How to Work with Millennials
Generation Y will dominate the Australian workforce by 2020 according to recent research released by Hays, and this will impact on the way businesses engage with employees.
Hays, a recruitment organisation, said there are currently 6.1 million people between the age of 18 – 30 in the Australian labour market. The research surveyed 1,000 people in this demographic to find out their views and expectations of the workplace . The answers were egalitarian and entrepreneurial, with a willingness to commit to further study to enhance their careers.
Another key theme of the survey were that young people wanted familiarity with employers, 43 per cent of respondents said being supportive was the most important quality of a workplace leader. For example they would prefer superiors to act as coaches and mentors rather than the director, explained Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand Nick Deligiannis. Engaging work was also rated more highly than personal wealth in the survey.
“This group are very focused on attaining a work-life balance, which includes a desire for flexible hours and the possibility of working from home. That’s not to say they are unrealistic though, as they are fully aware of the importance of job security, loyalty and financial compensation.”
The top three factors needed in a working environment according to the participants was varied and interesting work (important for 64 per cent of respondents), flexible hours (50 per cent) and flexible benefits (33 per cent).
Research from virtualisation and cloud computing provider VMWare also found that millennials expressed a desire to work from home, which could affect how offices operate in the future. Similar to the Hays research, which found that 35 per cent of young workers would like to be able to work from home, VMWare found that millennials also expressed the desire to work offsite.
VMWare conducted an end-user computing study earlier this year that found 73 per cent of employees now work outside the office, with 42 per cent saying they were less distracted and more productive offsite.
HR management software can help organisations manage staff based on the employee’s needs and responsibilities while also maintaining organisational efficiency.
