Dave-ologies: Diversity Matters

There are approximately 125.9 Million adult women in America and approximately 60 million millennial's, according to recent census numbers; so 186 million out of the roughly 319 million people in America. This is over half of our population, yet these are two groups often misrepresented and misunderstood in the workplace.

I was reading through some human capital trends this week in a report published by Deloitte (Global Human Capital Trends 2016) and it is interesting to see data as it relates to Millennial's and the issues which are on their respective radar. As we seek to find new ways of recruiting and engaging our current and future employees, the focus must specifically include and understand women and Millennial's. I am proud to work for an organization where approximately 50% of our senior leaders are female - our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Transformation Officer (our leader over strategy, product and content), our Chief Legal Counsel, our Chief Content Officer, and our CEO of our digital company.

With women at half the U.S. population and millennial's about one-quarter, addressing the needs of these workers is essential for all of us as employers. What’s good for women and millennial's is good for everyone. It’s absolutely crucial to keep our finger on the pulse of our constantly changing landscape of HR topics and issues. By looking closely at data, research, and surfacing the most pressing themes, we better understand the trends in concerns and behaviors of employers and employees around benefits, compensation and leadership.

Let’s focus in on Millennial's and women for a minute. A few data points which caught my eye:

    - 71% of Millennial's likely to leave their current company in the next two years are unhappy with their development.
    - 66% of Millennial's expect to leave their organization by 2020.
    - 63% of Millennial's believe their leadership skills are not fully being developed.
    - Employees who work for a female manager are 1.26 times more likely than those who work for a male manager to “strongly agree” that there is someone at work who encourages their development.
    - ONLY 7% of companies have accelerated leadership programs for Millennial's AND only 4% of companies believe they are good at engaging Millennial's.
    - 90% of Millennial's would prefer improved benefits over a pay raise.
    - The benefits with highest correlation to employee satisfaction were: health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings options.
    - Men earn 24.1% higher base than women, on average.
    - 67% of US employees were likely not to apply for a job at companies where men and women were paid unequally.

What does this all mean? It means diversity matters. And it means understanding the needs of ALL our employees will make a difference. Talent is what differentiates all employers. We can all purchase the same equipment, buildings, supplies… what we cannot all do equally is hire great talent. Today I am focusing on Millennial's and women, but I could have easily focused on “Boomers”, Native Americans, Disabled, Veterans, etc. If we are not paying attention to the needs of a specific sub section of our workforce, we essentially are excluding them from our talent pools. How do we take data like I referenced above and incorporate this into your talent strategies? How do we better understand the needs of our changing workforce? How do we choose where to use our resources? We start with data, we seek to understand, we invest in transparency and openness.

As Kaytie Zimmerman said in a recent Forbes article on retaining Millennial's, “Among millennial's, there is a collective shout to employers to develop them, mentor them, and give them opportunities to lead. Companies that offer their youngest employees the ability to grow within their organization are more likely to hang on to them or prevent job-hopping.”   I think this rings true with MOST employees. The Deloitte survey also found that those intending to stay with their organization for more than five years are twice as likely to have a mentor (68%), than not (32%).   One staple of this millennial generation is that they want feedback, but it is probably time to consider a different approach to the old school mentor and mentee relationship. Just as millennial's can learn from long-term employees, your business can learn just as much from them. Millennial's grew up with technology, which has created a culture of transparency. In a day when one tweet can take down an entire company, millennial's expect the company they work for to be upfront. In the information age, it's hard enough for companies to hide things from the consumer, let alone their own employees. If your company has a traditional hierarchy, think about those implications – maybe time to rethink the structure. You don't have to go as far as some progressive west coast companies and eliminate leaders entirely, but you should ensure that the millennial's in your company have a voice. Highlight their accomplishments and let them know you value them, which will motivate them to go above and beyond for your business.

So…we need to be more aware of the data on our workforce, the trends that exist, and the rapidly changing world we live in. We need to change or get passed by.

Together. We. Win.

Dave Harmon

People Division

“Kindness is Currency”

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr