Australian Millennials in the Workplace International Consultants Centre

Australian Millennials in the Workplace

International consultants centre

International Consultants Centre (ICC) conducted Australia-wide research into the motivations, expectations and preferences of Australian Generation Y professionals – the socalled millennials. ICC’s key question was ‘What does it take to engage and retain Australian professionals aged 23-38?’ Six hundred professionals in this age range responded to a survey which had three key domains of interest in relation to millennials: 1. reasons why they might leave a job; 2. factors that contribute to their engagement at work; and 3. the effect of workplace environment and culture on their engagement. The findings suggested that many millennial stereotypes were not supported. Millennials are not job-hoppers by choice. The majority of respondents would like to be employed by their organisation for a long term (at least four years) and with their next role being with the same organisation. The majority expressed satisfaction with their current salary and though they regarded salary as important, they also sought challenge and variety in their role. Recommendations for this domain were thus to: • increase the level of challenge or offer a change of role every few years to keep millennials engaged; • offer stable contracts and conduct regular salary reviews, with professional development and regular salary increases as they progress through the organisation; and • provide flexibility with hours and with the work location. While the majority of millennials (69%) expressed the want to be challenged by their work, only 47% felt that they were being sufficiently challenged, and, of these, the majority (74%) were less likely to be looking for a job elsewhere. The few millennials who had mentors (25%) expressed greater satisfaction with their current role and were six times less likely to be hunting actively for alternative jobs than those without a mentor. Sixty per cent felt that it was very or extremely important to meet with their manager regularly to discuss career development, and there was a strong correlation between a manager understanding the professional’s skills and capabilities and overall satisfaction with their role. On-the-job and targeted face-to-face workshops were the preferred professional development and training approaches, with less than a quarter preferring online modules or workshops. The vast majority of millennials (98%) say that it is important for their organisation’s values to align with theirs. Recommendations for this domain were thus to: • find out if employees are being sufficiently challenged and, if not, provide challenge and variety in their role; • gain an understanding of their skills and capabilities, and seek to utilise these where possible; • facilitate mentorship opportunities within the organisation; • ensure regular face-to-face meetings with managers and discussions about career development; and • provide on-the-job training opportunities wherever possible. Millennials look for leaders who mentor, develop and lead by example, with 83% indicating that leadership in their organisation is very important or extremely important to their level of job satisfaction. Workplace culture is also important for job satisfaction,

particularly with respect to relationships between colleagues, communication and collaboration. Important considerations in the physical working environment included workplace location (47%); having an assigned desk or workspace (rather than ‘hot-desking’) (38%); having adequate equipment and resources (particularly with respect to current information technology hardware and systems); and having the opportunity to work from home. Recommendations for this domain were thus to: • give exposure to leaders who mentor, develop and lead by example; • provide an assigned workplace with adequate and up-to-date IT hardware and systems; • provide opportunities to develop strong and healthy relationships with their work colleagues; • communicate whenever possible in person and directly; and • find ways to help millennials feel that they have some influence, asking for their input and tapping into their expertise as much as possible.

As noted by the CEO of ICC, Ms Wanda Smith, the results were markedly consistent across millennial age groups, notwithstanding a 15year age gap between the youngest and oldest millennials. “Salary is a key professional driver, while being sufficiently challenged and having quality workplace relationships and workplace location are fundamental to engagement and job satisfaction.” * * * International Consultants Centre delivers tailored workshops, coaching sessions and team building programs that enable greater engagement, encourage long term workplace satisfaction and boost productivity. See https:// internationalconsultantscentre.com/.