Sustaining Employee Satisfaction in the Age of the Millennial
Trends show that millennials have become the largest generation in the workforce. As time passes, more millennials will join and more individuals from older generations will begin to retire. This shift in the workforce will require organizations to know what potential changes in employee satisfaction and values will attract, retain, and satisfy millennials.
Attracting Millennials
The 2017 Deloitte Millennial Survey shows that two of the most important things to millennials in the workforce are the development of their skills and social responsibility through business. This is a trend that has been documented in a variety of studies involving millennials in the workforce and shows that this segment of the workforce is seeking more than a nine-to-five job to pay the bills. True employee satisfaction for the millennial generation is knowing that the work they’re doing has value for the organization, themselves, and either their community or the world.
A Psychology Today report from 2015 showed that 95 percent of millennials set leadership positions as their main career goals. The report shows 50 percent of millennials in the workforce are already in some sort of leadership role, but 64 percent report feeling unprepared for the role, having problems managing people, and experienced difficulty resolving conflict. One of the easiest solutions for organizations to implement is the development of their talent. While it seems like a statement of the obvious, an employee who wants to develop their skills will be happier when their skills are developed and the organization will reap the benefit of a more effective, skilled employee as a result.
Retaining Millennials
Understanding that millennials desire purpose and impact in their careers is important for an organization to know how to develop their talent. Deloitte’s 2015 Millennial Survey showed that millennials would like to see leadership focus more on employee development and well-being as opposed to financial reward. Employers should be excited by the idea of employee satisfaction being driven by a sense of purpose rather than monetary value. Millennials are eager to learn and further develop their skills. For employers, it means there’s an opportunity to invest directly into someone’s potential and reap a more skilled, more satisfied employee as a result.
Some people may wonder why personal development for millennials is so important. A recent Infosys report shows that millennials are anxious about their jobs. The appeal of startup jobs is starting to fade as they’re viewed as unstable and often transient. Additionally, 40 percent of millennials perceive that their positions are under threat of becoming automated as technology continues to develop at unprecedented rates. Millennials want to develop themselves to become valuable to their employers.
All individuals have areas where they have natural strengths and weaknesses. By identifying these areas, companies and organizations can learn how to utilize natural strengths while avoiding weaknesses. This can result in the creation of stronger teams with more effective communication and collaboration while also giving companies and organizations deeper knowledge into their employee’s strengths. This data can be used when deciding which area to offer further development for your people to create an environment where your employees are at the intersection of satisfied and successful.
5 Dynamics can help you identify the natural, energies, strengths, and weaknesses of your team. Contact us today to learn more about how you can revolutionize how your employees communicate and collaborate creating higher employee satisfaction and a more effective organization.
