Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.
Preparation
Millennials in the workplace
Background
Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the early 1990s) make up a huge part of our workforce but they seem to lack loyalty to the companies and the leaders they work for. Multinational companies are noticing larger turnover rates of millennials as employee retention rates fall. This report looks at the findings of two large-scale surveys on the mindset of the millennial generation and explores how organisations can strive to address these needs, increase employee engagement and encourage retention.
Research
In a global survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), more than 40,000 millennial (born between 1983 and 1993) and non-millennial responses were collected on the topics of workplace culture, communication and working styles, pay structure, career development, work–life balance, etc.
In a separate global survey conducted by Deloitte, more than 10,000 millennials participated in a study about their perceptions of the threats and opportunities in the complex world of work.
Key findings
- Millennials are as committed to their work as their more senior colleagues.
- Millennials value interesting work and a good work–life balance. They do not believe that excessive work demands are worth sacrifices in their personal lives.
- Millennials want flexibility in their working hours and are willing to give up pay increases and promotions for a flexible working schedule. They believe that success should be measured by productivity and not by the number of hours they are seen in an office.
- Millennials want to feel supported and appreciated by their company and their superiors.
- Millennials want more opportunities to develop their skills. These include technological skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
- Millennials believe that businesses and business leaders should contribute to the improvement of society and they are more likely to be loyal to a company with strong ethics.
Recommendations
Organisations and managers wanting to retain millennials should consider:
- monitoring their workload and satisfaction levels with their work–life balance
- creating a flexible work culture where employees have more control over their working hours and their work location
- providing meaningful work and interesting opportunities
- offering help and support in continuing professional development
- changing the organisation's goals from being mainly about profit-making to motives that address social concerns and solve wider societal problems.
The most important thing at work is the work environment, since
it is very important to maintain a harmonious and calm
environment to be able to start the day and work, for this reason
it is important to have a lot of camaraderie in a company to be
able to work as a team quite an efficient way. Also, one of the
important things that would make me happy is being able to
choose my work schedules, to make them more flexible, since
with just a few hours I can deliver incredible jobs and I don't need
to work all day to achieve this. It is also important that we are up
to date with all the technology, it is very important since today
everything is digitized and all forms of communication are
through social networks and it is also a way to socialize more
with your co-workers, also through the networks you can learn a
little more about his tastes and the things he likes to do outside
of work. From my point of view, I think that everything I mention
adds up to create my happy work environment.
The most important thing for me would be to find myself in a pleasant work environment, as well as having a loyal and collaborative support group, as well as good communication between each of the workers. On the other hand, I would love to find myself in a job that I like and above all where I can demonstrate my skills. Finally, I would love to be able to work in a more dynamic way, while encouraging and motivating each one of the workers.
Today the workplace has become competitive, but despite so much competition, workers are training and gaining more experience, acquiring more knowledge, the most important thing in a company is teamwork, good organization, that everyone is a leader above all that there is a labor respect among all, finally the most important thing that I highlight from the reading is that our achievements are recognized, flexible hours and that they give you opportunities to develop your skills as an example; technology, teamwork and personal skills, in order to contribute to society with very good ethics.
The most important thing is team work and good understanding. This keeps me happy at work.
I think that teamwork is important because it also helps to achieve the objectives of the work
I was born 21st century but I think some necessary things to be happy in workplace there should be good pay, helpful Boss, and good atmosphere for work.