I recently held a virtual session with our youth academy where we got to the heart of what Generation Z and Millennials really want from a job.We heard inspiring stories from seven team members in their twenties, each with their own background and different goals. It was so interesting to hear what drives them to push their businesses forward and succeed.Although everyone’s core motivators were unique to them, there were some common themes that arose around what attracted each person to initially join the business but importantly what pushes them to grow it.These themes are important when we’re engaging with that younger audience.Understanding their core drivers and what their ‘why’ is, will allow you to give them a vision of what life can be like if they put their minds to it.
- Autonomy – A topic that kept coming up was the desire to work for themselves, rather than someone else. There is a strong entrepreneurial mindset within the younger members of our business, and this is a common trait among millennials and GenZ who want to be empowered in their roles and want autonomy over their career. Our business offers that and more. People can commit as much or as little time to growing their network as they like which is attractive to people who have other commitments such as children. There’s no pressure from the top to hit targets, but there’s much more support than if someone was to start their own business from scratch.
- Financial Freedom – Increasingly, the younger generation are keen to take on more than one job and this is true of most of the group we heard from. Some are using their residual income to top up a part time salary, others are using it to fast track their friends and get ahead with goals such as getting on the property ladder. 5/7 of the young people we spoke to had already achieved their aim of buying a house thanks to their extra income. Dan Holmes, a 24-year-old who has been with the business since he was 19 said the residual income gave him the best of both worlds. While his friends were saving to buy houses, they had to tighten the purse strings, but he had enough to enjoy life and save at the same time!
- Personal Development – It’s a well-known fact that millennials and Gen Z prefer to communicate digitally and whilst that’s great for some instances, our business is all about relationship building. For some, networking and communicating on both a one-to-one basis and in a group, setting is hugely anxiety provoking and so they’re put off by an opportunity like ours. However, something that our younger colleagues kept saying was how much their confidence and skills had grown since joining the business. They’ve benefited from being pushed outside of their comfort zones. One had overcome social anxiety, and another has gone on to set up their own business. Our mentoring schemes are a key element of helping to nurture talent and help young people to grow their careers.
People between the ages of 18-24 have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic with youth unemployment at its highest since 2016.[1] It’s more important than ever that we engage with these people, understand their needs and educate them about our opportunities.I continue to be inspired by the younger members of our team every time I speak to them. They’re an asset to our business and they’re thriving as a result of it.My core message: Ask lots of questions, get to know what motivates them and show them that they can achieve their goals with a little push in the right direction.[1] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05871/
