Principled Positions: What Start-Ups Reveal About Values-Based Jobs

There was a time when you could offer promising job candidates high salaries, corner offices and other materialistic perks and be guaranteed that they’d join your company. These days, many young professionals look for a corporate culture that rewards personal and workplace values over monetary gains.

Millennials generally want to make positive contributions to society and feel like their work is important to the world, not just to a corporation’s bottom line. Moreover, many yearn to be creative, avoiding rigid hierarchies in favor of environments where everyone can offer ideas.

The Influence of Start-Ups

Start-up companies frequently embrace such beliefs. It’s little wonder, then, that so many recent graduates flock to these establishments. Start-ups commonly give new employees major responsibilities and the authority to control funds.

Many of these businesses are starting to offer incentives that will attract talent in their job descriptions. For example, employers will offer paid time off for their employees to volunteer for their favorite charity. Or employers will give an in-kind contribution when employees donate to a cause.

The Strength of WBEs

Every day, women launch more than 1,000 businesses in the United States. Between 1997 and 2015, the total number of such companies went up 74 percent. As a result, about 46 percent of private American companies are now either half, mostly or completely owned by women.

What accounts for the staggering success of women’s business enterprises (WBEs)? Female executives tend to be excellent managers: confident, savvy and extremely knowledgeable about their industries. At the same time, they frequently assist one another, and sometimes they even help out their competitors.

In addition, women are often supremely efficient, knowing just how much time to give to various tasks. Perhaps they possess a special intuition because they’re used to juggling a great many responsibilities in their professional and personal lives.

Since many female business owners pursue bold goals while maintaining their integrity, they especially appeal to millennials.

Values in Your Office

No matter what business you’re in, your company can attract those who crave workplace values. Consider your job opening advertisements: In those ads, stress your overall mission and the specific ways your firm improves people’s lives.

To the greatest extent possible, give your employees decision-making power. Also, encourage staff members of all ages and experience levels to collaborate with one another, and always be transparent in terms of the corporate strategies you pursue. By making these moves, you might do more than entice millennials. You might find yourself falling in love with your work all over again.

Contact Madison Approach Staffing today for help with attracting talent and making your next great hire!

Workplace Motivation Across Generations | Team Management

Workplace motivation is a key element in managing an effective and dynamic team, but multi-generational offices require individualized strategies to maintain morale and team building.

As many older employees will have stayed in the same workplace for a significant amount of time, they value recognition for their loyalty and achievements. Employee spotlights in company meetings or newsletters can show long-term employees that they are appreciated. Meanwhile, millennials typically lack company loyalty, but highly value mentorships and interpersonal communication. In creating mentorship programs, employers can motivate members of all generations, who will enjoy sharing their skill sets and forging connections with their colleagues. Mentorships have the added benefit of cultivating loyalty, and improving communication across generations.

As Generation X moves into leadership positions, employees can begin to delegate training of new employees to members of this generation. However, leadership roles do not necessarily need to be defined by age. Instead, cultivating a collaborative environment will help each employee feel valued for his or her unique skill set. In integrating lower-level employees with experienced team members, employers can minimize generational differences and instead focus on commonalities.

Contact Madison Approach Staffing today to discuss how our Direct Hire, Temp to Hire, Temp Staffing, Training, Payroll Transfers and Benefits Administration services can benefit your business.

 

Improving Multi-Generational Communication in the Workplace

Talking About My Generation

It is widely accepted that respectful and productive communication is the key to team-building and workplace success. Juggling different value sets and communication styles is difficult enough amongst a team of peers, but as people work longer and as millennials enter the workforce, the modern office must confront ingrained generational differences.

A multi-generational office might have a shared vision and goals, but when it comes down to communication styles, preferences across generations vary wildly. It’s no secret that millennials prefer texting and e-mails over phone conversations, which can frustrate older employees, and leave Generation Xers stuck in the middle. The secret to managing these differences lies in a mutual respect for each generation’s values and communication style. And of course, some compromise.

Voicemail? What’s that?

Most young employees arriving to the workplace come equipped with a certain set of common communication preferences. Millennials are less accustomed to making phone calls unless the situation is urgent; this can leave older employees frustrated, when a series of texts or e-mails accomplishes less than just one phone call. Younger employees should respect the workplace standards and culture, while also integrating their aptitude for new technologies. Millennials also are more likely to seek guidance, mentorship, and feedback, which can be perceived by older employees as a high-maintenance workplace ethos. However, this attitude is ideal for learning and training, as well as building strong inter-personal connections.

Middle Child Syndrome

Members of Generation X are comfortable with technology, and already acclimated to the workplace culture. However, these employees can be stuck in the middle between wildly distinct generational values. These experienced employees are preparing to move into higher positions, and will be tasked with bridging the generation gap between new employees and established professionals. The best approach to these new challenges is to open up various avenues of communication based on the individual needs of employees.

Baby Boomers

Boomers possess the experience and skill level that younger employees strive to attain, but can feel isolated by millennials’ communication styles and desire for feedback. Patience and openness will be fundamental to improving the tension between these two generations. Boomers can feel threatened by what they perceive as a radical shift in communication styles, and may not be open to embracing new technologies. However, Boomers possess invaluable industry-specific knowledge, and should be open to working with new employees to provide guidance.

In acknowledging these differences, we can break down communication barriers and form more effective teams that can work together to share skills and grow as individuals.

Contact Madison Approach to get started today!

Keep reading:

Compensation Challenges in a Multi-Generational Workplace

Workplace Motivation Across Generations