Companies are changing their cultures for Millennials (and you should too)

Welcome Millennials into your company. (Shutterstock)

Millennials who possess the proper skills will be high in demand. Your company will need to beat the competition from snatching up the cream of the Millennial crop.

Millennials are undoubtedly our future leaders. They make up nearly a quarter of the South African population, and they’re currently account for most of the job seeker candidates on Careers24 too.

Millennials are largely underestimated. They’re associated with selfie sticks, memes, and are labelled as self-entitled, no thanks to pop culture’s excessive use of YOLOs, Bey, and Twerk. But research has shown that this is not necessarily a true reflection of reality, especially in South Africa. 

Many Millennials are hard-working and aspirational people. This coupled with their natural flair for, and easy adaptation to, new technology makes them valuable. Born ‘baggage free’ they embrace diversity and have the potential to create cultural harmony in the workplace.

Millennials who possess the proper skills will be high in demand. Your company will need to beat the competition from snatching up the cream of the Millennial crop.

Read: The most epic formula to help you spot the perfect intern

Be like most successful companies, and attract Millennials like this:

1. Give them a foot in the door
Invest in Graduate Programmes and Internships. Millennials are eager to get their feet wet in their industry. With the aim of learning, they want to immerse themselves into the job and watch how things are done, and what tools they’ll need to have a successful future.

Employing a self-motivated sponge is a wonderful asset.

2. Provide them with extra training
Millennials will jump at the opportunity to keep learning. By promising continued training to improve their skills, Millennials will jump at the opportunity to add something extra to their CV. Millennials want to grow and develop, and a company that provides them the platform to do so will see great returns. After all, a well-trained employee uses their skills for the betterment of their company.

3. Equip them with great technology
Millennials are very familiar with various devices, apps, have a natural knack for Google, and are fairly quick at figuring out how new technologies work too. That’s why they’re attracted to a company that’s able to provide them with state-of-the-art devices that will in no way hamper their productivity.

Give a Millennial fast internet and the necessary, and a Millennial will produce amazing things (in a beautiful way).

4. Offer amazing work-life perks
The previous generation largely introduced the idea of both parents working full-time. It is said that this generation is emphasising the importance of a work-life balance. Millennials want to work at places which offer them the opportunity to merge their two lives into one: Work to Live, don’t Live to Work.

Company Reviews: What are your employees saying about your company?

Trend analyst and founder of Flux Trends, Dion Chang, says “There is no barrier between work and life for Millennials, which is why they have such high expectations from their employers. At the same time, they are wonderful employees, very giving, prone to do random acts of kindness, and able to find a better way of doing things."

Flexible hours and enabling them to explore other avenues of interest if they so choose, are perks you should promote as part of your employer branding efforts.

A strong Employer Brand attracts talented professionals. Contact Careers24 to improve your Employee Value Proposition with our Marketing Expertise.