Recently, Millennials have become the most numerous population in the active working field, surpassing Baby Boomers. However, with more youngsters fighting for their financial independence come new struggles for employers.
Millennials bring a new set of rules to their workplace and, although they still rely on strong morals and work ethics, they will easily look for another job if the current one doesn’t satisfy their needs. The new wave workers are not solely motivated by financial benefits and job security but take into account other social factors when looking for new work opportunities.
That being said, employers must cater to their psychological needs as well if they want to keep them motivated and interested in the company. One easy way to achieve that is to think about simple ideas to redecorate working spaces and make them more contemporary-looking.
Offer flexibility.
To cater to the needs of the new generation, you need to start thinking outside the regular 9-5 working hours. Therefore, before investing money in redesigning the working place, you need to keep your employees working for you.
In order to balance their jobs and private lives, most millennials will prefer flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from home. According to various studies and recent research conducted, people who work from home and don’t feel the pressure of coming to the office at a specific hour every morning are 40-50% more productive and even meet their deadlines with plenty of time ahead.
Offer hotel-like amenities.
Once you locked in your workers, you need to offer them a safe, relaxed, and creative work environment to increase their productivity.
Most youngsters are obsessed with healthy food and living an active lifestyle, so consider creating special playrooms and even gyms to make them feel more comfortable.
Gym devices will not only help them blow off steam and release tension but will also keep them healthy by encouraging them to become more active. In the long term, this will also benefit your company which will pay less sick days and medical bills.
Office perks.
Many big companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and other IT companies struggle to provide the best hiring packages to keep their employees motivated.
As we previously mentioned, millennials are not only financially motivated to apply for a certain job and remain in the hiring company for years. Apart from money, they will also look for flexible schedules, gym subscriptions, gift cards, and a friendly working environment.
One easy way to keep your employees satisfied and encourage team building is to sponsor a Friday lunch or even opening an in-house cafe that provides healthy and fresh food choices such as sandwiches, soups, salads, and gluten-free desserts.
It is well known that one of the most common ways of expressing one’s personality in the millennial culture is through clothes. Therefore, stiff dressing codes don’t appeal to youngsters anymore, so consider adopting a more casual one. After all, if people will feel more comfortable wearing certain clothes at work, they might also feel more motivated and productive.
Consider wild decor.
Millennials love stepping outside the social norms, and designing a creative working place is one way to keep them coming to work. Forget about boring cubicles and adopt a common working place, similar to the ones you will find in business hubs.
For instance, Amazon invested millions of dollars into its latest headquarters in Seattle, designing a stunning workplace complete with an indoor Amazonian jungle. There are over 40,000 different plants brought from all over the world and plenty of working areas and meeting places that will stimulate the workers’ creativity.
You can also opt for green, natural decors in your office in the shape of plants or live walls made of moss and aerial plants.
You can even bring the universe one step closer by investing in space-themed art pieces, and decorative pieces like telescopes from opticsandlab.com and astronaut suits.
Include sustainable elements.
Last but not least, millennials are strong environment advocates and appreciate when the companies they work for get actively involved in reducing pollution and raising awareness about climate change. Small features like environmentally-friendly furniture made with recycled materials and energy-efficient technologies will score you big points in the eyes of your workers.
