Are you struggling to attract and retain millennials in the workplace? The following infographic is based on research conducted by Microsoft into not only how to draw millennial workers to open positions, but also how to get them to stick around once they’re hired. Some key findings include:
- 93 percent of survey respondents said that working for a company with updated technology, services and solutions was important to them (48 percent of folks noted this was “extremely important”).
- Workplace collaboration is also critical for this group.
- When asked about the culture of their ideal workplace, the majority of respondents (35 percent) said good team collaboration was what they placed the most value on. This was followed by the ability to grow and create impact (33 percent), a flexible work environment (24 percent) and acknowledgement for contributions (8 percent).
- Challenges still remain when working remote.
- Most respondents (33 percent) noted editing or reviewing documents as their top challenge when working from a mobile device, followed by scheduling and viewing calendar invitations (22 percent) and joining meetings (7 percent).
- When joining virtual meetings, connectivity issues was the top challenge (42 percent), followed by inability to share screens/view information in real-time (23 percent) and to being able to see participants (17 percent).
- Security is no joke for millennials. While they are incredibly plugged in and social media savvy, they don’t throw caution to the wind when it comes to security at work.
- 81 percent of respondents said they consider security when developing, communicating and sharing sensitive information at work.
- And when something does go wrong with technology at work, millennials aren’t all running to IT as has been done historically.
- 29 percent of millennials are solving their tech issues on their own and 16 percent say they ask colleagues for support.
- 58 percent of millennials are using their own devices to get work done – something the majority of respondents (57 percent) say this is important to them.
- The majority of respondents (48 percent) are using two devices to get their work done, and 23 percent of millennials are using three or more devices for work.
- When asked if they feel their career path is laid out for them or if they are creating it, an overwhelming 80 percent of respondents agreed that they are in charge and creating their own career paths.
- When asked how long they plan to stay at their current company, the majority of respondents said less than two years (31 percent). 27 percent said they saw themselves staying for 2-4 years and 17 percent said they saw 5-9 years at their current company.
- Most millennials have jobs that require frequent work in teams (63 percent).
- They also emphasize a strong mission and value system of a company when considering a new job. 88 percent of respondents said a selecting a company with a strong mission/values system was something that draws them to a company.
- Millennials are looking to collaborate in-person with their managers and teams.
- When asked the preferred form of communication with their manager, the vast majority (65 percent) noted face-to-face.
- When asked their preferred method of collaborating on projects with colleagues, the majority (51 percent) noted they like to do so in in-person meetings.
- This could be a driving factor in why a surprising amount of millennials aren’t working remote – it’s easier to solve problems in-person. 48 percent of millennials say they don’t work from their mobile devices and 49 percent say they “never” work from home.
Methodology
The research was conducted among more than 1,000 respondents, 18-34 year olds in the United States. The research was commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by SurveyMonkey. It was conducted between October 7 and 12, 2015. Respondents consider themselves entrepreneurs, work for a start-up and/or use technology to do their job.