Episode 42: Employment -- Working with Millennials

Welcome to another edition of “Around with Randall,” Your weekly podcast on making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here is your host, the CEO and founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. 

It's a pleasure to welcome you back to “Around with Randall”. This is another part in the series as we take the month and look at employment issues in the nonprofit sector. We've talked a little bit about the issues involving salaries and some of the challenges there. We've also had a conversation about the idea of self-actualization, what maybe employers, nonprofit leaders should be looking for and as well, what nonprofit employees should be aspiring to be successful. We started off the month with some bigger-picture issues in employment within the nonprofit industry. 

Today, we're going to talk about the largest population of employees in the nonprofit world and for that matter in the general workforce and that's the idea of millennials. I think some people are sometimes surprised that millennials are actually the largest sector of the generations that are currently employed. A millennial is classified as someone born between 1977 and about 1995 or so. By 2030, it's estimated that 75% of the workforce everywhere will be millennials. Today it has moved past being a plurality. It's actually a majority of the overall number of employees in the United States. As with every generation, their upbringing and what is a part of that process has really created the type of people and the type of worker and the type of perspective they have, millennials are no different.

So, let's talk a little bit about millennials and how that fits into our workforce. Then as always, we'll finish with some tactical, what are some things you can do to better engage? This is I think a great one for me because it's a good lesson that as I look around and as I get more and more gray hair finding myself a little bit more each year at the senior level of my profession. I used to be youngest in the room. Not true anymore. What is it that I can do as well? So, let's start with connectivity, but no big surprise here. Millennials, unlike me, who is 1970, early generation X will access the internet 85% through their phone where I'm using a computer. I mean, I certainly use my phone, but I use other mechanisms. They'll check that phone 150 times a day on average. That will average about 7.2 hours a day of some type of interaction with the internet, with connectivity.

They look at their job differently as well. So, we'll talk about the types of communication, based on that first series of statistics. The second part is really how they look at themselves in the workforce, while salary and money still are the most important factor when surveyed. It is diminished in comparison to earlier generations. And what we're finding is that millennials will align themselves with the appropriate corporate culture and identity of mission, more so than previous generations. If we think about the baby boomers, many of them stayed in a job for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and their identity morphed in some ways or their beliefs into what the company was. What we're finding in millennials is just the opposite. They come to the table with their identity already set – self-perceived. They're looking for companies to match that. They want it to be aligned with that personal set of values. So, what the company does, what the company says, where the company puts its resources are really important to them on an individual level.

There's also this thought process that millennials will be high with job turnovers. We mentioned just a second ago, this idea of baby boomers, staying with the same company. So, some stats on that…21% of millennials say that they've changed their job in the last year. Sixty percent say they're open to a job change right now. I think Pew actually did the best research, which found that millennials, based on where they are in their age are actually not any more likely to job jump or move around than previous generations when people were that same age. And so, the research is telling us that while I think there's this kind of thought process that millennials job-hop it's more based on age, and they happen to be younger as millennials than it is by generation.

Millennials are also very skeptical. That applies to as mentioned the company, but it also applies to their leaders. They have high expectations. They want to know that what they're involved with or what they're doing is going to make a difference. And it's again, back on that personal level. All of this conversation begins to then look at, well then how do we interact? What do we do? How is it that we can be different with millennials and how we work with them? So, the tactical in this case is a series of thoughts. That might be helpful to you in how you look at leadership, communication, and other things that are critically important. Millennials who are listening to this, you might say, well, that's exactly what I'm looking for. 

So, let's start with the top. We mentioned about salary. So, the statistics tell us that 92% still say that salary compensation is still most important. Part of this has to do with the fact that many millennials have assumed an immense amount of student debt than previous generations, statistically didn't. I just recently saw an interesting post by Bill Littlejohn, who is the head of philanthropy for Sharp Healthcare in San Diego. Bill's been doing this for a long time and is just fantastic. Bill posted as a tribute to his son who is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia. He posted out of some type of notebook or something.

