Employee turnover continues to be a major concern for Nashville employers. In fact, survey results show that 48% of employers list turnover as the chief reason they’re hiring.
What’s fueling the problem? Demographically speaking, turnover is occurring for very different reasons. Baby boomers are rapidly retiring, while younger groups like millennials are changing jobs to advance their careers.
Millennials are change-tolerant. They feel responsible for managing their own careers. And as job prospects continue to brighten, the millennial retention problem will continue to grow.
How can you cut it down to size? Start by implementing Wood’s best retention-boosting ideas for young workers:
Think like a millennial worker.
To retain them, you must first understand what makes them tick:
- Younger workers will “job hop” to get what they want. Unlike their older counterparts, they don’t feel beholden to their employers – so they’re more willing to sacrifice stability for opportunity.
- It’s not enough for them to merely “have a job”; they crave challenge, flexibility, honest feedback and culture that fits.
- Raised in an era of constant change, millennials fear becoming obsolete. If they can’t grow and learn within your organization, they’ll look for those opportunities with another employer.
Offer training and professional development.
Give their need for challenge and opportunity, growth within your organization is important to millennials. However, rising through your company’s ranks can present unique challenges for talented young employees. Here are a few ways to overcome those challenges:
- Teach them to delegate. Groom young workers for supervisory or management roles by teaching them how to give clear instructions, set timetables and elicit progress reports from team members.
- Help them develop trust. When you promote a young employee, building trust can be complicated by lingering resentment from more senior workers. Explain to your young worker the potential for hurt feelings or damaged pride, and teach them to seek essential feedback and guidance from subordinates – without abdicating leadership.
- Provide backup when millennials need it, but don’t solve problems for them.
- Boost confidence in newly promoted employees by: offering regular feedback on their work (both good and bad); creating open lines of communication they can use to seek help when they need it; evaluating them on their overall management abilities (not merely deliverables).
Pair them with mentors.
Mentoring is a low-cost tool that can provide a host of retention benefits. Pair senior employees with younger ones according to their strengths, to:
- facilitate knowledge transfer (in both directions)
- grow younger employees’ skills
- develop millennials’ leadership potential
- deepen younger workers’ ties within your organization
Help them chart their futures.
Help young professionals create long-term career paths within your company. Doing so: aligns their growth goals with those of your organization; demonstrates your commitment to their development; cultivates loyalty (which is one of the best ways to prevent turnover).
Boost retention by making better hires.
Wood Personnel can help you find the best-matched candidates for your available jobs. When you hire the right person – someone whose skills, interests, personality and career goals align with your organization and its culture – the first time, he’s more likely to succeed on the job and stay working for you, longer. Contact our Nashville staffing service to learn more about our recruiting options.
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