The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2018 highlighted an interesting statistic: 43% of millennial respondents stated that they intend to leave their current job within the next two years. The outcry from business ofcourse, is: “Where is their loyalty to my company?”, where loyalty is seen as synonymous with tenure.
It’s a misconception to believe that millennials aren’t loyal. They can be. Have a look here and here to see just how loyal they are. But, their loyalty isn’t a given, it needs to be earned.
How do I earn millennials’ loyalty?
Loyalty is grounded in the alignment that millennials can see between their own interests and those of their employer.
In an illustrative example; millennials link their personal brand to the reputation of their employer. So scandal challenges loyalty because no millennial wants to tag their work selfie with #underadministration #offtotheombudsman #yesthatoilspillisours
Below are just three ways to earn and foster loyalty in your millennial employee cohort.
It seems that loyalty is quite expensive. Does it need to be?
Yes, training and development can be costly. And yes, salary increases will add to your operating budget. But flexible working arrangements can increase productivity and profit, so that’s an area to explore if your finances are tight.
However, it’s important to remember and compare what it costs you to lose and replace an employee. When you make that calculation, spending on your current millennial employees starts to make #awholelottasense.
Loyalty is a long-term investment. A short-term investment in your millennial employees can lead to long-term rewards, and long-term cost-saving.
Reflect on conditions in your workplace.
Identify areas of the business where you have a high turnover. If you were in that environment, fulfilling that role; would you be loyal to the company? What would need to change for you to stay? Use the matrix below to see if you’re in the red zone!
If you’re wondering how to get from red to green, without incurring prohibitive costs and hurting your bottom line, connect with us at hello@meraki.co.za.
