Young workers want more than monetary remuneration

The days when young workers were grateful for whatever job they got are well and truly over. In contemporary times, if employers aren’t willing to pander towards the key motivators of young workers, talent attraction may struggle.

HR Leader recently spoke to Stephen Duncan, head of people at The Access Group, about the generational shift in decision-making when it comes to the job market for young workers.

Young workers are no longer solely fixated on monetary remuneration; instead, a high priority is the organisational values upheld by the specific business that the young worker is looking upon as a potential job. Young workers strive for an organisation that will invest in them and help them grow and develop.

“It depends on what the company is doing as far as nurturing you in your development, training, and how they are enabling you to succeed through their tools. The younger generations coming through like Gen X, they don’t [have] that mindset of ‘you’re lucky to have a job.’ Because, these days, it appears there’s a lot more movement in the market and more opportunity,” said Duncan.

“So, they’re looking for organisations that fit their ethos, if you want to call it that. That’s where it becomes, it’s just that kind of additional component that sort of rides outside of just the monetary remuneration.”

It also directly ties in with employee retention; if organisations instead prioritise traditional outlooks on subjects like EVP (employee value proposition), they may risk leaving the door open for young employees to leave, as their values aren’t aligned. Employees constantly leaving is not good for business, obviously.

“That’s where the rubber hits the road, right? It’s important to highlight just how damaging it is every time an employee leaves, and the difficult process of trying to find somebody, trying to upskill them, pay for their onboarding; it can cost tens of thousands of dollars,” Duncan said.

“It is also impacting the flow of the company. It’s an alarming thing if that’s the case. Companies need to respect the fact that it’s more than just having the right salary. They need to look at where their corporate responsibility lies, where they’re actually helping the community outside of just making money.”

It’s about organisations building that connection with their employees so that they want to reside there and don’t have that feeling of wanting to look for other opportunities elsewhere. A good salary and a coffee machine just don’t cut it anymore. The sooner businesses come to that realisation, the better their retention and attraction will be.

“The best thing companies can do is just understand that it’s no longer just about how much we pay people, but it’s how much people feel connected to the organisation and how they create that ecosystem. It’s creating a dynamic where they’re emotionally connected to the organisation that they’re working for, as opposed to just being a part of the organisation,” Duncan said.