How to successfully create a millennial-friendly workplace.
Contact centers are a frequent starting point for young employees entering the workforce. The call center environment can be a great place for new employees to get their feet wet and experience everything that comes with a full-time job and paycheck.
Young workers especially are interested in the valuable experience that first job offers, but in addition to gaining professional development, they’re also hoping to make a difference—in the organization and the world. More than ever, these new employees in entry-level jobs expect their work to align with their goals, dreams, values and expectations.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research Center, millennials (young people reaching adulthood around the year 2000) became the largest segment of the American workforce in the first quarter of 2015. With baby boomers retiring in droves and Gen Xers maxed out, about every third worker is now a millennial.
Creating a Millennial-Friendly Workplace
Some contact centers get it. Low attrition, high engagement and round-the-clock loyalty are just a few of the benefits that can come from understanding the aspirational and ideological uniqueness of millennials. Those call center directors and managers who are making the right changes to their culture and management styles are winning the war to attract and retain these employees. They know their business depends on finding and keeping top talent from this amazing pool of people ready to make their mark on the company and the world.
In this article, I will describe five key millennial qualities. Contact centers can focus on these traits to attract this workforce and maximize their positive impact on your business.
Understand Your Millennials
There are some important things you should know about millennials that may not be true of your Gen X or baby boomer team members:
- They are resourceful and mobile. Most millennials started their working life during one of the worst recessions in the history of America. They don’t expect any one company to be their lifelong employer and they understand having transferable skills is essential to security.
- They have few illusions about work. Millennials, by and large, grew up with one or both parents working hard to make life better for them, often at great personal and family sacrifice. As millennials watched those same hard-working parents lose their place in the middle class through layoffs or other financial setbacks, they learned a hard lesson. Millennials are well aware of what can go wrong in an employer/employee relationship, and they can be cynical about companies that expect loyalty but don’t reciprocate it to their staff.
- They believe they can make a difference. As is often the case, there is idealism behind their cynicism. Millennials have a global world view and feel a personal responsibility for improving society. They understand how they can impact those around them and how they can affect real change. They want to be part of the big picture.
- They take technology for granted. Millennials are the first generation to have technology be part of their daily life for as long as they can remember. They are the Facebook generation (not to mention Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram) and they have shared everything they do, virtually. They communicate differently than their predecessors. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study, 41% of millennials prefer electronic communication over face-to-face.
Provide a Workplace That Is Inclusive of Millennials
Now that you know some characteristics and expectations of millennials, you can better understand how to attract them. Successfully building a millennial-friendly workplace is a matter of updating and presenting your culture, brand and messaging in ways that are meaningful to them.
Technology
Millennials were raised on technology, have a passion for it, and expect to use it in their personal and work lives. They do understand budgetary constraints, but if technology spend is always at the bottom of your list, don’t expect high employee satisfaction and retention. The toolbox of the millennial is digital and better tools will improve their performance and engagement and reduce frustration. If outdated or analog technology is the best you can do, then you may want to aim your recruiting efforts toward an older demographic.
Impact
How does your company affect their community, their industry or the world? Millennials need to know. Chances are your business has a mission or vision statement, or a list of core values and stories to go with them. Millennials want and need to understand the impact of your business on people, and then they need to know what their own impact will be. GE has made a series of popular commercials to recruit for their software division, GE Digital. Funny and quirky, the commercials starring new GE employee, “Owen,” often air during on late-night television. The premise of the spots is that GE employees are going to “change the world” by developing code that allows computers and machinery communicate in new ways. This ad campaign was developed with millennials in mind—and it led to hundreds of thousands of YouTube views and a 66% increase in traffic to GE’s online recruitment site. Few companies have GE’s resources or impact worldwide. But smaller, more personal impact stories can be just as effective. Your organization has stories to tell—whether it’s the story of one happy customer or many changed lives. Take the time to share these messages in both your recruiting and day-to-day interaction with employees. Millennials want to participate in future changes. To engage and retain your millennials, get their input. Millennials were raised on collaboration; they believe that everyone can participate and add value, and they thrive in environments that offer a high level of collaboration. By creating to committees to help identify and manage change, for example, your culture will become more welcoming to the millennial mindset. The voice of the agent—used properly—can be a powerful tool for troubleshooting, cost-cutting, process improvement and even strategy. Ignore it at your peril.
Balance
Millennials are reshaping the workplace, and forward-thinking contact centers are listening. Millennials prefer flexible work environments and management metrics that value results over clocked hours. They are passionate about being personally involved in their families and communities, and they want to be able to work when and where they want. In a study by oDesk, 92% of millennials surveyed expressed the desire to work from home, and 87% want to work on their own clock. Are you hesitant to allow work from home? Don’t rule it out. You may be surprised to hear that a Gallup poll found that remote workers were more engaged and actually put in more hours than brick-and-mortar employees. Other studies have shown that call center agents who work from home have lower absenteeism and higher productivity.
Personal & Professional Development
According to another study, when asked what makes a job offer attractive, millennials ranked “Opportunities for Career Progression” as No. 1. What makes them accept a job? Millennials say it comes down to “Opportunities for Personal Development.” Millennials are more likely to accept employment and stay with that employer if they see themselves growing both personally and professionally. As contact centers, we can offer agents opportunities to grow through additional training and development, inclusion in committees and management discussions, and career path opportunities. They’re looking for roles with greater autonomy and authority, including management, training, quality assurance and technology positions. Is there a “call center ceiling” in your organization—or is there a path for employees to move into other departments? What better way to promote the good you do than by having advocates working in every corner of your company?
Feedback
If there was ever a generation that could do away with the annual performance review, this one is it. Millennials are not satisfied with hearing how things are going once a year. They have a thirst for feedback today and every day, as well as specific guidance about how they can improve. Did you hear that? Frequent quality assurance reviews and coaching are what millennials want. Promote that to everyone in your center. Show that frequent feedback is not just a nice-to-have, but that it’s actually done. Millennials feed off of that. But be aware, millennials may not react well to micromanaging small details that don’t affect the big picture. Pick your battles. If they provide an exceptional experience, then share that with the agent. If there are areas for them to improve, then share that. Good coaches for millennials—or any generation—know when to push and when to recognize a job well done.