What Do Millennials Want and Why Should Companies Care?

IT companies are faced with a flux of talents of similar age, widely known as millennials.

This generation is well-known for preferring a specific working policy that among other characteristics, includes creativity, cultural innovations, their refusal to obey typical authorities, and their love for doing things their own way.

This particular generation is probably the ˝loudest˝ in the business industry nowadays, and many predictions claim they will become the majority of the workforce in the following years.

Since this generation lately piques the interest of HR, it's time to learn more about them and get deeper into the core of what is needed to attract millennials into your company.

Also, you will find a lot of useful information on why you want them to be a part of your company and most importantly: how to attract them to join your ranks.

Who Are the Millennials?

It seems as though nowadays, grouping people in different categories happens because people like to justify certain behaviors to make each other’s lives easier. Therefore, this brought up the creation of the term millennials to signify one of these groups.

Not to beat around the bush, the sheer explanation of the millennial generation (Generation Y) lies in these 3 ideas: rebellious, creative, and prone to change.

We are talking about the babies born in the period between 1981 and 1996. People describe them as individuals that nobody understands, hard nuts to crack, resisting the old and traditional templates, eager to change, and kids who do things their own way.

So if you are a part of this generation, you will probably understand why millennials act the way they do.

Working Policy They Practice

Probably the most interesting characteristic of the millennial generation is their bravery for taking risks. They are also innovative, responsible, and focused on their goals. That is how they see the means of success should be structured.

Also, they like to be motivated, and their tendency for challenging hierarchies is very specific.

To explain this a little more thoroughly, we can say it means they are not rebellious without a reason. They challenge authorities they recognize to be fake, and they are usually right. That is of course connected with the fact they simply cannot abide by the rules when they know the rules are wrong.

Instead of that, they enjoy connecting with their superiors, but in means of accepting their mentorship. They love being taught to do something new. This characteristic is also important because it emphasizes the fact they are very adaptive to technology, or that they are, so to speak, tech-savvy.

When speaking about their working ethic, they tend to be more task-oriented than time-oriented. They care about the quality of the product and results. They also prefer flexible working hours where they have enough freedom to do things on their own terms. Working from home is also another choice they would probably choose too, because of their distinct desire to do things their own way.

They also have a great passion for learning, and setting and achieving goals is their specialty. Another trait they possess is being openly receptive to feedback and recognition. That is why their creative and imaginative thinking produces very creative solutions.

The characteristics of their working policy are what ensures a job well done, especially when talking about putting the time limitation aside. Nowadays, quality over quantity is much more popular with successful companies.

The Challenging Part

Because millennials approach the work improvement very enthusiastically, they tend to be impatient and feel a bit disappointed after a while. That happens because they may put their goals too high and then feel unaccomplished if they don’t reach those goals in just one step. But that is actually a result of them approaching very passionately what they want and what they do. However, this can also be explained in another way. Everyone today, especially younger generations who are ‘’from social networks era’’ are used to expect to get everything done now and immediately.

There are some companies on the business market that have been in the spotlight for quite some time because their unique company culture motivates different, even somewhat unconventional, methods/approaches while hiring. That overlaps with millennials’ general view of how they want to get hired, and that is in a non-biased way, just for the skills and talents they possess. That being said, it is logical they like to avoid headhunters exclusively. They like their privacy to be respected, but at the same time, they love standing out in the crowd.

Their temperament might be hard to handle in companies that function in a more traditional way because millennials find it very difficult to compromise when it doesn’t work in their favor. This would mean it is highly probable that the culture of hierarchy will be least preferred by millennials.

In Roango, we use the same company culture categories.

Work Environment They Prefer

The optimal workplace millennials thrive in has to be relaxing, comfortable, and fun.

Simply put, the atmosphere and the working relationship they have with their coworkers and the management matter immensely. So, if you are a company owner/CIO/manager, consider creating an environment in which millennials' professional development isn't hindered. This is why the company culture type is a segment they will definitely check when considering whether to apply for your company's job opening or not.

Let us simplify the explanation of what millennials want from their company, and the environment they will fit:

How millennials think:

• I will not be used and patronized in any way
• I have to love my job in order to be able to do it
• It’s ok to change jobs often, as long as I chase my dream
• If the bosses require me to do something unfair or immoral, I will not blindly listen, even if it gets me fired
• No discrimination in any category, abuse is forbidden, and any sort of violence will not be tolerated
• Challenges, change, and new and different tasks are welcome
• Fun, relaxed, and friendly working ambient is preferred
• Teamwork and development in a career are a must

From this, it is easy to conclude that millennials want to work in a place where they feel purposeful and can make an impact. It is obvious that the company culture is of great importance to millennials, which increases the importance of platforms like Roango, whose goal is to connect the companies with suitable talents and vice versa.

