Hiring The Right Millennials For Your Culture

by Jonathan Jones

For the first time, there are more members of the millennial generation (born from 1977 to 1995) in the workforce than baby boomers. Millennials are stereotyped to have expectations of work-life balance being more important than working hard. It is not uncommon for a millennial to demand perks many senior employees felt they “earned.”

With baby boomers retiring and a constant need for better talent, many businesses are catering to demands of millennials during recruitment. They are offered flex time, more opportunities to work from home, and increased vacation much earlier in their careers.

Being CultureCentric in my thinking, I am all for creative ideas to find the best talent. However, I believe that the company culture comes first and needs to be based on performance followed by recognition and reward.

I asked one of my successful CEO clients, whose company hires several new employees every year, how they attract millennials. He said their methods have not changed. In fact, their standards have increased; they have determined the characteristics of a long-term successful employee. Since fewer than half of new hires will last five years (which is not that different from typical companies), they test and interview for the proven successful traits. Once people are in the system for five years, they are thriving and rarely leave.

So when it comes to “changing” to attract millennials, remember that not every millennial is a good fit. There are plenty of millennials who will fit a successful culture, and it takes time to find them.

Define your culture for long-term success and find the right people to hire. It might even be a millennial.

Jonathan Jones (Jonathan.jones@vistagechair.com or 314-608-0783) is a CEO peer group chair/coach for Vistage International.