Generation Gap – Millennial shaking up the workplace rules 

It’s a drastically different outlook from the generations before who are used to the more traditional hierarchy of large corporate firms – staying at the same firm and working a set number of years in a particular post before progressing.

But as this group grows as a proportion of the workforce, employers will have to shift their working practices to attract and retain staff from this generation.

Trust is key in a workplace, says China Gorman

Firms which get it right can create a competitive advantage in securing the best staff, says China Gorman, a HR executive with over 20 years’ experience.

“No matter where in the world, no matter what industry, no matter the size of the company – trust is the foundation for creating a great workplace culture,” she says.

But she admits it doesn’t come easily to many, particularly those more used to a hierarchical structure.

‘More purpose-driven’

Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of room sharing website Airbnb, which has over 2,000 employees, says in the technology arena in which they operate the competition for staff is very intense.

In a bid to attract more millennials he says the firm makes it very clear what, its core values are to help make it stand out to would be employees.

“Millennials are known to be more purpose-driven, so as a company both internally and externally we’re always communicating what our values are and trying to be true to those things,” he says.

Ryan Holmes, the founder of Hootsuite, which provides social media management tools, has also worked hard to avoid the traditional hierarchies of larger firms.

Rather than having a layer of management which dictates to their team below, the firm has instead tried to give individual teams more power.

It’s also created a so called “guru track” to enable those in the company who don’t want to become traditional leaders still achieve some kind of recognition.

“If CEOs try and over control in the old way then millennials will walk but if you can harness their ideas, passion and energy then that’s going to power the future success of the company,” he says.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  The millennial generation shaking up the workplace rules – BBC News