The word MILLENNIAL returns almost 40 million google searches. Much of the content describes them (born after 1980, digital natives, will earn less than their parents) and the impact they will have on the workforce.
When it comes to describing millennials at work one theme consistently rises to the top. Millennials, more than any other generation are seeking purpose in their lives, and this includes their work.
Benefit minded
90% of millennials were expected to volunteer in 2012 according to The Millennial Report, who promotes their findings with the headline ‘Discover the millennial generation and their desire to do good’. Furthermore the 2015 Nielsen Global Corporate Sustainability Report found that 73% of global millennials are willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings. Millennials want to do and buy good.
Motivated by meaning
According to the Deloitte 2016 Millennial Survey the top four most critical reasons that millennials will work for (and stay with) an organization are as follows:
- Good work/life balance
- Opportunities to progress/be leaders
- Flexibility i.e., remote working, flexible hours
- Sense of meaning from my work
Millennials are motivated by a combination of factors including a sense of meaning from their work. Though a paycheque is important it is not the main reason a millennial will stick with their company. According to Deloitte, millennials who stay in their job for more than 5 years are 25% more likely to be satisfied with their companies ‘sense of purpose’ compared to millennials who have left their company after two years.
Accountable
Deloitte also found that 87% of millennials agree that ‘the success of a business should be measured in terms of more than just its financial performance’. A whopping 54% believe that businesses around the world have ‘no ambition beyond making money.’ That leaves about half of businesses in the dust when it comes to retaining millennials or taking a share of their significant purchasing power.
Millennials are motivated by a strong sense of purpose at work. This purpose drives engagement which in turn delivers results. In fact companies with higher levels of employee engagement outperform the stock market by 20%.These socially minded employees will also choose to spend their money on purpose driven brands. With over $200 billion in spending power in 2017 alone, adopting a purpose driven platform to employ and engage millennials is good business.
Brand for Benefit is committed to helping companies discover, certify and share their greater mission as a path to growth. Our goal is to shift business from margin to mission with better results. Our aspiration quite simply is to do good business better.
CEO Carolyn Ansley is an award winning marketer, entrepreneur and mother who believes using business for good is good business.