Tips and Tricks for Attracting Millennials to Your Company

1. Originality and uniqueness

Since this is one of the traits millennials deeply care about, approaching them in quite a unique way while interviewing them is a very good idea.  Also, the originality of your own company plays a big role in this game. It is useful to keep up with the competition to stand out as a company in the business market. To summarize it, it means authenticity should be above all.

2. Creativity and dynamism

Millennials like to express themselves and their idea in a different, creative way. They also love it when their job isn’t boring in a sense of constantly doing one and the same thing. So different projects, new approaches, or dynamic tasks are what interests them when looking for a job in a certain company.

3. Privacy

As a company, it is recommendable for you to be considerate about the privacy of your talents, in this case, millennials, who are specific because they cherish their privacy more than anything else. Also, they like to do things their own way, but they are usually open for parley if their bosses aren’t satisfied with their decision. It is also important to mention that this all might be a reflection of their opinion that they should to get a job and be appreciated for what they can do and know (and not through a connection).

4. Comfortability and relaxation

Even though it sounds like a cringy commercial for the spa center, don’t worry - it isn’t what we aim for here.

It is essential that the working environment remains within the boundaries of an open, tolerant, and fair company culture. Nobody wants to go to work feeling stiffed, unappreciated, forced, and treated like they don’t matter.

5. Possibility to develop further

Millennials find advancement in the business industry very important, and they feel about it strongly. If your company has options for development for their carriers, they will be interested in your job offer. They need to feel good in whatever they do, make a difference, and not in any circumstance - be bored. Give them a challenge, a mystery to resolve, a cup of good coffee, and they will feel satisfied.

6. Kindness without condescension

Communication is the key when we talk about millennials and work with them. They like to resolve conflicts with a conversation, assertiveness, and in a peaceful way. Equality in the workplace means a lot to them, and they believe hiring without bias is the right thing to do and that everybody should have an equal chance.

7. Openness to change

Millennials are a generation that might be the “loudest” of them all because they are stereotyped in a bit of a controversial way.

Since the millennials see flexibility as a professional trait, they prefer being straightforward when it comes to working conditions, so the option to put their preferences transparently in their CV (in the case of Roango, their profile acts as a CV) is a very helpful tool.

Changing the world was never easy, and every generation has had a lot on their plate while trying to bring something new to the world. Millennials will teach humanity how to respect themselves more, teach them that if you know how to fight for yourself, you can actually accomplish a lot. They want to be individuals in the companies which push their dreams into realization. They know they have to work to get the results the companies ask from them - and they use their wits, are brave, and have the stamina for a lot of failures that bring success in the long run.

What Not to Do

Basically, these are the things that you should be aware of when thinking about the ‘not to do’ category, if we look at it from the traditional perspective of what working should be like:

The traditional working policy: If you want to hire them, do not expect the millennials to do the following in their workplace:

• Work for money, not pleasure
• See their job as something they should be happy about simply because they have a job
• Stay in one company until retirement, without a chance of further development
• Obey you even though they might think you are really wrong
• Be OK with the peer pressure, discrimination, and all sorts of abuse from bosses and colleagues
• Repeat the same task day after day and feel that it is natural and should be accepted without resentment.

Also, while communicating with them, you might notice they like to ask a lot of things. They have questions, therefore don’t be lazy to answer them. They want to learn and develop by any means, and they are interested in many things; you might even learn something new from them.

In short, this all means one thing: The ability to adapt to change and be ready for new ideas are crucial factors to possess if you want to hire a millennial group of people in your company.

So, What Do Millennials Want?

Technically, it should be fairly obvious that millennials like to do things their own way, so looking for a job themselves comes as no surprise. That means one thing: no recruiting mediators - or headhunters so to speak.

That is why they usually use hiring platforms where they have the most freedom to express themselves and get hired on their own terms.

So in order to attract this particular group of individuals, you have to show off the individuality of your own company, as that is the key feature they are looking for while finding a job. If you achieve that. As long as your company culture coincides with their vision of work, you and millennials will gather in a perfect fit.

Summing it all up, you should make the atmosphere welcoming, relaxing and fun, appreciate their work, encourage them to strive for more, and LISTEN to what they have to say. Regardless of whether they will just ask you a lot of questions or share ideas with you, it is important for them to be heard and seen.

Simply put, millennials are not just a good addition to your company, but a great one. Not just because they’ll be truly dedicated to your projects, but because of the outburst of new and upcoming projects which will be born out of their ideas. If you let them cooperate with you, both parties will be more than satisfied, and the business industry will develop in a new direction all of the wings of their creative energy and dedication. And any company that embraces their unique ways can expect that strategy to boost their reputation as well. All in all, it’s a win-win situation.