Commentary: How To Retain Millennials In A World Full of Job-Hoppers (Article)

https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/engaging-your-workforce/how-to-retain-millennials-in-a-world-full-of-job-hoppers

Part of PTE's overall mission is to change the way the world works, literally and figuratively. Changing the way the world works means destroying old thought processes that keep employees and businesses alike in a constant cycle of churn.

One of the favorite topics of today's HR professional is that of the "millennial" and how to really "speak to" this generation.  I have multiple problems with this:

1. It treats millennials as if they were dropped off by an alien species; as if they're not human, and not easily understood.  They act as if millennials aren't THEIR children.
2. Isolating and treating millennials as a separate entity takes attention and analysis away from the other real problems businesses are facing, most usually related to narcissism in high places.  

Companies, in particular Narcissistic companies, will often do everything in their power to place blame elsewhere.  We have high turnover?  Blame those job-hopping millennials.  Can't keep millennials in the fold?  It's because they're entitled and lazy.  No one ever stops to consider that maybe, just maybe, millennials have figured out what proper treatment looks like. 

Maybe millennials watched their parents suffer through their careers, and vowed never to sacrifice their lives in that way.  Maybe millennials recognize that work doesn't have to be difficult; that there are more efficient ways of doing things, and why not do them that way?  Maybe millennials are the first generation to decide that their lives are worth more than 30 years to retirement.  

Perhaps the generations that have come before are resentful of this.  Because they lacked options in terms of resources, they HAD to do things the hard way.  The long way.  The "right" way.  Ironically, the previous generations laid the technological framework that is now making millennials' lives easier.  

In the article cited above, they state:  

“The number-one reason all professionals switch jobs is that they are seeking a position that offers better professional development. And that’s even truer for millennials, who are the group most concerned about career development.”

If companies really believe this to be true, they will have a revolving door for life.  Research has shown over and over again, that the #1 people leave jobs is due to poor management, or a poor relationship with their direct supervisor.  The same holds true for millennials.  

Yes, they want a job that has career potential.  They want to be able to look out into the future and see 'somewhere' to go.  But they also want to be treated with respect.  They want to be treated like people.  They are not lab rats to be studied, as if they're some new culture that has just been discovered in the Amazonian rain forest.  They are humans just like everyone else, who happened to find themselves in the midst of a technological era.  

Instead of "trying to figure them out," why not embrace them?  Teach them what you know and let them teach you as well.  It is easy to forget that these dreaded millennials will one day be in charge of the whole show.  How is your company preparing the world for that?