A buzzy new article making waves on the internet claims that businesses need to adopt more creative and flexible perks to attract quality millenial employees. The author says flexible work time, working from home, free meals, and relaxed dress codes are some things that really attract millenials.
What’s a Millenial, you ask? Here’s how The Millenial Legacy describes these folks:
“Millennials are the generation born between 1982 and sometime in the early 2000’s. However, these boundaries aren’t set in stone. Some definitions have the Millennial Generation starting as early as 1978 and starting as late as 1985. Basically, if you were born a little earlier than 1982 and you consider yourself to be more Millennial than Generation X, that is your opinion. Or if you were born in or just after 1982 and you feel that you are more Gen X than a Millennial, the same applies. It is really up to the individuals born during the cusp years (late 1970’s to early-mid 1980’s) to decide which generation they feel a stronger connection to.” – source The Millenial Legacy
“By 2025, 75 percent of the American workforce will be millennial workers and employers will have to adapt to the market,” the article says. Wondering how Millenial you are? Take this relatively arbitrary quiz to find out.
Hiring Millenials is important for a number of reasons.
They are the next generation of movers, shakers, thinkers, entrepreneurs and workers. These are the people who will be needed to keep American businesses up and running. They will also be expected to continue our country’s entrepreneurial spirit to keep America competitive with other countries economic growth.
- They, by simple virtue of their age, have a lot of energy and they are willing to use this energy to think creatively.
- Teamwork is very important. They actually like to engage with their peers and come up with the best solutions.
- Millenials are usually well-educated and take pride in their degrees.
- They understand the importance of technology and are willing to find ways to use technology or incorporate into easier workplace solutions.
We could go on, but you get the idea. Incorporating these perks is all fine and good. It’s encouraging to know that American companies are willing to adapt their hiring and workplace policies to stimulate a younger workforce into accomplishing great(er) things. There is, however, one piece of the hiring process that should ALWAYS be incorporated, no matter what type of employee you’re trying to attract – the background check.
This is the single most-effective procedure you can take to keep your employees safe. And since April is Workplace Violence
Awareness Month, it’s a great time to keep this topic in the forefront of your mind. Here’s some key stats to drive the point home:
More than 3,000 workplace homicides were reported between 2006 and 2010. In 2011 alone, 458 workplace homicides occurred.
Between 1997 and 2010, 79 percent of workplace homicides were shootings. Other homicides were the result of stabbing; hitting, kicking, and beating; assaults and violent acts by persons; and other means.
In 2011, 456 people who held management positions were fatally injured in the workplace.
And here’s some helpful tips on keeping your workplace safe:
- Overhaul and fix the physical security of your work space, building, complex or campus.
- Train employees on how to respond to a violent incident.
- Foster a positive work environment (that’s where the perks we talked about above come in especially handy)
- Most importantly, conduct pre-employment and routine screening on all potential and current employees.
We firmly believe that employment screenings, both conducted during pre-hiring and routinely through employment, are unequivocally the most important thing you can do to protect your people.
Throughout April/Workplace Violence Awareness Month, we’ll be regularly visiting workplace safety topics on ActiveCare. We hope you’ll tune in to these important pieces of advice and let us know of any workplace safety issues that concern you. Until then, remember to screen all of your employees – Millennial or not.