Accepting Millennials in today’s workforce

According to Deloitte, 68 percent of corporate recruiters admitted having a difficult time for their organizations when it came to dealing with millennials. Similarly, 59 percent of business decision makers and 62 percent of higher education authorities gave millennials low grades preparedness in their first jobs. The situation today is outright scary when you think of it because by the time its 2025 millennials will make up a majority of the workforce. Millennials, also known as Gen Y grew up in an era of instant communication and virtual machines – instant messaging, e-mail, videoconferencing, social networks, and virtual technologies like cloud. Such omniscient technologies have made them being used to self service to the extreme. Whether it is looking up at a good nearby Asian restaurant for your Chinese clients or taking a European delegate to a Broadway show during the weekends, they know how to look for it. Secondly, transparency is infused in their communication. They are used to communicating instantly and constantly without ever meeting each other. According to PwC, 70 percent of millennials prefer to work independently and coordinate digitally. Imagine the benefits you can reap through their natural transparency through the medium of communication. Most companies today appear to have very comprehensive and obtuse means of workplace communication – SharePoint sites, PowerPoint dashboards, Status calls etc. which can consume a lot of time. Millennials however, have apps that integrate all of this. Not only that, they are also used to getting statuses on their own and finding the right kind of tools for the right kind of job without any delays. When it comes to learning new ways of doing things, it’s as easy for them as 123. Lastly, for millennials meaningful work and finding the right work/life balance is much more important than financial rewards. For them, the amount of work to be done that is piled up on their workstations and cloud doesn’t compensate for the amount of meaningful work that they’ve done. Most millennials want career development from organization than anything else. Speaking of workplace engagement, according to a Deloitte study, 75 percent of millennials actually want their companies to do more to develop leadership skills in them. Another 70 percent of them admitted than learning happens on the job. According to a Gallup report, almost 80% of today’s workforce (their older colleagues) aren’t engaged in their jobs. Is your company ready to accept a millennial workforce?