Money and progress critical for ambitious Irish millennials
EngageSmith has announced its EngageSmith Millennial Workplace Survey that tracks Irish millennials’ attitudes to work and career on a quarterly basis. This is the first edition of the new survey and reveals that 62% of Irish millennials view career progression opportunities as the most important factor in the workplace, while 57% see salary as most critical, bucking the international trend that salary isn’t important to millennials. Indeed, 41% of respondents left their last job due to insufficient salary.
Countering the perception that all millennials want a cool office with gimmicks like pool tables and bean bags, a mere 1% of Irish millennial respondents selected this as a factor that is important to them.
The survey conducted in July 2017 by EngageSmith, shows that Irish millennials are an ambitious generation. 76% said that they would leave the company they currently work for if the career development opportunities were insufficient. The survey also shows that millennials are not prepared to stay in a job that lacked career progression opportunities as 47% of Irish millennials left their last job for this reason.
Irish millennials recognise the importance of training and development opportunities to fast track their careers as 70% see a focus on training within a company as positive. The significance of career progression to millennials is evident in the survey as 59% of respondents plan to move job in the next year. One in five cite wanting more responsibilities and opportunities as the reason for this move.
In terms of keeping Irish millennials engaged and productive in work, having a good working relationship with their boss is key. 64% said that a poor working relationship with the boss would cause them to be less satisfied in work, while 60% said that an unfriendly atmosphere would cause dissatisfaction.
Lisa Smith, founder of EngageSmith, said: “It’s interesting to see that Irish millennials value salary and career progression so highly. With rents at such high levels, particularly in Dublin, Irish millennials don’t have the luxury of not prioritising their salary. If companies want to attract and retain the top millennial talent they must offer competitive salaries and lots of opportunities for millennials to progress their careers within the company.”
“Enabling millennial employees to have a good working relationship with their managers and offering training and development opportunities that will fast track their careers will create the environment that Irish millennials want from their workplaces. As part of our millennial friendly training programmes, we work directly with managers to help them understand how to motivate millennials and keep them engaged in their work. Companies that become millennial friendly are future-proofing for the next generations and from this investment will see an increase in engagement and productivity from their millennial employees.”
The EngageSmith Millennial Workplace Survey shows that the majority of Irish millennials favour online methods when searching for new job opportunities, with 79% of Irish millennials using online job sites and 65% using social media. It seems the old fashioned referral isn’t so old fashioned after all, as 53% like to find new jobs through friend referrals.
