5 Benefits That Will Attract Millennials To Your Team

It’s no secret that the Millennial generation has brought about many changes to our culture and our workforce. With a desire to not simply “clock in and clock out” at a 9-5 job, Millennials are constantly looking for ways to impact the world around them. They're passionate and empathetic, longing for a new kind of work environment. For better or for worse, the workplace is changing, and so are the perks and benefits that Millennials are looking for. 

Here are 5 workplace benefits that will draw passionate Millennial employees to your staff team (and drew me to Vanderbloemen Search Group):

1. Professional Growth and Development

Unfortunately, Millennials have received a bad reputation of never wanting to work. This isn't true at all; their idea of work just looks a little different than it did 25 years ago.

Millennials aren't only looking for a place to contribute, but a place where they can develop.

One of the main things that attracted me to Vanderbloemen Search Group was the promise of personal and professional development opportunities. We have built-in professional development on the first Friday of every month for the entire company, where we come together as a team and discuss relevant topics to our line of work. In addition, our leadership team is constantly giving us various opportunities to partake in new projects and learn new skills. They empower us to take ownership of a new opportunity and trust us to get the job done (with appropriate guidance, of course). The value they place on our development is seen and felt, which does nothing but encourage our team to want to be at work that much more. 

2. Flexible Hours

For most organizations, long gone are the days of working a strict 8-5 workday. Nowadays, many companies even allow for employees to work from home. This isn't always feasible for every organization, but a great compromise is implementing a flexible hour structure.

When I was interviewing with Vanderbloemen, I was a little worried about the transition back to an 8-5 work environment. I'd already transitioned out of that once to a position that allowed me to work from home and have a ton of control over my schedule. So the idea of going back to a strict 8-5 was a little less than ideal.

However, I quickly learned that Vanderbloemen implemented a flexible hour structure. We can come in at any time between the hours of 7-9 and leave at the appropriate corresponding hour between 4-6. This small adjustment to work start times allows for folks to work out, schedule early morning (or late afternoon) appointments, or simply just sleep a little longer, proving that a small amount of flexibility can go a really long way for a healthy work/life balance.

[FREE DOWNLOAD: 12 Inexpensive Ways To Boost Staff Morale]

3. Healthy Living Support

Millennials value a healthy work-life balance, and a place that supports that is going to be at the top of their list.

At Vanderbloemen Search Group, one of our values is Stewardship of Life. This means we recognize success by our ability to maintain both personal and corporate physical, spiritual, financial and vocational boundaries. Because of this, we have a lot of resources in place to help us live this out easily. We place a high priority on physical health with a monthly fitness competition (who doesn't want to get a prize for working out?!) and an annual stewardship of life contest. For financial health, we encourage all of our employees to go through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, even hosting it in our workplace once a year. We recognize healthy living as a holistic approach to all aspects of our lives, so that our team members are healthy and happy. 

4. Social and Off-Site Events

Thirty years ago, it was commonplace to keep your work life at work and your private life at home. You knew maybe 3-5 personal facts about your colleagues, and you kept the small talk cordial and polite. These days, we're seeing teams and organizations that are much more interpersonal. We all typically spend more time at work than we do anywhere else throughout our weeks, and now with human connection being one of the most valued needs, we're seeing more connection both at work and outside of it.

Another thing that attracted me to Vanderbloemen was how the team members seemed to like one another. This level of connection comes from hanging out both at work and outside of work. Growing and cultivating a strong culture is a top priority for us, and one way we do that is by having one culture event a month. We do movie nights, karaoke nights, bowling nights, and pumpkin carvings (just to name a few). These events allow our team to connect even further, creating even deeper working relationships in the long run.

5. Destressing Outlets at Work

No matter what generation you're in, we're all looking for a work environment where you don't only work hard, but also play hard. We're looking for a place where we take our work seriously, but not ourselves too seriously. This can be cultivated in a many different ways, but for us...it's cornhole.

We have a branded cornhole game (or bean bag toss game if that's the phrase you know better), that serves as a brainstorming activity, a stress-relieving activity, or just a plain fun activity. The work we have the honor of doing is both serious and creative, so sometimes tossing a few bean bags around is just the ticket we need to take a break and realign our productivity. 

This doesn't mean we play cornhole all day. We have high performance expectations of our employees (wow-making excellence is one of our core values), so if you're playing cornhole all day, you're not going to be able to meet your professional goals. Work comes first when you're at work, but it's a nice benefit to have a stress-relieving outlet that can also provide team bonding in the office. 

These are just a handful of benefits and perks that your teams can implement to attract Millennials and the generations coming behind them. However, I think it's safe to say that no matter what generation we're a part of, everyone wants a healthy place to work, and benefits like the ones listed above are an easy way to create one.

What are some benefits of your workplace that you've noticed?