Hire and retain millennials the right way

Inside Bloom / October 15, 2018

After receiving the “Canada’s Great Place to Work” certification for the third year in a row, the Bloom team is proud to announce that the company is among the best workplaces in Canada for millennials in 2018. This certification fits our organization really well since our corporate culture is conveyed, for the most part, by millennials: Bloom’s employees’ average age is 29 years old. To celebrate this new certification, we’ll explain how we manage to recruit millennials, but above all, how we get them to stay.

Adapt your recruitment techniques

Remember a time when everyone advertised their job postings in local newspapers to attract qualified candidates? This time is long gone. In today’s competitive world, you have to be creative and think outside the box to differentiate yourself from other employers.

1. Personalize the hiring experience

Millennials love custom experiences tailored to what they like, whether it’s in a retail store or while they are looking for a job. To create that, you’ll need to focus on the little things: grab a coffee, give a tour of your office, ask questions about their personal interests. Make them feel like they already belong in your organization.

2. Get your employees involved in the hiring process

Who better to evaluate future employees than the people who will be working with them on a daily basis? Your current employees know the job better than anyone and will be able to set the record straight. In addition, it creates a less formal atmosphere during the interview and you already build a relationship between the interviewee and his future work team. It’s a win-win!

3. Be active on social networks

This is probably obvious to the majority, but displaying your corporate culture on social networks is essential to creating a great first impression with job seekers. Your social media should present your brand and culture quickly: make portraits of employees, show your good moves, post your team activities, etc. No need to be extravagant, show your real day-to-day and your future employees will already feel at home.

Retain your employees

Millennials have a reputation for being less loyal to their employers, but that won’t be true for your organization if you make the right efforts. Here are some tips on how to keep your millennial employees from turning over:

1. Define a clear career path

Millennials do not hesitate to change their working environment when they do not perceive any possible advancement in the long term. One way to counter this problem easily is to give your employees the opportunity to learn new things that apply to their current job, but also to a future opportunity. Demonstrate that you believe in your employees’ potential, you will see a positive outcome quickly.

2. Enhance communication and transparency

Millennials particularly hate bureaucracies and working in silos. To please them, make sure to implement an effective communication culture on three levels: with the organization, with the immediate superior, between the employees.

For example, you could plan a weekly meeting with all of your employees (or your department) to spread the company’s news in a humane and efficient way. Your managers should also schedule time in their day to answer questions from their employees. And don’t forget to schedule quarterly meetings for individual assessments. Nobody likes to wait a year before being told what works and what could be improved. With this method, your employees will be more satisfied and you will be more responsive to internal problems.

Finally, a chat system can be a very effective way to ensure easy and quick communications between employees in your different departments.

3. Set up a recognition system

In any organization, teamwork must be a main component of the corporate culture. For millennials, this is crucial considering that recognition by their peers is an integral part of their career journey. At Bloom, we use a points system to encourage teamwork and gratitude. Each employee has a fixed number of points that they can give away to anyone who deserves it. At the end of the month, employees can redeem their points for gifts or they can donate to charities.

4. Get the lay of the land frequently

Do not wait for an employee to resign before asking yourself what went wrong. You must give your employees the opportunity to express themselves about their work environment. Be careful, simply asking them informally is not always the solution. Favour online and anonymous surveys to be certain to gather truthful information.

5. Do not forget the essential

Stay away from clichés. Yes, a foosball table, after-work get-togethers, and open office concepts are attractive, but millennials are not that different from previous generations. They are also looking for job stability, benefits such as health/dental insurance and a competitive salary. Your employer brand should not put aside these aspects, even if you are speaking to a younger audience.

Remember this, the key to success lies in improving your human resource management practices constantly. The topics presented above apply to millennials, but will not necessarily apply to Generation Z. Stay proactive and your business will see improvements quickly.

To learn more about the benefits that create our success, visit our career page.