Embracing Millennial Movers and Developing Them Anyway
By: Shanae Mitchell, MATD, Guest Author
Introduction
For many Millennials, people born between 1981 and 1996, staying at a company long-term is not on a list of career aspirations. In fact, almost half, or 49%, according to Forbes (Friedman, 2022), are looking to leave within two years.
Gone are the days of company loyalty and being a ‘company person.’ These days, it’s all about what is best for oneself. One of the biggest motivations for leaving a job is the desire for a greater work/life balance. Surveys have shown that 57% of Millennials have travel as their top priority. This new prioritization is not exclusive to the Millennial generation. Surveys have also shown that 56% of Gen Z workers, currently aged 18 -24, would leave a job that makes them unhappy, while a whopping 40% said they would rather be outright unemployed than unhappy. (Allcott, 2022)
With this in mind, it may be hard to fathom investing in learning and development funds and opportunities for employees who plan to leave soon anyway, but I say it should be a top priority. Here are three reasons why:
- Lack of learning opportunities is one of the reasons employees leave. I can attest to this one from personal experience, but surveys back it up as well. Studies have shown that while 72% of millennials value and desire growth opportunities (Miller, 2022), only 29% of them actually feel engaged (Adkins, 2022).
- Employee development is a great perk to attract new talent. As the above numbers show, Millennial talent craves engagement and development from their employer. Millennials are also highly likely to leave reviews on professional job boards and social networking sites. Having current (and past) employees leave positive reviews about the opportunities available at and provided by your company increases its appeal to potential employees.
- Investing in your staff is an investment in your company. By making sure your staff is up to date, capable, and empowered to do their job, you are making sure your company is also able to run as effectively as possible.
Conclusion
Despite the counter-intuitiveness of investing in people poised to leave, it is actually the smart thing to do. By doing so, it is possible to stop the employees from leaving – and if they still do, offering learning opportunities is a great way to attract more employees.
Questions for Discussion
- What are some learning/development opportunities your current employer offers?
- What role does the availability of learning/development opportunities play in your decision to stay in a job or seek new opportunities?
Reference
Adkins, A. (2022). Millennials: The Job-Hopping Generation. Retrieved 8 May 2022, fromhttps://www.gallup.com/workplace/231587/millennials-job-hopping-generation.aspx
Allcott, D. (2022). Gen Z & Millennials Would Rather Be Unemployed Than Unhappy at Work. Retrieved 8 May 2022, from https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/jobs/gen-z-millennials-rather-be-unemployed-than-unhappy-work/
Friedman, Z. (2022). 49% Of Millennials Would Quit Their Job Within 2 Years. Retrieved 8 May 2022,from https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/05/22/millennials-disillusioned-future/?sh=768b2bf2353e
Miller, H. (2022). 5 Reasons Millennials in the Workplace Leave Their Jobs – Leaders.com. Retrieved 8May 2022, from https://leaders.com/articles/company-culture/millennials-in-the-workplace/
RU Training @ Roosevelt University in Chicago 
I agree that millennials have more opportunities when it comes to the fast pace of technology and job opportunities. When others during the 90s and the early 2000s had to rely strictly on faxed resumes, or job opportunities listed in the paper. Lastly working with a Temporary Staffing Agency. It was such a small opportunity with a window of luck and prayer for the dream job or great position you wanted to receive. Now the statement indicated “Surveys have also shown that 56% of Gen Z workers, currently aged 18 -24, would leave a job that makes them unhappy, while a whopping 40% said they would rather be outright unemployed than unhappy. (Allcott, 2022)” So many times we had to keep our jobs whether we wanted to or not. Misery was an everyday concept, while secretly trying to get a better position with quality benefits and better pay.
My current employer is the reason I am working my way through the MATD program because they are reimbursing me 100% of the cost as long as I meet all the GPA criteria. This is a major reason that I will stay where I am and I am grateful for the opportunity they have given me.
This article was an interesting read to know about the different statistics in Millenials and Gen Zs, and I can easily relate to this article! My current employer provides continuous learning and career development for all its employees and always encourages us to gain additional knowledge and experience. My work heavily focuses on applying and building our expertise for clients and their day-to-day tasks and responsibilities. No issue is ever the same, so we constantly learn and strengthen our skills when we receive new challenges and problems. I am thankful that I have found an organization that I know I can grow with but also values me, not just as an employee but as a person. I have not given myself a “deadline” for how long I will be working here, but thinking more if I am still capable of learning more here or not.
Your job and employer sound wonderful! It’s great to hear that organizations are meeting the learning and development needs of their staff.
What role does the availability of learning/development opportunities play in your decision to stay in a job or seek new opportunities?
It depends, as all things typically do. For me, knowing that my organization spends the time and money to encourage and implement learning/development opportunities shows me that the organization cares for their employees. Having these learning/developmental opportunities are not mandatory so not all organizations have to spend the money to do this. However, as I mentioned, if an organization I am applying for, puts effort into creating a great employee environment, care for employee well being, invest in employees, is a priority to me. I can find my role doing the same task in any organization, what I can not find in every role is great work environment with an organization who really supports their employees;therefore, this would be an important factor I consider.
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective Priscila and how it aligns with millennials and Gen Z’ers. Views like these make organizations better as they must compete for talent.