Trying to Hire Millennials (Or Keeping Them From Leaving) in 2019? Here’s What They Want

A company, LaSalle Network, just conducted their annual hiring trends report, looking at hiring in the year ahead. This year they collected responses from more than 5,000 millennial professionals on what they [millennials] want out of a role and company to help organizations understand how to attract and retain this demographic in the tight labor market.

Below are four key takeaways from the report:

76 percent of professionals are open to new opportunities. Despite most employees (65 percent), being satisfied or very satisfied with their overall happiness at their current employer, many employees may have one foot out the door at their organization. In a competitive market, businesses need to focus on retention. Whether it’s social media, or their own personal networks, employees are surrounded by examples of people getting jobs for more money, fewer hours, better benefits and perks, etc. Reinvest in staff and make sure managers have a pulse on where their employees are at and what they want.

Create career paths. Having a clear career path was the area professionals were most dissatisfied with at their current employer. Employees want to know what the future holds for them. Millennials want to grow, take on more, and be challenged. If they don’t think they can get that at their current organization, they will look elsewhere.

If you want to retain your top people, showcase employees who have been promoted from within. Talk openly about employees making lateral career moves. Map out potential career paths within the different groups at your organization and make them known. The last thing you want is for a top employee to leave for something they could have gotten at your organization had you known.

Re-recruit star performers.Managers should constantly be having career discussions with employees on what they want out of a career, any frustrations they’re having, anything they’d like to learn. This way, the minute an employee brings up an interest in something else, you can proactively help them seek that out at your organization instead of going elsewhere.

Benefits matter. The second reason millennials are open to hearing about new opportunities is because they want better benefits. The tricky thing about benefits is different employees care about different benefits. You may have an expecting mother who cares about parental leave, while you have a recent graduate who would appreciate student loan assistance. What’s realistic for your company? Have your workforce demographics shifted? Are you ramping up hiring for entry-level positions in 2019? The answers to these questions should inform the types of benefits you offer.

Conduct an internal survey and ask what benefits employees would like or how helpful they think your current benefits package is. The key is then acting on that information, or addressing it so staff knows they are being heard.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents received two to three job offers in 2018 … and nearly three quarters of respondents received at least one job offer in the last year. Millennials have options. If your organization is hiring, it may be necessary to consolidate the hiring process. Candidates are not on the market long and likely are juggling other offers by the time they meet with you. Consider offering a signing bonus as an additional tool to attract top talent when you come across someone great.

The unemployment rate has been near historic lows for several months now. It is an employee-driven market, so businesses must adjust. Understand what the professionals of today value and cater to that in employee attraction and retention strategies.