How to Make Your Company More Attractive to Gen Y Employees
Millennials are quite literally the future. As they continue to innovate and bring creativity to markets that may have been lacking before, bringing them into your business is essential for continued growth and success. Gen Y employees have grown up in a different world than Gen X employees, and therefore have different workplace expectations and goals. The 9-to-5 can no longer be the standard as we see the growth of coworking, virtual offices, and other flexible working options.
Gen Y employees continue to fight for quality against quantity: if they're able to produce the same standard of work in four hours from a coffee shop than they would after spending 8 hours in a traditional office, they will always prefer the first option. Making your business attractive for these employees is a given at this point -- you must be flexible. Here are some tips for making your business more attractive to Gen Y employees.
Technology
Gen Y employees have grown up around technology, and they're at their best when they're able to make use of their knowledge and unique skillsets. Make sure your company is up-to-date on technological advances in the workplace. From smart pens, to tablets, to interactive boards, the time you put into updating your space will pay off. Technology allows a degree of freedom that is unattainable through more traditional offices, and your employees will be thanking you for providing them with the tools to create.
Lose the Formality
Most millennials refer to their teachers by their first name. Stepping out of school and into the office with an extreme dress code and everyone being referred to by a formal name adds a coldness to the company. Gen Y employees can balance the formal and the informal, if you just allow them to. Be more relaxed with the dress code and don't worry about formal name tags or business cards. Create a space where the employees feel welcome and comfortable, and they'll enjoy spending time in it.
Flexibility
With the growth of coworking spaces, home offices, virtual offices, and every other type of office that isn't a traditional office, Gen Y employees like to be able to work out of wherever they are. Let these employees do the work their way. They'll appreciate your flexibility, and you may even be the “cool boss.” Being able to work with millennials in accommodating their schedule and lifestyle will go a long way in the workplace. They will get the work done just as well, if not better than if they were bound to an official 9-to-5 schedule.
Respect
One issue that millennials face when entering the workplace is that other employees will look down on them – older generations tend to see Gen Y as spoiled, oversaturated by technology, and lazy. If employees aren't treated with respect, they will find somewhere else to work or won't feel compelled to produce their best work. All it comes down to is treating them how you would want to be treated. The workplace is changing, and putting down others that keep up with the latest innovations isn't the way to bring Gen Y into your workplace.
When addressing these facets of the modern workplace, one place to look is Servcorp. Their coworking spaces, virtual offices, and virtual receptionists are made to help you bring your workspace into the 21st century and provide Gen Y employees with the flexibility they want.
