– This article was last updated on 19 July 2021-
It’s quite possible that you are already tired of hearing about millennials – even if you are one – and their needs, their aspirations, their many conditions for choosing an employer. But by adopting some of the things they want in a company, it is possible to create an environment that will be more positive for all your employees, regardless of age. In this two-part post, we’ll cover some of the most-cited priorities.
Be the Rising Tide
You may have heard that these youngsters want a more collaborative, mentoring environment than a traditional manager-employee relationship. In response, some columnists have told them they need to stop whinging. But it’s a mistake to think that millennials aren’t willing to put in long hours – they are, if those hours are spent doing work in which they feel they are learning and moving along a career path. Give them responsibility for new projects, be willing to share knowledge, and have meaningful performance reviews that are shorter and more frequent, rather than once a year.
Automate Expense Management
Or, Don’t Make Small Things Burdensome. Shocking but true: a dislike of needlessly complicated procedures or approval layers is not unique to millennials. No one likes filling out expense reports and having to dig back through email for the codes finance sent you three months ago. Equally, no one in accounting wants to spend the third week of December buried under months-late requests and trying to reconcile before the 31st.
AccountingWeb.co.uk reported in autumn 2015 that automated expense management has been an area of intense focus for software developers because both of these situations are common to so many companies. But thus far, there remains a dearth of affordable solutions that are targeted at SMEs and are suited to the UK market. Hint: We can help you out here. A system that is easy to use but covers all the bases will mean that employees don’t procrastinate, while finance can spend more time on the strategic and less on the mundane.
Fortunately, small businesses are uniquely positioned to do these things well. All workers want to feel that their strengths are recognised and valued and that an employer is willing to help them learn new tools or skills.