He had kept his tuition bill from the University of Virginia when he went, which would be 40 plus years ago. His total bill, total tuition was $402. Now we certainly have the price of inflation and things, but not to the level that education costs have jumped. The more education, the more potential for debt. So, pay is still important. Millennials aren't not taking a salary. They still want to do great things, but they have to be paid for it. The debt load that they have acquired is staggering. Particularly for me, who worked part of the way through college, went to law school, got a master's and doctoral work. I was working the whole time. I never got very far into debt and I don't think that's possible today. 

The second thing is that we know that millennials, in terms of communication, need constant reminding of what the company is and what it's doing. It's quick. It's updates. It's meaningful. If you are not looking at how to increase your internal communication, then you are probably struggling to reach this generation.

As I started the podcasts and for those who may be listening and have downloaded, there's also a YouTube channel where these same podcasts can be done visually. I did not come to the conclusion of doing video podcasts. I just happened to do them because the software I used recorded audio and visually at the same time. When my marketing team got ahold of that information, they started pushing out this video information and I said, no one is going to watch. We watch the numbers, or they do and it's stunning. The other part of communications is just not audio. They're used to a visual presence. They're used to seeing someone's face or watching the activity. So, the days that I remember growing up as an example, listening to football games on the radio or basketball games on the radio here in Nebraska with Lyell Bremser or Kent Pavelka doesn't resonate as much with millennials who are used to seeing, surfing, watching video, being able to watch certain activities on their phones. So be aware that when you do the communication, it just can't be one mode, probably multiple modes are more effective than if you just do written piece of paper or a memo or something of that nature.

With millennials, we know that trust is key. Do they trust the organization? Do they trust their manager and supervisor? This is where communication also becomes important. Growing up here in Nebraska, I always remembered my grandparents and then my dad and mom, and now me, we kind of say, well, you know, a handshake is like a contract here. It only takes once or twice where you don't do what you say and things kind of go south quickly. That's true with millennials. Do you do what you say you do? That means from a corporate governance structure, meaning things you believe in and the organization believes in, things you believe in, are you doing the things that you say? Trust is unbelievably important to millennials? And when that trust is broken, it's really hard to get it back. That's true of human nature, but I think it's even more so when we talk about millennials.

They view their work as more flexible. In some ways, what we went through in COVID was very much advantageous for millennials because they want that kind of flexibility. What will be interesting is what happens coming out and we've talked on previous podcasts, in particular, one's dealing with where people are going to work and work-life balance and things of that nature. I think that was maybe podcast 33 or so that if you're not finding the ability to balance that work-life environment, particularly with a millennial, they'll go find someplace that will. If that means you're Generation X like me, or even if you're at the tail end of your career--kind of at the end of the baby boomer generation, you're going to have to learn how to use technology because they already get it. And so being able to do that in an effective way is really important to meet their level of expectation. 

Also, they don't view their workweek in terms of flexibility, like many people do. They're not quite nine to five. They'll work in the morning and work at night. That's because their sense of connection and their sense of social engagement is different. They may find other times to work than those of us who grew up very traditionally in the early days, at least of my career. Nine to five is not always the best thing. Sometimes, for some people, it's six to three. Sometimes it's ten to six. What we're going to have to get to is are they accomplishing the goals that we're looking for? Are those clearly identified?

