Many organisations, especially SMEs, struggle to find young talents to work for them. Often these organisations lack the expertise to understand the needs of younger generations.

However, the need to readjust their recruiting strategy is driven by data suggesting that by 2025 Millenials will make 75% of the global workforce. By Definition people born between 1980 and 1995 are referred to as Millenials or Generation Y. Millenials are characterised by several factors, which are important to understand for organisations that seek to attract young talents:

1. Millenials are tech-savvy and require state-of-the-art digital equipment.
   Millenials are digital natives and as such they consume around 5-10 hours of online content a day. They grew up with advanced technology like smartphones and are used to technology that supports their daily life and software interfaces that are user-friendly. If your company still has lots of processes that have not been digitised by a user friendly software, millennials will be put off. Make sure that you use state-of-the-art internal communication systems like Google G-Suite which have the software frontend and user-friendliness that millennials are accustomed to. Another trend that some businesses have implemented in order to attract Millenials is BOYD (bring your own device). Since millennials grew up with technology and are used to solve problems using a variety of personal apps, they want that flexibility at work, too. However, companies need to balance this trend against potential security risks and thus need to make sure that security software can be installed on private phones as well.
2. Millenials are family-oriented and require flexibility.
   Millenials aren’t driven by the thought of working hard until retirement. Au contraire, they are motivated by a working environment that allows them to simultaneously build both – a life and a career. However, many organisations do not understand that they not only strive for work-life-balance with rigid boundaries between work and life but in fact they want a more fluid approach that allows them to design their own schedule. Here, the key for organisations is to establish a system that promotes flexible working hours with the option of working remotely.
3. Millenials require flat organisational hierarchies
   In order to complete their work, millennials do not want to navigate through various management layers but want things to work quickly. This is because they grew up during a time where you can get anything you want without having to wait for it (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify). If your organisation seeks to be more appealing to young talents, it is essential that millennials can quickly and effectively communicate their needs and ideas. Deadlocked organisational structures should thus be replaced with flat hierarchies and short communication channels.
4. Millennials are team-oriented
   Instead of doing most of the work on their own, millennials prefer to work in teams. This is because millennials grew up in an environment that has constantly fostered team work. Furthermore, they believe that every team member is an individual with different set of values, experiences and skills that will together create the best possible outcome. Against this backdrop, it is important for millennials that their employer fosters diversity of skills and values.

German Consulting Company VISUS Advisory has specialised in Employer Branding targeted at Millenials. Their Attractiveness Index enables organisations to measure their attractiveness toward young talents.