Managing millennials: tailoring your approach to aid retention
Our research into the minds of millennials found that unfavourable management style is a potential deterrent for 49% of millennials when considering a role – so it pays to know what this generation is looking for.
More than a quarter (27%) of our survey respondents want a manager who will lead by example, while a display of empathy goes a long way for 14%. Only 5% of people want their manager to be their friend. However, millennials are more likely to connect with their manager on facebook than LinkedIn – somewhat of an eye opener given that LinkedIn is considered the corporate networking platform.
• Female workers (13%) are more likely to want appreciation from their manager than men (9%), while men (15%) are more focused on inspiration than their female counterparts (10%)
• In terms of geography, workers in the East Midlands prize appreciation, while job seekers in London plump for empathy
• Empathy is also important for those in HR (30%); those in the legal profession want ‘success’ in a manager, and employees in the arts crave a manager with drive
And it’s not just managerial attributes that are under scrutiny: when asked where they would most like their manager to conduct a meeting with them, we found that more than a third (36%) shun the typical meeting room scenario. This is a generation that errs on the side of casual, so don’t be afraid to head off-site: 13% prefer to have meetings in a coffee shop, while a hopeful 5% are most at home in the pub – a figure that rises to 17% for legal and HR millennials.
Expectations and aspirations
While a healthy 37% of our survey respondents believe they are on track in terms of what they wish to achieve in their career, 29% admit it will take longer to progress than they originally expected. Interestingly, men appear to be more ‘on track’ than women, at 44% and 33% respectively, while Londoners (53%) outrank those in the South East (29%) in terms of where they are in their professional journey.
Frighteningly, more than half (52%) of millennials think they could be doing their manager’s job within two years, with male millennials even more confident at 66% – and Londoners more confident still at 73%. For the millennial generation, managing expectations – at the same time as setting goals – is important for both engagement and retention.
Get in touch
If you’d like to view the findings of our research in full, you can download our free whitepaper report here. Or, to discuss how we can help you to tailor your attraction and engagement techniques to target millennials, don’t hesitate to get in touch.