According to Team Stage, millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025. And for innovative companies seeking new and dynamic hires to join their growing teams, this statistic may not come as a surprise. Millennials, or people born between the years 1980 and 1995, are becoming more and more prominent within the modern workforce and altering the values and internal processes of existing organizations. As one generation retires, the next ultimately takes on higher-level leadership roles, bringing about internal changes to better meet the needs of a younger generation and technological adaptations. 

Any way you spin it, modern-day organizations and corporations seeking to adapt to current generational changes - both in the workplace and out - need to ask themselves what millennial workers seek when considering their next career move. The needs of incoming talent will ultimately change from generation to generation as workplace expectations are modified, but that does not mean organizations can chalk up these changes to youthful naivety. For organizations to continue to recruit high-level talent, they must be willing to accept and transform with generational changes

So, what do millennial professionals expect from their workplace? 

According to Gallup, Millennials and Gen Z are actually seeking very similar things from their workplace environment:

1. For their organization to care about their well-being;

2. For the organization’s leaders to be ethical, open, and transparent;

3. For the organization to be diverse and inclusive.

Well-being of Employees

It comes as no surprise that well-being is top of mind for millennial professionals. Following the onset of COVID-19 and the ever-growing mental health crisis in the United States, professionals across all generational lines are prioritizing their overall mental and physical well-being and health - and are expecting their organizations to do so as well. The culture of “hustling” and over-the-top productivity is no longer a desirable workplace environment. Today, professionals are expecting their employers to consider their mental and physical health as the foundation of their organization. 

Ethical, Open, and Transparent Leadership

Gone are the days of a manager's door being closed to employees! Millennials are seeking a higher level of transparency from their employers. They are more likely to question leadership, seek out data and third-party verification, and expect their opinions to be considered in high-level decision-making. Moreover, they are seeking organizations that ultimately align with their values with leaders that are approachable and trustworthy.

A Diverse & Inclusive Workplace

According to Gallup, “​​diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not a "nice to have" for this generation; it's an imperative that is core to their personal identities.” For millennial professionals, accepting a position at a company is not based on just salary negotiations or paid time off. Again, modern-day professionals want to work for organizations and companies that align with their personal values, including diversity, inclusivity, and respect toward all employees.

Individualized respect should always be a priority for leaders seeking to maintain a welcoming workplace environment for all employees of all generations - but, it’s now a non-negotiable for many millennial workers. Anything less does not meet expectations for younger generations as they make their mark on today’s workforce. 

Beyond these more ambiguous, culture-oriented requirements, millennials are thinking outside the box when it comes to benefit packages as well. Ultimately, millennials are expecting their workplace to fit well into their current lifestyles - not the other way around. According to Benchmark One, millennials are seeking companies that offer: 

• Sufficient training opportunities

• Flexible work schedules 

• Remote work opportunities

• Work-life integration initiatives, such as unlimited vacation time or free lunches

For older generations, it may sound outlandish to expect a company to offer unlimited vacation time. Or, even just three years ago, remote work opportunities were few and far between prior to 2020. Now, younger generations are expecting organizations to consider benefits beyond health insurance or personal days. 

So, how do organizations meet these needs? 

Whether or not an organization’s leadership wants to adapt to the changing needs of the next generation’s workforce, it will be detrimental to the retention of highly talented millennial (and Gen Z) workers to not consider how organizations can grow with generational shifts. 

For organizations to remain current, desirable, and profitable, workplace culture needs to adapt with time. Leadership teams should consistently be discussing how they can meet the needs of their current employees and how to continuously improve their workplace environment for the better. This can range from asking whether talent acquisition practices emphasize the well-being of employees or whether leaders are effectively communicating with their teams. 

The truth is that employee retention and workplace culture are ever-evolving organizational practices. The mindset of “set it and forgot it” just doesn’t apply. Rather, leadership teams should persist in their efforts to ensure employees are happy, healthy, and productive within any given workplace environment.