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Why you should hire millennials

Why you should hire millennials

Millennials are stereotyped as being less competitive, entitled, avocado toast loving, technology addicted workers. Sure, many millennials are glued to their smartphones and social media, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have important things to contribute to your organization – nor does it mean that they don’t work hard. 

By 2020, millennials will make up 50% of the workforce and their share of the workforce will continue to grow from there. On the whole, this group is goal and value driven and cares about its impact on society and the planet. So, millennials are not only going to represent a large portion of your talent pool but will also be looking to the job market for an opportunity to make that impact. That is good news for employers – hiring millennials can actually offer a number of (maybe) unexpected benefits to companies.

Perspective

There’s no denying it – millennials aren’t as experienced as the baby boomers in the marketplace, but boomers can’t beat the open-minded perspective millennials have. Millennials have experienced the world changing around them quicker than generation X, so they see new possibilities before they arise. They are always willing to think out of the box and come up with fresh and innovative ideas. 

Plus hiring young employees can work out great if your business aims to attract young customers. After all, who knows better what the young generation wants than themselves? They’ll bring marketing and product design strategies that better appeal to their age group, which will kickstart your sales. 

Qualified

Millennials are on track to be the most educated generation ever with 27% of women and 21% of men having completed a Bachelor’s Degree by age 33. Most of them are highly qualified, having done sometimes multiple internships to gain professional work experience. Hiring millennials will modernize your organization’s workforce, as well as bring the most up to date knowledge pertaining to your sector. 

Tech Savvy

Millennials have grown up using computers, portable devices, the Internet, and social media. They have digital and technical knowledge at their fingertips. They pick up and apply technology better and quicker than the experienced baby boomers in tech-companies. You’ll have little or no trouble training these people on computer systems or new equipment. 

Further, millennials are familiar with the latest communications technology and know their way around social media. There is no company in existence today that does not need a social media presence to be relevant. Even the millennials without a communications background can help you harness the power of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms and turn that into brand awareness and sales. 

Less focused on money

The older and more experienced generation have high expectations from their previous workplaces when it comes to compensation. The bottom line is usually their only bottom line. 

Unlike baby boomers, the calculation millennials make is usually based on meaning rather than pay. A recent study of Canadian millennials showed that nearly half of this demographic would forgo a raise of about $9,000 to do work they considered more meaningful and impactful, so this benefit may not work for every job you offer. Also, with less experience, their salary expectations tend to be lower. But do ensure your salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience and responsibility. If you are truly unable to offer competitive salaries, millennials are more likely than other generations to be open to flexibility perks, such as remote days or additional vacation days. 

Motivated

What’s better than having a highly motivated and excited workforce? Millennials are driven and deeply invested in what they do. They are motivated by their will to perform better and bring high-end results. It goes without saying how this particular attribute impacts your business outcomes.

They tend to be more tenacious and eager to learn in the workplace than other generations. Such a disposition leads to quick problem solving and adaptability, as well as a desire to get the job done well before moving on. 

Collaborative

A survey of millennials conducted by IdeaPaint found that 74% of millennials prefer to collaborate in small groups, as opposed to large teams or on their own, and that 38% of millennials feel that antiquated collaboration processes actually damage their company’s innovation potential. Teams with more millennials mean better teamwork, less internal competition and more innovation. This leads to a stronger bottom line, but also a more positive work environment.

The Bottom Line is….

Hiring millennials helps you bring new and innovative talent into your organization. They are highly motivated and enthusiastic about their work. They know (or can find) their way around technology and are keen to learn new things, as well as seize new opportunities. The fact that they seek meaning through their work means that organizations have an opportunity to harness their enthusiasm towards achieving something greater. 

Ensuring Optimal Retention When Handling a Diverse Workforce

Ensuring Optimal Retention When Handling a Diverse Workforce

A diverse workforce produces better services, higher quality product, and higher profit margins. You, as the leader of your organization, need to manage your diverse workforce to achieve your organizational goals efficiently. To begin with, you’ll need to come up with certain guidelines for your employees to work as a team and train them to coordinate well with each other. However, it’s an ongoing process. If you don’t handle your diverse workforce well and ensure those guidelines are followed, your employee turnover is likely to be higher.

