Today’s generation of young people are undoubtedly the most qualified, having faced significant pressure to succeed academically. Yet, for employers retaining their younger workforce, is not proving to be that easy. According to Forbes (2012) an average millennial will change their job at least 15 times during their career. Such transience doesn’t help negative public narrative that promotes the view that young people lack ‘grit’. The fact is there are significant challenges facing young people when they embark on their employment journey, and employers could take effective steps to scaffold against, with positive outcome.
Money matters
In the UK, young people face work with trepidation, with many knowing they carry a burden of paying off university fees to gain their degree. This is more than £9,000 per year, leaving them with a responsibility that has a daunting start. Unsurprisingly, (61%) of this younger generation say their focus is on earning as much as they can rather than doing a job they love. When young people do find work, they are often on short term contracts, zero-hour contracts, or are paid less than the cost of living dictates they can afford.
Whereas generations before them might have saved for their first mortgage or their first car, this generation can’t afford these goals. Psychological theory confirms that human behaviour does not flourish in the absence of clear goals or rewards.
TIPS:
- Increase responsibility and clear goals to tap into talent and leadership.
- Provide promotion opportunities.
- Provide opportunities to ‘job hop’ – i.e., try new roles, positions, and even changes in work locations.
- Provide the possibility of being able to develop a ‘passion project’ alongside work.
- Offer workplace flexibility.
Mental Health Challenges
NHS Digital in 2022 released figures that 1 in 6 children and young people present with a probable mental health difficulty. Mental ill health is most likely to start in mid-teens and can have significant and often enduring effect on a young person’s life, affecting their confidence, academic output, relationships, and opportunities, including finding work. With mental health support services at an all-time low, young people miss out on effective, early support that will help them get back on track.
TIPS:
- Create an open and trusting culture that embeds positive mental health as part of the ethos of the organisation.
- Encourage listening over telling as a management style.
- Provide targeted and appropriate mental health support to graduates and young employees.
- Improve preventative policies and procedures and invest in preventative health services.
Isolation and Loneliness
The impact of COVID-19 has left its mark on young people’s confidence to make and retain friendships. Online social opportunities further distance them from the learning and application of real-life social skills and social confidence. Many young people have missed out on teamwork and collaborative work experience and find it difficult to value this within a work setting, seeing it purely as something that gets in the way of efficiency. Hybrid working can further contribute to exacerbating isolation and loneliness, with rising figures of different examples of social avoidance.
TIPS:
- Provide opportunities to enhance and improve social connections.
- Enable effective communication and team interaction skills through training and opportunities.
- Recruit a diverse body of staff and be active in providing a framework to evaluate cohesion-orientated activity.
- Enable opportunities for young staff to lead innovation.
Impact Driven Culture
Higher levels of education, increased exposure to world politics and concern over social and environmental matters, and greater exposure to altruism mean that young people are more driven to work in organisations that share their values and provide opportunity to make a
difference that benefits society.
In a Net Impact survey in 2021, 58% respondents said they would take a 15% pay cut to work for an organisation that reflected their values.
TIPS:
- Workplace cultures should be flexible, inclusive, collaborative and provide opportunity to everyone having a say in shaping the culture, keeping in mind that this can often be difficult for young employees especially in a hierarchical system.
- Values young people say attract them to workplaces include a focus on personal growth, an emphasis on wellness, accountability, inclusivity, fairness, and respect.
- Presenting occasions to add social value through supporting community organisations and initiatives
Supporting older, more experienced workers through change and challenging negative attitudes
It is estimated that by 2031, around 25% of the UK population will be aged 65-79 years old and this, coupled with recruitment and retainment difficulties in the workforce, means an increased working age. This can bring its own challenges in terms of competition for opportunities for career progression and skewed team dynamics with some older workers having younger managers. Health conditions and caring responsibilities are often more prevalent in this group, making compassion for the difficulties experienced by younger colleagues harder. Whilst generational divides have always been a challenge in workplace cultures, extra focus should be offered to create opportunities for multigenerational tolerance, acceptance, and collaboration.
To find out how your organisation can support the mental health of young employees with the help of stem4 contact corporate@stem4.org.uk.
