How to Make Your Business More Attractive to Gen Y Employees

Generation Y has been called many things: entitled, lazy, and perhaps unconventional. However, many businesses are realizing that not only does Gen Y work hard, oftentimes they become the best employees you could imagine.

As baby boomers are leaving the workforce and retiring, Gen Y employees are flocking to the corporate sphere, bringing with them their tech-savvy knowledge and unmatched ambition—but they aren’t seeking what their predecessors valued in a workspace. Gen Y job-seekers are looking for flexibility and innovation.

If your business needs fresh ideas, proficiency in the latest technology, and continuous innovation, hiring Gen Y employees can help your business flourish and ensure your company’s success for years to come. While competitive salaries might help you stand out among the many other businesses making offers to millennials, Gen Y is looking for so much more.

Be modern and informal

In order to attract Gen Y employees, your business should exemplify their personality and values. Your office space should be modern and your practices should be informal. A well-decorated modern space—or even no space at all—lets them know that your business can offer the flexibility and innovation they seek. Corporations like Google have lead the way in creating unconventional offices, or “campuses,” designed to inspire creativity. These workplaces have proven to be the most desirable for Gen Y job-seekers. Even if you can’t afford such extravagant design, you can create a casual work environment with casual dress and a healthy balance of work and play.

Allow them to work remotely

Millennials also require a lot of trust from the companies for which they work. Recent college graduates, in particular, work harder than ever before, but are accustomed to a great deal of autonomy. As a result, they see a lot of appeal in a company that trusts and allows them to get work done without being micromanaged. Businesses of any size can instill confidence in their Gen Y employees by offering flexible schedules and work hours, and due to the digital nature of their job, the ability to work from anywhere. They reject the idea of being chained to a desk or cubicle. Allowing them to work remotely at the hours of their choosing not only will produce higher-quality work, it also saves your business money by cutting down on office operating costs.

Encourage creativity

In a study conducted by MTV to find out what Gen Y expects from their employers, research found that 83% of millennials are looking jobs that encourage and value creativity. In order to attract and retain top talent Gen Y workers, they must be performing work that requires creative thinking and problem solving, and they must perform that kind of work often. This is what this generation does best, and there is a lot your business can gain inspiring creativity in its staff. Creativity, after all, is how all businesses unearth their most innovative ideas.

Offer opportunities for professional growth

Gen Y isn’t just looking any job. They are looking for the perfect job, one that they can see themselves happily doing for a very long time. Though the standards for workplace satisfaction has evolved, like any generation, they value stability and the promise that their hard work will result in career advancement. To attract Gen Y employees, you must make clear that there are opportunities for professional growth, including lifelong learning and a long-term plan for their success.

Give them challenging work

Perhaps the most important thing any business can do to hire and keep Gen Y employees is to constantly give them challenging work. They belong to a generation of brilliant thinkers, and are discouraged or even insulted by busy work. To keep your Gen Y workers interested and engaged in their work, delegate menial administrative tasks such as customer service, answering phones, or appointment scheduling to a live virtual receptionist. By giving the busy work to a virtual receptionist, you leave more time for your Gen Y employees to do what they perceive as satisfying and meaningful work.

With their creative minds, unique intelligence, and self-motivated determination, Gen Y workers can help mature and grow your business. The right work environment and appropriate style of management can attract the most talented among Gen Y applicants and begin your path to business innovation.

Don’t pay attention to their bad reputation. With the right tools, they can be the best investment you make. Get the most out of your Gen Y employees with virtual receptionist services from Davinci.

About Coco Quillen

Coco is the Chief Operating Officer at Davinci Virtual Office Solutions. She manages the strategic development and operational implementation of services for Davinci. She works closely with all teams to ensure customers are well taken care of.