Making the most of managing millennials

For all the frills that some admired organisations offer, such as hotel-quality cafeteria food, a Foosball table or well-equipped gym, studies show that what millennials want from their jobs and the workplace may not be that different. The promise of career prospects has never been more alluring for millennials today but organisations remain hesitant and watchful when hiring and developing talent that is aged between 18 to 34 today.

Here, we speak to experts from China and India who argue the need for a shift in how work is allocated and structured. Organisations will have to tighten their strategy, broaden their culture and work with technology-enabled solutions to connect with and better understand mobile and diverse millennials.

Attracting, retaining and developing millennial talent

“From the company perspective, besides strengthening training programmes, they should offer a meritocratic rewards and promotion system; managing millennial employee expectations is also important. Our practice is to develop short-term, middle-term and long-term objectives for them and guide them through strategies and checklists to make sure these targets are mutually agreed.” – Xu Weiwei, Director, Michael Page Shanghai

“Empathy is a skill that is essential for all future leaders and therefore millennials should be actively aware of the perspectives of other colleagues. In order for them to remain competitive, they must not lose track of the ability to empathise.” – Alex Gu, Associate Director, Michael Page Shenzhen

Key point: Chinese employers should look at structuring objectives for millennial employees and nurturing them to be more empathetic.

“Today online media is an important indicator and, as such, companies should ensure their webpage gains insights and attraction needed for a potential employer. They should maintain social media pages in the most transparent and impactful manner for the target audience. Job descriptions need to identify what a role in this organisation would mean for a potential employee. Constant communication is also key to creating a sense of belonging and ownership, which can foster ties for employees with the business and reduce attrition rates. ” – Nilay Khandelwal, Regional Director, Michael Page India

Key point: Indian employers need to look at strengthening their web presence and communication.

Staying competitive in India and China

Khandelwal adds, “the biggest difference though lies in the perception that Chinese employers have of Indian employees with regards to talent availability, quality of such talent, infrastructure and all of these are a positive surprise for the Chinese employers. What we have also understood is people change jobs every two to three years at junior to mid-level in both markets.”

Being open to continuous selective learning is another vital quality for millennials in the two markets, according to Alex Gu, Associate Director, Michael Page Shenzhen. Gu says, “millennials, in general, have the capacity to learn and adapt knowledge quickly and yet may not have a clear focus on the areas they should be focused on. It is a given that the job scopes nowadays are ever more faceted but individuals must have a clear mind in where they wish to develop to stay competitive.”

Millennials transforming the workspace

As millennials dominate the workforce, companies in Asia will need to adjust their policies, adopt open collaboration and constant feedback and review their practices accordingly. This will allow them to engage better with millennial employees. The Workforce 2020 report, a global study by Oxford Economics and SAP, reveals that what employees in Asia, especially millennials, need is more guidance and leadership and not isolated training.

Companies will have to be discerning to invest in the right programmes and people and reinvent themselves in order to compete for the best talent. They will need to refine their social media presence and communication to bond employees in a productive and meaningful relationship. For millennial workers to ascend and thrive, they will also need to be open to continuous selective learning, which will enable them to have a firm direction in how they upskill, widen opportunities and increase knowledge.

Michael Page