perfect for an outing on a breezy summer evening. But instead, she preferred to come for career counseling. I was surprised to see that.

Ankita started conversing, “I want to enhance my skills. My current role is not going to take me anywhere, this 1.5 years’ experience in HR is a complete waste. I may leave this job even tomorrow. Suggest me any course which will give me a job and no one will refuse me.”

She was neither ready to take any pause nor was having eye to eye contact with me. She was fidgeting with her phone and kept talking. In the end, she looked at me and ended her conversation saying, “I hope one day I’ll be worth to people.” with a despairing smile. I was stunned by this conversation. Ankita is currently having a big brand up her sleeves and drawing a good salary.

I asked her, “You have everything which a youngster would dream of, why do you want to leave?”

Ankita said, “That is what everyone perceived when I got selected on campus for this company. But in reality, I receive very childish treatment at the office. Any undergraduate can do the kind of work I am doing. I feel like I am not contributing anything to my current role.” My obvious question was, “Did you discuss this with your boss?” The reply was, “She is constantly rushing from one meeting to another meeting and also involved in the big projects, our conversation does not go beyond greeting each other.”

There are many youngsters like Ankita who feel not so important or disengaged and end up losing a job in spite of having immense potential to grow. Deloitte's survey in Economic times says that 52% of millennials (ages 22-37 in 2018) surveyed in India said, given the choice, would be ready to leave their current employers within the next two years. That figure increased to 76% when the time frame was extended to 2020.

After years of working with millennials, I have seen they are just not interested in money when they accept or reject offers. When they leave their jobs, their conversation talks loudly about their unfulfilled needs. 

So what exactly are millennials looking for in a workplace:

Learning Experience

Young Indians are looking to fast-track their learning experiences and their seniority, and job-hopping appears to be an easier option. According to a Randstad Work monitor survey, 83 percent of the Indian workforce would like to be an entrepreneur and they join companies to get learning than money and other benefits.

In first six months of their joining it is very important to create learning platforms like training or challenging assignments. It is crucial to provide feedback before talking about annual reviews. In this phase assigning mentor works wonders.

Millennials look for a learning environment that can help them grow

Purpose

Millennials want to work for a purpose, and it is the organization responsibility to offer them a professional environment that stimulates them to achieve their life’s calling. There’s no shortage of studies about millennials searching for jobs that offer a strong sense of meaning in their jobs. They want purpose over paychecks. To add to it most of them come from financial sound families so money isn’t a priority. Another attribute is they care about issues like climate change, poverty, pollution, inequality etc. They want to be at the forefront when it comes to change management.

It is important for them to know their job is impacting other jobs and society. There should be avenues where they can do voluntary work. It is crucial to find out their passion and ways to fulfill them. Establish a process to facilitate them to form groups with like-minded people and also allow few hours in a week to work on it.

They want to do more, they want to make a difference.

Employer with Values

Millennials want to work with an employer who has values. They start evaluating it from the recruitment process. What company promises them during the interview and what company delivers has an enormous impact at the initial days of their work. They want transparency in work. They value freedom and flexibility while working.

While, counseling Ankita, she mentioned that during one of the restructuring process her boss had met with everyone except her. She approached her boss to know the reason and as answer, she and her opinion were again left unnoticed. Small things matter. Organizations need to come up with policies around freedom and flexibility. They need to be more considerate towards their employees.

Hear them out, be more considerate.

To sum it up, millennials have changed the rules of the game, mainly because they have a low tolerance for lack of authenticity. They truly care about their personal values and they are strong supporters of social causes.

As an employer, one needs to match those expectations, in an active manner. Not just talk about them. But actually, demonstrate them through concrete actions. Before working with you, Millennials need to know that your company values are compatible with their own. And they won’t just take your word for it.

You can amplify the positive change millennials are bringing to the workplace.

?Author: Dr. Aparna Sethi

Dr. Sethi is founder member of ‘Pro Touch’- an HR services organization and facilitates companies to train and develop the talent. She also looks after career counseling. She is Doctorate in Management. She is certified NLP- Neuro Linguistic Program Practitioner and conducts behavior related training to mid-level managers and to students perusing professional courses. Her flagship program is Emotional Intelligence.