Overall, people stay in organizations that invest in them and provide a safe, inclusive working environment – that means allowing people to show up as their whole selves and not have to hide aspects of their experience or identities in the office. Inclusiveness is easy and happens naturally when you work with a group of similar people, but it becomes more difficult when people come from different backgrounds, gender identities and diverse abilities. Only when the variety of experiences come together to form one team over the long-term do you really get to reap the benefits and improved performance that a diverse team can achieve for your organization. But what management strategies can you use to improve retention of a diverse team?

1. Take Feedback from Time to Time
Feedback works both ways. By creating an environment of trust and openness, your employees can address their concerns with you directly, which gives you the chance to make necessary changes in your organization before they become a liability. Some cultures that are more hierarchical discourage direct employee to supervisor feedback, so you may have to take initiative in sourcing feedback from your staff. Ask your team how they are performing and you’ll find which areas to work on. Encourage your team to give both constructive and positive feedback. Constant bi-directional feedback can help you improve delegation and the overall work environment.

2. Data-Driven Approach
Most organizations take retention actions based on emotional decisions, which is the reason these actions sometimes don’t deliver the desired results. A data-driven approach to optimizing the retention of a diverse workforce is necessary. Collection of data should include periodic surveys, issues faced by a diverse workforce, and their overall progress. Use the collected data for making decisions, alterations, and retention actions to achieve desired results for diversity retention and recruiting in the workplace.

3. Stay Interviews
Stay interviews are the number one tool for employee retention. They are easy to carry out and effective in reinforcing the reasons your retention target should stay. To carry out stay interviews as a part of your strategy requires scheduling a one-hour interview at least twice a year with staff.

The meetings allow the manager and their employees to talk about their progress, expectations, and the reasons why the employee adds value to the organization. Having stay interviews also allows you to understand why your employees work for you and what your organization can do better to keep them over the long-term – when done widely across a workplace, you can spot patterns in the feedback you receive. They are a proven type of employer investment in your employees as taking the time out of your schedule to hear about their experience and improves employee satisfaction.

4. Performance Measurement and Rewards for Retaining Employees
It’s a well-established rule that you can execute what you measure and further, that you can improve efficiency by rewarding employees. To make your executives and managers prioritize retaining key employees, set rewards for retention. Retention of employees can be added as a KPI for their promotion and bonus metrics.
The measure and reward technique worked quite well for high profile firms, like Intel. By running a company-wide bonus program for diversity retention, Intel managed to bring their diversity turnover below the industry average.

The Bottom Line is…
Having a diverse workforce is not effective for an organization if diversity retention falls short. The steps above create a foundation for strong communication, trust and investment in your employees, which should get you well on your way to improving retention of diverse employees.

Did you know that each hire costs on average $4,000*? That’s only one reason why hiring and retaining good people is so important. If you’re interested in addressing your hiring and retention of diverse employees, we can help. Borrow expert, customizable solutions to apply to your workplace with Veza Global’s Diversity Assessment.

*Source: Society of Human Resources

Influencing change in others

Influencing change in others

We are surrounded by individuals who we don’t agree with. We live in a world where we have different backgrounds, different cultures influencing us, different upbringing and different experiences that impact us in each moment. We are not going to agree on everything yet in order to create relationships where people are left feeling heard and valued, we need to have the empathy to understand what others’  perspectives.

 

The ability to influence change in others, especially as a manager or executive is so important. As a leader, being nice or letting things slide doesn’t work well for the individual, the leader or the team. When we don’t hold others to a higher standard we are at some level showing them that we don’t really care about them and we don’t care if they show up to the best of their abilities.

 

Understand where they are at

When we do want to influence change, it is important to understand what their vision is and what their obstacles are. It allows them to feel heard and respected. It helps to understand what is important to them and what is their “Why”. Aligning activities to align with their values and influence them to make the necessary changes.

 

Inspire them

Inspire individuals by leading by example is one of the key ways others will rise in their own roles. They are able to recognize the value of the actions that they were not taking or taking unaligned actions. Allow them to be pulled to something bigger than them that they are passionate about.

 

Build trust

Creating a relationship based on trust and mutual respect will lead to influence. Trust allows individuals to relax, understand the outcome from the perspective needed rather than the lens that was brought with them into the position. It also allows for an innate allyship that is so important when there is a need to influence. Trust is built on things like transparency, loyalty, integrity and honesty.

 

Allow them to bring their whole selves into the office

When people feel comfortable and safe, they are likely to be less guarded and open to change. Creating an environment through onboarding and cultural initiatives that support employees to express with their orientation, culture, thoughts, beliefs and way of being (within the parameters of professionalism).

