Cast Of Thousands

Retaining and understanding millennials is ever more important

Millennials are not known for getting a positive report card in the workplace. While they are portrayed as being confident, innovative, adaptive and technologically savvy, millennials are also, many say, ‘tough to manage’.

However, those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s will comprise 50% of the global workforce by 2020, and 75% by 2025. They will soon outnumber their Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) predecessors in the workplace and are no longer considered the leaders of tomorrow, but the leaders of today.

Chantelle Solomon says that popular perceptions and genuine generational differences can result in a misalignment in the expectations between millennials and their organisations, negatively affecting their levels of engagement, performance and tenure.

A PWC report found that one of the biggest challenges for organisations is engaging and retaining millennials. Technology has exacerbated their sense of impatience, feeding the instant gratification tendencies of these young people who are used to getting what they want as soon as they want it.

Millennials currently make up 45% of the South African workforce, as compared with 29% Gen X and 21% Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964). Yet less than 30% of millennials are engaged (emotionally and psychologically attached to their work and workplace). The report says that 55% are not engaged and 16% are actively disengaged.

“With just over 70% of SA millennials anticipated to move to a different organisation within five years, it is high time organisations find a way to retain these talented professionals by being more intentional in managing expectations – their own and the millennials they employ,” says Solomon.

Changing the rules