5 Important Things to Know About Millennials in the Workplace

Millennials make up a tremendous portion of the working populace, and in the next few years the majority of companies will be led and managed by Millennials and trailing-edge Gen Xers.

The best-educated – and most in-debt – generation in the United States are shaping a new workplace culture, imprinting and developing new work styles and trends, and creating a tradition of transparency in the companies they work for and manage. Here are five important things to know about Millennials in the workplace.

They Love Perks

From in-office coffee and snack bars to free gym memberships, Millennials tend to gravitate towards jobs that come with perks. Millennials are all about experiences, and any workplace that offers the chance to mix work with unique experiences – like team retreats and trips, company book clubs, potlucks, and lots more – is a workplace that will likely attract lots of Millennials. In addition, because Millennials tend to carry a lot of student debt, getting something they’ll get a lot of mileage out of – like fitness memberships or cellphone allowances – will cater to how money-conscious this generation has to be.

They Expect Transparency

One of the biggest things Millennials want in the workplace is honesty and transparency. They want to be involved in the process of building and shaping the company they work for – which requires fewer closed doors and more company-wide and interdepartmental communication. Companies that espouse transparency as a corporate value will not only attract some of the best and brightest, but future leaders with positive values and great work ethic to their company, ensuring a better chance at long-term success.

They Expect A Just Workplace

Millennials want justice to be more than just an abstract concept. They expect fairness and justice in the workplace, which means if your company is really focused on hierarchy and seniority, you’ll miss out on some of the best minds in your industry who have chosen to work in a more egalitarian setting. Workplace justice means not only rewarding those who do well and creative a positive work environment, but penalizing those who make for a hostile work environment. In other words, if you let someone off the hook for harassment or cruelty because they’ve worked for you for ten years, expect at least some of your younger employees to be brushing up their resumes and departing for greener pastures.

They Like Flexibility

The remote working phenomenon has been spearheaded by Millennials, as has the concept of a more flexible corporate schedule. Millennials don’t necessarily want to work a hard nine to five schedule; they might want to work from home on Fridays, come in to the office at 11 and leave at 7, work four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days, or change their work environment throughout the day from their desk to the campus courtyard. Flexibility in work schedule and environment has not only been show to increase productivity, but employee happiness – and the happier your employees are, the longer they’ll stay and contribute their talents and hard work to company success.

They Don’t Work Off the Clock

Most Millennials are very much of the opinion that work should serve your life and not the other way around. Where this generation is concerned, the days of unpaid overtime are over – in a Millennial-dominated workforce, employers should be prepared to either let their employees work their forty and then head for home, or else pay time and a half or even double time for overtime hours.

Millennials dominate the twenty-first century workforce, and bring with them new ideas, attitudes, and concepts that positively transform company culture, practice, and development. If your company has lots of Millennials in the workplace, that’s a good sign – and they’ll be good for your company’s future success as well.