7 Things Millennials Want From Their Jobs

Millennials are synonymous with critical thinking and classic loyalty to their preferences. It is not a generation that fancies compromises and adjustments. If you are a millennial, you can relate to all these traits, can’t you?

You do not want to settle for anything less than you feel you deserve. This is because this generation comes with a greater sense of self-awareness. To add, millennials come with excellent self-advocacy skills. They know how to express themselves and their interests effectively. Based on these enchanting qualities, millennials make great entrepreneurs or employees. From their purview, every befitting challenge is an opportunity for them to leverage.

Moving forward, millennials now represent a large fraction of the global workforce. As per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2030, millennials will account for 75 percent of the US workforce. Hence, the presence of millennials in the global workforce is tipped to get colossal in the coming years. But what is more noteworthy here is that not more than 30 percent of millennials are engaged in their jobs. Besides, Dynamic Signal states that more than 20 percent of millennials have switched jobs in the last 12 months or so. To add, Statista cites that 22 percent of millennials will leave their present employer within five years. 

All these statistics hint that millennials have some specific expectations from their employers and jobs. They tend to disengage from work or switch when they feel their anticipations go unheard. What are these considerations? What do millennials want from their jobs? Via this blog, we look to explore these answers and ascertain what this generation seeks from their employers. Let us find out without further ado.

1 | Skill Development and Career Advancement

Looking for answers to how to add more achievements to your resume? Develop your skills; that is the best answer! Millennials show great zeal and enthusiasm to learn every day and develop better skills, and they do not want their resumes or their careers to become stagnant. Having said that, the basic expectations that millennials have from their jobs is professional development. They are open to putting in additional efforts to build new skills. They look up to their employers for the right guidance and channels for development. In fact, as per a Gallup Survey, almost 90 percent of millennials cite development in jobs as paramount.

Besides, like most employees, even millennials seek career advancement opportunities. Growth is an ambition that everyone has, irrespective of generation or any other differentiating factor. According to SHRM’s report, not more than 30 percent of employees are content with career advancement opportunities, and this could be a major reason why employee turnover rates remain high. Millennials tend to gravitate toward new companies that offer better prospects for career advancement.

2 | Mentors and Not Bosses

Millennials do not want their employers to limit their roles to being bosses. Because millennials are ready to go that extra mile to learn, they want their employers to be mentors. They want to interact with their executives and managers to leverage their experience and insights. So, for companies to retain their top talents, introducing mentorship programs is a great idea. Google, General Electric, and Caterpillar have amazing mentorship programs for their employees. These are the kind of initiatives that millennials seek from their mentors and bosses.

Millennials want their employers to balance between playing bosses and mentors. When they feel their personal growth is facilitated by the company, they commit greater loyalty. Furthermore, they exhibit a positive outlook and active engagement in their responsibilities. The mentorship initiatives taken by business leaders are also critical to workplace relationships.

3 | Flexibility and Empowerment

Millennials are quite fascinated by the idea of doing things in their own way. Most of the time, giving them the desired flexibility can prove to be beneficial for the company. They excel in what they do, and that is why they seek flexibility and empowerment from their managers. In the present scenario of growing freelancing opportunities for young people, everyone seeks flexibility. This flexibility could be in terms of working hours or the best practices.

Speaking of empowerment, millennials want their employers to show faith in them. They want that employers ask for and value their ideas and opinions. They believe that they can perform much better when they are backed and empowered. They expect their managers to empower them to take decisions on their own. They seek emancipation and the liberty to manage things as per their perspectives and individual approach. Empowerment is a fabulous idea, after all. Millennials like to set their own rules and not act as per preconceived norms or work stereotypes. They love being liberated, and that adds to their productivity.

4 | Systematic Feedback Sharing

Millennials are quite receptive to feedback shared by their superiors. This is because they see feedback adding value to their learning and development. In accordance with an article from Forbes, 82 percent of employees are receptive to feedback. They appreciate positive as well as negative feedback coming from their managers. For millennials, who form a large part of this proportion, feedback enables them to identify and work on the areas of improvement.

However, constructive feedback is what millennials prefer. Irrespective of whether the feedback is negative or positive, they seek value out of it. They want to know where and how they can improve. Their ambition of success is much greater than their ego. They are not complacent or adamant about learning from feedback. A smart employee is always on the lookout for prospects to improve and streamline growth.

5 | New Challenges and Thrill

Millennials, most of them believe that they cannot do a monotonous 9 to 5 job. They want challenges to be thrown at them every day, and they want work to seem different every day. You will be amazed to know that almost 33 percent of employees leave their jobs, citing boredom as the reason. This is based on the findings of a Korn Ferry Survey. Now that is interesting, isn’t it? Would you leave your job for the simple reason that it is full of monotony? Well, at least a few millennials will, if not more!

Millennials know that challenges are a part of the road to growth and success. They are hence looking forward to challenges in the workplace rather than be deterred from them. For them, every hurdle is a potential opportunity to prove their mettle. Besides, this generation starts feeling bored a little too soon. Having said that, in addition to the development aspect, they view challenges as thrilling. They love to romance with thrills and novelty for sure!

6 | Positive Company Culture

In general, most employees consider company culture, working environment, and workplace safety. However, millennials are a little too particular when it comes to company culture. It is a major consideration that they have before applying to an organization for a job. For them, company culture is the actual differentiating factor. They look for progressive and vibrant company cultures that promote empowerment, diversity, and collaboration. They want to work for companies that have a culture of positive employee relationships, empathy, and gratitude. They know how to work smarter and avoid burnout. But they want to know if there is enough creative freedom in the workplace!

According to an article by Business Insider, 20 percent of millennials find Google an ideal place to work at. This is because Google has a prosperous and strong company culture that supports millennial expectations. Also, more than 40 percent of employers cite company culture as the reason for taking a job or leaving it. Hence, millennials are quite particular about the company culture they would want to be a part of. Irrespective of remuneration and other perks, many of them may choose to refuse a good-looking job offer because of company culture.

7 | Recognition and Support

This is where millennials are no different from others. Every employee seeks recognition, appreciation, and support from the management. These are factors of intrinsic motivation for employees. Like other employees, millennials too anticipate reward and recognition from superiors. For many employees, recognition is the most important factor. This inspires a larger sense of self-sufficiency and happiness in them. Further, they translate this satisfaction into high productivity. Hubspot states that 69 percent of employees tend to work much harder if they feel their bosses appreciate them enough.

On similar lines, employees look for support in their reporting managers and colleagues. This is an important expectation that millennials have from their job. They will be happy to go out of their way to extend support to others. For obvious reasons, they have the same expectations from others as well. Most millennials portray supporting natures, and hence they want people around them to be the same. That is a fair expectation to have to say the least! We should all support each other. There is no good in looking at everyone as a competitor all the time.

Conclusion

To conclude, the expectations that millennials have from their jobs are not unrealistic. A lot of employees, irrespective of generation, will resonate with the same virtues. However, while others may compromise with these anticipations, millennials do not believe in adjustments. They are known for their all-or-nothing attitude. They know what they are capable of, and their considerations are based on their awareness. It will be interesting to see how workplaces change in the future to retain their most talented millennials. Millennials are charming enough to trigger significant overhauls after all!