Compensation and Retention: The Millennial Workforce Challenge

Competition for talent is especially fierce when it comes to younger Millennial professionals who want jobs that fit their active lifestyle, support their desire for work-life balance, and meet their fast-tracked professional growth goals. If they feel disengaged or a position isn’t meeting their expectations for personal or professional growth, they are not afraid to change jobs to look for work opportunities that better meet their needs.

Ongoing turnover of employees causes unrest and upheaval in businesses, impacting bottom lines as they continuously are recruiting and trying to retain new employees. It is essential to have excellent hiring and retention programs to rise to this workforce challenge. If you are willing to adapt to meet the needs of this new generation, it is possible to slow the turnover rates by simply updating job responsibilities, promotion schedules, and by adjusting compensation and benefits offerings.

A competitive salary is important, but millennials want more than fair pay. They look for jobs that provide a mix of additional benefits. Some of these include:

Shared Values: People want to be able to bring their full selves to work, as people’s work and personal lives have become more fluid than ever before, expectations that the companies we work for have our shared values have become increasingly important. Nearly all employees want to be proud of the company they work for.

Work-life balance/Flexible Schedules/Paid Time Off: Millennials want jobs that allow them flexibility, and they want to work at home or in the office. They want to work on team projects and connect with their coworkers, but they also desire the freedom to adjust their work schedules to accommodate personal or family needs. They also prioritize time off to explore the world, to give back and to recharge – or to care for families (i.e., parental leave). Providing adequate time off, flexibility in schedules and regular team-building activities encourages employee engagement.

Financial well-being: Millennials appreciate personalized work experiences that focus on overall well-being, including financial health. As they juggle the financial burdens of student loans, family, health, and living expenses, they tend to be concerned about how they will pay their debts. Offering programs that address financial well-being like creating a budget or making wise investment decisions can put employee worries at ease. If financial concerns can be addressed, work performance improves as employees focus on their jobs.

Authentic benefits communication: Employees crave straight-forward, authentic benefits communication with simple explanations and details. Millennial employees tend to be suspicious of information that is too polished, so many employers struggle to communicate benefits effectively because they don’t know how to reach them effectively or haven’t adapted technique or style. Consider creating strategic communication plans to ensure you are reaching your audience effectively and adjust old methodology when it comes to getting information out to your team.

Proactive and preventative health coverage: Millennials highly value their benefits but use their plans differently than older generations. Older generations tended to use benefits as they needed it, millennial employees are taking a much larger proactive stance and focus on healthy living proactively. At the top of the list of expected perks, are healthcare benefits, such as medical, dental, and vision.

Student loan assistance: Millennials want support to help lessen financial worries and to improve their quality of life. A quarter of the workforce has college loan debt, and this significant debt can affect employees’ performance as well as satisfaction at work and in many other areas of the lives. Employers who assist employees in paying off their loans can enhance their reputation as an employer of choice.

How can we help?
Compensation Works has the expertise and bandwidth to support your organizations’ unique communication, culture, compensation structure, and benefits needs. We partner with your team to provide meaningful feedback, recommendations, and observations. We add bench strength and a unique perspective to your busy team. We help our clients by crafting impactful strategies that inform, engage, and inspire, and most importantly, retain your team.