The Key To Retaining Millennials

Finding answers to high employee turnover

It’s estimated that 3 out of 4 employees who left a company could have been retained. If you’re experiencing high turnover or losing your best employees to more attractive offers, you’re probably wondering what you’re doing wrong.
 

The answer? Training—or lack thereof. 

According to Inc.com, the #1 factor emerging generations—Millennials and Generation Z—consider when starting a new job is sufficient training.

The most obvious spot to provide that training is during onboarding. 

All companies offer some form of onboarding, but how thorough is it? For your younger employees, one day of onboarding probably isn’t going to cut it. Remember, they are new to the workforce and still settling into this experience. 

A successful onboarding process generally lasts around 90 days but could be longer depending on the role.

Top-notch onboarding includes:

●    Training on company processes and policies
●    Establishing a mentor relationship with a supervisor or more senior employee
●    Setting personal development goals
●    Establishing connections with team members
●    Completing paperwork and setting up work accounts

It’s common to think that as long as you have a strong onboarding program, you’re providing enough training. 

But there are other areas of the employee life cycle where you have an opportunity to incorporate training that will influence a millennial employee’s decision to stay or leave. 

Eighty percent of the emerging generations say an emphasis on personal growth is the most important quality of a company's culture.

That’s right—a ping pong table and free snacks are not going to cut it anymore. These days, employees are motivated and engaged by opportunities to learn something new and develop a unique skill set. 

Many employers balk at spending too much time on development. “What if we train them and they leave?” is a common concern. You’ve probably heard the standard response to that question: “What if we don’t train them and they stay?” Not a pretty picture, right?

Put your mind at ease—there’s less risk that your employees will leave if you train them then you might think. Spending time learning actually increases an employee’s engagement and productivity at work.

Unfortunately, according to the eBook Retain Your Employees: 6 Key Stages to Include Training, most employees spend less than an hour a week learning something new. That’s not very long at all!

There are different ways to offer enticing development opportunities:

●    Self-paced eLearning 
●    Mentorship programs
●    Lunch & learns
●    Workshops
●    Gamification
●    Experiential learning

Seventy percent of employees stay at a job because they received the training they wanted. 

That’s a pretty good reason to provide those development opportunities, right?

In addition to training, Monster.com and Forbes both recommend providing a flexible workplace environment. According to a Forbes article on managing millennials, “today's constantly connected young workers expect flexibility and autonomy in their work.” 

While you certainly want to make it clear what’s expected in terms of productivity, results, and deadlines, giving millennials the space to get their work done how they want can go a long way to keeping them happy and engaged. “You want to give them assignments they can own and master and you want to provide flexibility. Let them work from home if it’s suitable and focus on overall productivity versus the number of hours worked,” says Monster.com.

Of course, you cannot expect an entire generation of people to all want the exact same things. You will certainly encounter members of these emerging generations with different motivations and learning preferences. It’s good to always keep an open mind and be willing to consider new strategies for attracting and retaining talent. 

Continuously evaluate your company culture, onboarding, and development programs to see what’s working and what’s not. In doing so, you’ll find your perfect strategy for employee retention.

Author Bio

Stephanie Ivec writes for the eLearning Brothers blog, where she provides training tips and covers eLearning trends. You can also find her articles in Learning Solutions Magazine, on elearningindustry.com and HR.com. She believes in engaging learners and making online training effective and enjoyable.  Visit www.blog.elearningbrothers.com Connect Stephanie Ivec