Word on the street is that Millennials have been the talk within companies. But why?
I constantly hear that companies want and need more ways to appeal to Millennials. Recently, I’ve been hearing companies say “I don’t understand them,” and “all they’re about is social media.” This conversation has been going on for a long time now, and I would have thought that by now they would understand.
There are three reasons this ongoing question continues:that companies don’t understand what attracts Millennials, they don’t take the time to research Millennials and they don’t hire a lot of young employees.
When looking for a career, everyone wants their career to appeal to their interests, whether it’s their values, morals, what the company does or even benefits. When it comes to Millennials, companies don’t think about the needs or what they look for in a workplace. Millennials like to work in a collaborative, interactive and self-controlled environment. What that means is they love to collaborate in different teams and believe that more inputs are better than one. This also means they are very open-minded and they like to work with a diverse group of people. They also don’t like the tradition of a nine to five every day; they want to be in control of their work schedule and not be micromanaged. This could mean half-days every Friday.
Another answer to this question that could be part of the problem is companies haven’t done their research on what appeals to Millennials. They haven’t done the proper research to even know what attracts Millennials and what doesn’t. What companies should consider is doing case studies that involve Millennials, focus groups and going to career fairs at colleges. The case studies and focused groups could include topics such as how to appeal to Millennials or what is the ideal career for the younger generation.
If companies are so interested in appealing to Millennials, why aren’t they hiring more of this generation? Some companies still seem to be behind on the way the workforce is evolving. There are companies that still aren’t diverse enough for the younger generation to even consider that company, but also the companies are stuck in their traditional hiring ways and aren’t creating positions for Millennials.
Part of the reason for this is because they don’t understand how to appeal to Millennials, so they don’t even think to hire them.
I have explored several companies who don’t have a lot of diverse people or talent and it’s frustrating for me entering in the workforce. I know this still puzzles others because we are more than qualified to perform the job tasks. If only these companies knew how our creative fresh minds worked.
In sum, I have discussed the three main reasons I think are the answers to this problem, which are companies don’t understand what attracts millenials, some companies haven’t done their research and they aren’t hiring millenials. I’m not saying this is a recurring issue at all companies, but it still remains an issue at some. I hope in the future, all companies have a better understanding of our generation because we are the future CEOs and employers who will help shape how successful the workforce is.
