Millennials want to have an impact, not only in your organisation but in the world. They want to know how the work they do contributes to the company and society as a whole.
Millennials got a bad rap when it comes to being part of the workforce: they don’t stay; they don’t like to be told what to do; they don’t want to work from the office; they expect designer spaces.
But stereotyping based on the date of birth is unfair. According to a report by Trusted Interns, up to 75% of the workforce will be made up of the millennial generation by 2025.
We have a different view when hiring millennials. We are building our business on the strengths and values of what it means to be a millennial.
In an article in Time magazine, Lauren Kaplan emphasised the benefits of hiring millennials rather than looking through age lenses. She identified millennials’ adaptability; the fact that they are digital natives; their appetite for new ideas and best practice; that they’re driven; and that they have strong values and have a global perspective as good reasons to hire them.
We wanted to hire differently and when looking to grow our business consistently and make a difference, recruiting people directly from university presented us with both challenges and benefits.
Who they are is more important than what they can do and we go through a rigorous hiring process to find the right people for our culture. Although we’re a cloud-based accounting and advisory firm, people are one of our most important values, so our business model, client service and HR policies are focused on hiring the best and growing these millennials in the accounting industry.
Purpose is key and millennials want to work towards something bigger than themselves. They want to know that you’re not just a capitalist money-making machine. They want to have a purpose.
Since millennials want vision, they want visibility on what they can achieve with your organisation. They want to know that this isn’t a dead-end job.
We hired six highly adaptable and presentable graduates who engage well with our clients and project a positive impression of our business and we’re able to instil our work ethic and values.
Since millennials want vision, they want visibility on what they can achieve with your organisation. They want to know that this isn’t a dead-end job.
AUTHOR | Peter Magner CA(SA), Iridium Business Solutions