The news this past year has been depressing, to put it lightly. The year 2015 is marked by one of the worst refugee crises since World War II, community disintegration in places like Baltimore, and church burnings at a rate not seen since the height of the civil rights movement. Millennials, in particular, are a generation that is unusually attuned to social issues. As a result, events such as these often cause millennial employees to question the impact they are making with their work. This is part of the reason that our average stay with any one employer is only 2.5 years.
Millennials want to be part of something bigger than themselves. So, if you hope to retain fantastic millennial employees, it's important to show them how their work contributes to making the world a better place. Below I've outlined five actionable steps to help you help your millennial employees recognize and appreciate the change they are creating:
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Remind them that to change one life is to change the world. Millennials are constantly saturated with bad news via their online media consumption, so it's no wonder they often feel they are incapable of solving the world’s problems. The fact is, if you can direct one person’s path in a more positive direction, you’ve changed the trajectory of the world. Here are some ways you can remind your employees of this:
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Give your employees avenues for action by offering paid volunteer time, or have your human resources department offer a cause integration platform for employees to engage with causes in your area.
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If you have a company newsletter, be sure to regularly highlight stories of how your employees’ philanthropic endeavours have made a positive social impact in the community. Make the spotlight available to all employees who are going out of their way to make a difference, whether it’s the administrative assistant, senior product manager, or entry-level marketing coordinator. This will serve as an inspiring reminder that leadership does not always come from the top down.
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Show them that it’s more about consistency than amount of time. We millennials tend to want to be all things to all people. It’s important to remind us that focused consistency is often what it really takes to get the job done. Help foster a philanthropy program that meets on a consistent basis so that your millennial employees learn how to integrate giving back into their work routine.
One way you can achieve this (inspired by US Bank Minneapolis) is by setting up a weekly shift with a local food bank. Rotate the departments out week by week so that the food bank has a time slot that is consistently manned by their corporate partner, and your employees have a regular, impactful opportunity to give back.
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Offer them tools to focus on what they’re best at. Millennials crave impact, so it’s critical that you help them link with causes that encourage them to serve in their strengths. Here are some action tips:
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Incorporate a cause engagement system into HR so employees can search for causes that match their skillset.
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Use your core business to create opportunities for community impact. For example, many companies now run Indiegogo campaigns to launch new product lines. Oftentimes, they’ll use that initial campaign to highlight a community partner. Because these are special projects, you could send out a companywide call for any employee interested in helping.
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Help them keep things right with themselves, so that they can do right by others. This doesn’t always have to come in the form of flashy benefits like gym memberships or free beer (though those things are nice!). Rather, encourage your millennial employees by the example you set as leaders. If your leadership is constantly burnt out, overworked, and has no work/life balance, you can expect the same from your millennial employees. Motivate your leadership to find work/life balance in their lives and communicate openly about this with their team.
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Keep it Real. Remember millennials face an ongoing torrent of digital messages reminding them of seemingly unstoppable global problems that they will be responsible for solving. As their leader, never take yourself too seriously. Be sure to laugh along the way! Sing! Cry! Dance randomly! By doing this, you’ll remind your young workforce that their little part of the world really is pretty awesome, and they have something to celebrate on a daily basis.
You might not see the transformation take place overnight, but implementing these programs and philosophies in the workplace is vital to the success of your company. These steps will surely inspire your best millennial employees to become leaders at your company by making a difference in their community.
Josh is the wonderful writing whiz for WonderWe - a crowdfunding social network that provides free viral tools for non-profits to fundraise, recruit, and measure impact like a pro. When not crafting beautiful musings for WonderWe, Josh can be found cooking up the latest Paleo dish (his fiance’s fault…), cycling all over God’s creation, and/or endeavoring to understand the mysterious ways of the universe.