We also know when we talk about goals, when we talk about performance, that millennials view their development personally, and professionally as important as they do an evaluation. I struggle at this. This is a weak spot for me. I need to get better at helping and creating development plans for the people that I have the privilege of leading because they're looking to me to say, how do I get better? If you're not going to help them be better, whatever better is professionally, personally or a combination thereof, they will find people that will. It is a much higher level of importance for millennials than it is for previous generations. For myself and many people in my Generation X development is self-taught, self-driven. I'll just keep going to school. I'm going to keep learning. I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to spend a lot, Millennials don't look at that. They want a plan, and they want you to be a part of their growth. What is it you are going to do to help them grow professionally and personally? So how you include them in things, giving them extra opportunities to sit through meetings and we've talked about that in previous podcasts. Giving them the ability to take on extra tasks, things that are maybe not something that they're an expert in, but they have a controlled environment where they can try and there's an opportunity for feedback and growth. I think this is one of the things I probably am the most negligent of is not really realizing that the way I look at self-development and self-growth in terms of personal and professional. I do it internally and then I just go do it. Yet, I am probably hindering those millennials that are looking to me to say, how do you help me. Consulting naturally brings me to the clients to do that, but I think it's a weak spot in terms of maybe some of the people around which I work. 

Millennials are very much share driven. They want to share work. They are one of the first generations where there was very little collaborative work in early education. Testing was really important.

So, it was a lot of individual rote mathematical exercises, writing exercises and science. In college, there was a reaction to go the other direction with a lot of group activities. So, they come into the workforce looking more like the college experience of where are all the people I work with. So, you've got to find a way to create interaction for them and to be sharing a safe environment, to share new ideas, and they want to be heard. In that group environment, you need to find ways where you can allow them to be heard not only by you as the leader, but also by the group. What is it you do in the flexible work environment that gets people to take ownership and to try new things and to be heard and to do things as a small team?

Lastly, millennials are interesting in that because of the nature of information flow and of the way in which games and other things happen. They're very much an instant gratification generation. So, the idea of rewarding them more often, and I'm not talking about raises. It could be praise, which is something we should do anyway for anybody. Thank you -- you're doing awesome. A shout-out in a meeting or a $5 gift card to Starbucks or anything you can do and that's by the way good for everybody. Anything you can do-- millennials are looking for that instant gratification. The ability to connect and be told they're doing the good things. While some of us may think, well, that's what I get paid for. Well, then you're being short-sighted on the leadership component -- critically important. At the end of the day, the ability to do all of these things activates them. Think about them if you want as a brand management process because they're pushing out information through the various social media channels constantly. If you are a place that's a great environment for professional development and professional growth and work, they'll tell everybody and their mother about it. They'll tell everybody I work here, and this is awesome. They'll do it on Snapchat or Facebook or wherever it is that they go. This is an opportunity to leverage them for positive for the company at the same time, keep them longer, develop talent, attract and isn't that the goal in the beginning? Isn't our goal to attract and engage and to keep, and then maybe have them communicate? 75% of our workforce in the United States and around the world by 2030 will be millennials. What are you doing to create an environment that may have looked different than five or 10 years ago that's conducive to the largest section of our workforce?

Just a quick couple of reminders. Don't forget the website, posting blogs there all the time. I seem to find a lot to say and read about 300-350, in terms of words, 90-second reads, may be valuable, something to think about something to consider. Also, if you want to communicate with me reeks@hallettphilanthropy.com if you disagree with something I said here on the podcast, or if you have a comment about a particular podcast that's podcast@hallettphilanthropy.com. Reeks for complaints, and podcast for thoughts at hallettphilanthropy.com. 

Let me conclude quickly by saying, as I do each and every episode, that this is an amazing profession. Nonprofit work, philanthropy is about filling holes in our community and giving people a chance to make a difference for a person, people, something they believe in, something that's important to the community as a whole. And remember my favorite Gaelic saying or my favorite saying, which is actually Gaelic. “Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Then there are those who wondered what happened.” Nonprofit work/philanthropy's all about people making things happen.

The love of mankind for people who are wondering what happened. I hope you feel as if you're a part of that solution with wherever you work and whatever you do. Because it makes a big difference that I can promise you. Again, my thanks for your time today. I hope this was helpful and we'll conclude next time with the month-long thought process and grouping of podcasts around employment right here on “Around with Randall.” Don't forget, make it a great day.