Positive Employee Relations with Millennials

How to retain millennials?

Given the costs of turnover, employers have gone to great and costly lengths to attract and retain the millennials. To do so, business practices and industry standards must be examined. Giving millennials a bigger paycheck, or even a higher position with an additional increase in pay, may be the key to attract them; however, considering pay is of lesser importance to them with respect to other factors, using it as an incentive might not be sufficient to retain them.

Since having flexible working hours, known as flextime, as well as time for leisure, such as paid vacations or paid days off, are known to be important incentives for millennials, many employers are offering these options in hopes of appealing to millennials and retaining them. Corporate surveys, such as the one conducted by Deloitte in 2009, as well as academic studies, show that millennials greatly appreciate having the freedom to complete their tasks in whichever manner they desire, so long as the job is done.

There is no one reason for millennials to leave a job. When millennials perceive a certain unfairness, whether it is because of practices enforced by the employer, or standards brought about at the industry level, or common practices derived from the labor market, they are most likely to regard the situation as unreasonable and unsurmountable, which would cause them to quit. Through such behaviors, millennials seem to be sending a message that they do not accept the norms that were set by the preceding generations, specifically the ones agreed upon by the baby boomers, relating to considering the extended hours of work as a necessity in order to advance in one's career and show commitment to one's organization.

Considering how much millennials value the equilibrium between the time they spend at work and the time they spend doing leisurely activities more than the previous generations did, disturbances that are the result of asymmetrical schedules annoy millennials because they render them unable to control these disruptions or maneuver around them, meaning that the employee will be more likely to indulge in absenteeism or behaviors that are counterproductive. The supervisor or manager will in turn notice this.

Moreover, knowing or understanding the needs and wants of employees helps in retaining them. He mentions several ways that are effective in order to retain millennials in an organization, such as providing them with more benefits and a flexible schedule, an option to choose, better resources, and opportunities for training and development.