6 Ways to Keep Your Millennial Employees From Quitting
By: Larry Kim
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Life, Employees, Millennials, Marketing

When you hear the word Millennial, a lot of dumb stereotypes probably pop into your head.

One of those stereotypes might be the idea that Millennials are “job hoppers.” Even though this is actually a myth, the reputation continues to stick.

But guess what? Young people quit jobs, regardless of their generation. Duh!

Also, funny thing. As it turns out, Millennials actually stay longer with their employees than members of Generation X did at the same age.

According to Pew Research:

“In January 2016, 63.4 percent of employed Millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1998, reported they had worked for their current employer at least 13 months. In February 2000, somewhat fewer 18- to 35-year-olds (59.9 percent) — most of whom are today’s Gen-Xers — reported similar job tenure. Looking at young workers with longer tenures, 22 percent of Millennial workers had been with their employer for at least five years as of 2016, similar to the share of Gen-X workers (21.8 percent) in 2000.”

Regardless of what you may have heard, Millennials aren’t the worst. That’s good news, considering they will make up more than half of the global workforce just three years from now.

As the infographic below from Sharefile shows, it’s actually pretty simple to keep Millennial employees.

1. Millennials want technology.

Millennials are the most technologically adept generation yet. Modern technology can help your employees be more productive. So provide them with technologies to help them do their jobs better!

2. Millennials want professional development.

What happens if you train your employees and they leave? Better question: what happens if you don’t train your employees and they stay?

No doubt you’ve heard some variant of this brain teaser before. Just remember: nobody wants to work a dead-end job.

Millennials, just like generations before them, want to advance, grow their skills, make more money, get fancier titles, and learn leadership skills. Help them get there!

3. Millennials want collaboration.

Millennials want to be part of a team when working on projects. They want to work at places where they can collaborate with their colleagues and superiors using technology.

A Microsoft survey found that collaboration is a primary driver for where Millennials seek employment. “Their rallying cry is ‘a win for one is a win for the team,’” according to David Stillman, a consultant and co-author of The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace.

4. Millennials want work/life balance.

Millennials are open to flexible work arrangements — in other words, working flexible hours in or out of the office. Technology has made it easy to work from anywhere and can keep your employees happy and productive.

(Oh, and you should avoid self-destructive habits like these to achieve your own work/life balance.)

5. Millennials want a purpose.

Culture and values matter to Millennials. Get them to buy into your company’s purpose and you’ll find that some of them are willing to work for less.

6. Millennials just want to be happy.

Millennials want to work for companies that value the happiness of their employees. For some, this is critical.

And you know who else wants all these that? Pretty much everybody in the workforce.

Are all Millennials hard-working? Of course not. Like every other generation, you can find lots of donkeys among the unicorns.

But there are lots of brilliant and creative Millennials who shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of the bad Millennials. And remember, at one time, the Baby Boomers and Generation X were looked down on by the older generations, too!

If you can’t manage to give your employees these six simple things, maybe the problem is you. So enough with the generational stereotyping.

We’re all in the same boat. Let’s all work together.

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About the Author

Larry Kim is the CEO of MobileMonkey — provider of the World’s Best Facebook Messenger Marketing Platform. He’s also the founder of WordStream.

You can connect with him on Facebook Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram.

Originally posted on Inc.com