As I do my rounds visiting corporate clients, one question typically asked by senior management is how to understand, motivate and retain millennial. Millennial are people born between 1981 and 2000 and their typical age would be from 13 to 32.
A vice president for human resources shared with me a story of a fresh graduate millennial joining the company with the right qualifications, doing very well at work thus praised by his superiors. After 8 months the person resigns for no apparent reason. During the exit interview, the person simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “Looks like the benefits are better in the other company”. Let us first understand millennial then appreciate what is increasingly attractive in the area of benefits.
Challenge of millennial
An interesting article by Neil Howe and William Strauss describes them very well. They are on one side feeling special, sheltered, confident and achievement oriented, group oriented yet also pressured and somewhat conventional.
Special and Sheltered
This generation feels special, the most desired and really planned for by their parents. Celebrations, praise, frequent positive feedback may have given them a sense of entitlement. They realize their importance as the generation who can solve problems and make things happen for their parents, country and the world.
Being a baby boomer, during our time, after graduation and finding work, one is expected to be independent, living on your own without depending on your parents. Millennial in contrast are sheltered and tend to live longer at the parental nest. As children they are highly protected, grew up with a lot of safety measures and seldom left unsupervised. Parents tended to take up their causes in case of conflicts in school, sparing them of unpleasant experiences. In college they expect faculty and staff to flex to their needs and requirements.
Growing up in a nurturing environment, they have set goals and are confident about the future. This confidence gives them a great sense of power, makes them assertive and they have a strong belief in education to propel them to a bright future.
Group Orientation
Millennial are group oriented rather than avid individualists. They often have their close knit of special friends, prefer egalitarian leadership at work and go for service learning and volunteerism. They grew up in a pressured, structured environment and are used to being busy most hours of the day. They had very little spontaneous play.
Now with this profile, what can a Human Resource head do to increase retention of these “special” beings? I recommend looking at flexible benefits or what is frequently blended as “flexben”. It can provide one of the keys to keeping millennial in your company working and contributing.
Flexible Benefits
Flexible benefits enable employers to develop programs to allow employees to select benefits that suit them. Flexben in the United States is often termed as “cafeteria benefits”. It originally was a response to mergers and acquisitions as a mechanism for integrating different benefit packages. It offered a range of options for employees and its administration made easy by the use of technology.
Recently, I interviewed two leaders and pioneers in flexible benefits. Founded by Paulo dela Fuente and Peter Cauton, these young achievers rose from humble beginnings to found their rapidly growing company, STORM.
Benefits to Employees
The benefits of flexben to employees are plenty. Employees can choose the benefits according to their lifestyles and needs. They can have peace of mind as they have the ability to take care of their loved ones better. They encourage employee involvement as the employee becomes an active participant in benefits design. Employees save on cash as they can buy items they want without shelling out cash.”
Benefits to Company
Companies also profit from flex benefits. Flexben is hassle free, as this can be outsourced. The outsourcing company takes care of managing the details so the company can focus on bigger things. It leads to happy employees, as choices make people happier, which in turn, make them do better. It embodies innovation and creativity. Best of all it encourages attraction and retention. The company can use flexible benefits as a differentiator to help you keep people especially millennial who will feel special, nurtured, protected and nurtured and feeling themselves comparable to their peers. “
What does it take to move towards flexible benefits. One is an initial conversation with the flexben company. Two, is the conduct of a feasibility study of flexben to find out if it suits the company. Third, is migration where a system is customized to fit the company’s needs. Then, finally is deciding on the mode of administration.
Why not explore if Flexible Benefits can help you address the challenge of relating and retaining your talented Millennial?
(Tita Datu Puangco is CEO and President of Ancilla Enterprise Development Consulting, a major training and organization development company in the Philippines with an Asian reach. It specializes in enterprise transformation, executive coaching, corporate leadership and functional training, human resource systems, corporate academies, learning events and management of business training centers. For your letters/ feedback, kindly email: tita.datu76@gmail.com, For other inquiries, please call 8810-3129/0920-9218332/0917-8348176)
