With four unique generations now sharing the workplace, 2013 is a very interesting and exciting period in American workforce history. The most recent addition to the workforce is the Millennials. More than 12-million strong, the Millennials, also commonly referred to as Generation Y, are the largest demographic to enter the workforce since the baby boomers. Born between the years of 1981 and 1999, the Millennials are already making an impression in the workplace, regarded simultaneously as the most educated and most diverse generation in history.
As Millennials continue to enter the workforce and move up through their careers, managers can expect their workplace to begin changing. As an employer, it’s important for you to understand and embrace these changes as you prepare your company to grow and evolve with the changing times. When hiring Millennials, be sure to look for the following in your company’s younger generation:
- Work-life blend. As opposed to a work-life balance in the traditional sense, Millennials tend to prefer a work-life blend. Thanks to laptops, tablets, and smartphones, Millennials are accustomed to working everywhere and anywhere at any time, day or night. While they’ll prefer a more flexible schedule or telecommuting as opposed to being at the office from 9-5, Monday-Friday, they will happily make up the work they would have done at the office on their own time.
- Communication preferences. While it is almost common knowledge that many Millennials dislike meetings and regard them as a waste of time, recent studies also show that email use is greatly declining. Instead, Millennials tend to favor real-time interactions, such as texting or instant messages. Instant messaging is already replacing email, phone calls, and in-person meetings throughout many companies because it increases productivity, reduces interruptions, and results in conversations that are both shorter and faster. While you can expect email to still exist in one form or another well into the future, Millennials will likely get their real work done in real time.
- Feedback. One of the most prominent characteristics of Millennial employees is that they like to receive a good amount of feedback. Immediate, effective feedback allows Millennials to produce better results more quickly, thus, making their workflow more efficient. Frequent feedback also benefits the company, since it allows employers to manage their employees’ performance on a daily basis rather than annually or quarterly.
Millennials are known for multitasking, living in the moment, and having high expectations of their workplace. Understanding how Millennials work along with their impact on your company as a whole is vital to harnessing a work culture that is both productive and pleasant. To get a full grasp on what to look for in Millennial employees, contact the hiring professionals at Staffers, Inc. today!