Employee engagement has created quite a buzz among companies in the last decade. As businesses have come to experience, engagement affects everything – from employee turnover to organisational productivity and brand image.
A well-engaged workforce brings in plenty of passion, enthusiasm, commitment and energy to their work and does not mind going the extra mile when needed. Employee engagement wasn’t much of an issue until the millennials showed up.
This “job-hopping generation”, unlike the baby boomers, expect more out of their jobs and lives in general. They want to be in a work culture that promotes a sense of satisfaction and purpose over a mundane routine that pays their bills.
It is expected that by 2030, 75% of the workforce will comprise millennials, and companies are scrambling to come up with ways to improve engagement and stimulate their future workforce. So how would you go about keeping your millennial workforce inspired and engaged? Here are 5 actionable ideas:
1. Improve Your Onboarding
First impressions can make or break. The need for a robust onboarding process cannot be overstated, as discovered surprisingly in a survey by BambooHR. Close to 1/3rd of new hires quit a job within the first six months, and most that did were in the entry-level and intermediate positions.
An onboarding process that offers the new hires a complete perspective of their roles and the company’s vision, mission and values helps them settle into their jobs effectively and become productive members of their respective teams.
2. Offer Flexibility
Millennials love jobs that offer them the freedom to engage in other meaningful pursuits outside of their careers. The recent pandemic proved to most of the workforce that it is possible to carry out all the tasks remotely and increase productivity and improve work-life balance simultaneously.
The option of flexibility in work is fast becoming one of the top demands of the existing generation. Embracing remote work or a hybrid system that offers flexibility will work in your favour, both in terms of the cost overheads and employee engagement.
3. Be Competitive with Compensation and Incentives
While feeling undervalued and underappreciated is a common complaint, being underpaid can exacerbate the feeling.
One Gallup poll found that workers are willing to jump from their current work for just a 20% hike in pay. Many young professionals come with an impressive set of skills that deserve a competitive compensation; if not, you risk having them disengaged.
Even if you cannot afford appraisals at the moment, appreciating their work through a rewards platform can also help with the same.
4. Offer Feedback and Encourage Inputs
Feedbacks are an essential corrective mechanism that helps employees improve and shows them that their growth matters.
A Clutch millennial survey showed that 72% of millennials felt fulfilled by regular feedbacks. Encouraging input from your employees is equally important as it is a way to show that their voice matters and that the company is willing to change and innovate.
5. Invest in their Future
One of the biggest reasons that millennials hop jobs is for growth opportunities in their careers. Engagement from employees is highest when companies invest in their professional development, as found by one Gallup study.
Every employee wants to feel cared for and respected by their leaders and managers, and the best way to do it is by facilitating their growth. One of the main reasons for high employee turnover rates in companies is that millennials feel neglected or overlooked by the management.
They are more committed and stay for longer when they have an opportunity to grow within their company than in the next one.
In Summary
Millennials are quite different from their predecessors and expect more out of their jobs in terms of rewards, growth, and their impact in the bigger picture. As laid out in this Deloitte Millennial Survey, they are more loyal to organisations that are flexible and offer ample opportunities for innovation, job satisfaction and career growth.
