Developing Millennial Talent
How HR professionals can attract, retain, and grow millennials
Posted on 03-08-2018, Read Time: - Min
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Though each millennial has a unique set of personal and professional circumstances that impacts their decision to accept or stay in a job, there are overarching factors that millennials face in the workforce, dependent on their demographics, where they work, and what they do. A recent report by Paychex takes a deep dive into the millennial employee population , analyzing their wages, growth rates, and what this all means for HR professionals trying to attract, retain, and grow talent in the largest generational employee group.
Overall, the millennial full-time employee population, which makes up 38.0 percent of the full-time workforce, is comprised of 54.7 percent males and 45.3 percent females. millennials make, on average, $21.80 hour ($5.79/hour less than the all-generation average), but their wages are growing fast (5.8 percent compared to 3.0 percent across all generations). The gender gap is narrower among millennials than employees of all generations (a $2.59/hour difference compared to $6.64/hour, respectively), but the gap could widen again as millennial male employees have an annual wage growth rate of 6.2 percent compared to the millennial female growth rate at 5.3 percent. The number of hours worked per week differs by gender too. Millennial males work approximately two more hours per week than millennial females (39.6 and 37.5 hours, respectively).
Knowing these facts gives you a baseline understanding of millennials’ current employment situation, but there are a few additional factors to consider as you work to attract, retain and develop millennial talent at your company:
- Be proactive and effective in your recruitment effort. Millennials don’t like to drag out their job decisions.
- Millennial employees like to be impactful, both at their company and in their community. Highlight organizational volunteer and fundraising efforts on both a local and national scale to millennial applicants. Share examples of how they can get involved.
- Don’t assume you already know their needs, really listen. Understanding what millennial applicants are looking for in an employer, enables you to identify the needs your company already meets and evaluate which perks may be easily added (flexible work hours, work from home/telecommuting options, free meals, or casual dress days, for example) to stay competitive among millennial recruits. This will also help keep them engaged in their roles.
- Once the millennial employee is onboarded, in addition to their essential job tasks, allow them to work on projects that they are passionate about that also impact results.
- Ask millennials early on about their career aspirations, develop a plan to help them get there, and regularly encourage progress toward those milestones. Be sure to provide them with continuous opportunities for development, whether that’s special projects, exposure to other departments, or training inside/outside of the workplace.
As the millennial generation progresses in the workforce, their population proportions and wages will continue to change and their preferences likely will too. Through listening to your current millennial employees and understanding millennials across the workforce, your company can successfully attract top-talent millennials and ensure they stay highly engaged.
Author Bio
| Leah Machado, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is the Director of HR Services at Paychex. Connect Leah Machado Follow @Paychex |
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