 

Provide them safe places to speak up

As leaders within organizations, the creation of safe spaces whether they be online, anonymous or in-person are very important to the health of the organizational culture and the change management. It allows people to speak up to what may be bothering them in the workplace, provide feedback and engage with each other and or leadership. The safety of these spaces is dependent on how they feel in each of the areas:  physical, emotional, mental and spiritual attributes when they come to participate in these spaces.

 

Influencing change in others starts from standing in your own truth, your own power and influencing the change needed within yourself. It is from this place of discovery and strength that we can successfully create cultures of safety and belonging.

 

Negotiating your salary to eliminate the need for equal pay day

Negotiating your salary to eliminate the need for equal pay day

Equal Pay Day is a day dedicated to raising awareness of the gender pay gap. The exact day differs year by year (Conflicting dates as to what the actual day is in Canada as it may be April 2 or April 9th).

In most cases, men have four months on most women in terms of earnings. Over the lifetime, men will make over $400,000 more than women due to the lack of equal pay.

One way that you can help combat this trend and help make the need for Equal Pay Day obsolete is to advocate for your own salary/raise.

Here are a few tips on negotiating salaries:

  1. Research what is market value for your experience, expertise and your role. Glassdoor and Payscale are great places to do this research.
  2. When asking for a raise, showcase your achievements and have concrete examples of how you supported reaching the organizational goals (so be very aware of what are the organization’s goals). Constantly ensure that your role is alignment with the organizational goals so that it:
    • Keeps you valuable to the company
    • Allows you to feel you are contributing
    • Shows value for your position
    • Allows you to use it as leverage.
  3. Be confident when asking. This is the most important piece. You need to believe your own worth. You need to have a strong voice that has conviction in it. You need to believe you deserve. Practice in the mirror what the conversation would be. Notice if you look away or continue to look at yourself as you ask for the raise. Does your body language showcase confidence or do you shy away and change your body position? Does your voice have the same tone, volume and power throughout the conversation or do you falter when you mention money?

Do this exercise multiple times and then journal what is your experience each time. This will allow you to uncover how you are showcasing your worth and deservability on a regular basis as well it allows you to be prepared for the conversation.

  1. Talk to a mentor or coach who can guide you through the conversation. It is always helpful to have a third party act as a soundboard, give pointers and a coach can take you through a role play.

Historically, we know women tend to negotiate less and accept what they are given – so it is time to negotiate once and do it well. Your voice and your confidence in your own abilities will help fix this disparity. Do you have any additional tips to add? Tell us about them in the comments.

Diversity by Design: Co-Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Immigrants and Newcomers (Recap)

Diversity by Design: Co-Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Immigrants and Newcomers (Recap)

Diversity by Design: Co-Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Immigrants and Newcomers Recap

On January 28th, veza community hosted our second annual Diversity by Design workshop at Women in Tech Regatta. This year we were joined by Hanif Ladha from the Immigrant Employer’s Council of BC, Humaira Ahmed of Locelle Digital and Gwen Pawlikowski of Highlight Communication, who all provided incredible insights on the immigrant journey. The following blog will share some of the key highlights and takeaways from the panel and breakout groups.

Organizations can be designed to encourage diversity (and they should be!) A suite of studies have overwhelmingly proven that companies with more women in leadership and higher rates of ethnic diversity are more profitable, have higher retention rates of staff and are better at solving problems because of a diversity of thought around the table. For instance, according to Statistics Canada’s Workplace Employee Survey, for every 1% increase in gender diversity and ethnocultural diversity, there was, respectively, an average increase of 3.5% and 2.4% in revenue and 0.7% and 0.5% in workplace productivity.

We know that diversity is important secret sauce that makes organizations work better, but what is the secret to fostering more diversity? And further, what can we do to make sure that diversity is accompanied by belonging, especially for newcomers?

Onboarding

Onboarding is an important juncture for all employees that sets them up for success in their new roles. Poorly executed onboarding can create unnecessary stress, frustration and often, an end to employment. Newcomers need additional support to fit in and have an easy transition into a Canadian workplace.

Recommendations included:

  • setting up their workspace with the tools they need and an onboarding guide ahead of time, perhaps even an acronym dictionary if the organization leans heavily on jargon;
  • setting clear expectations and pathways to success;
  • having all staff participate in a welcome lunch or party;
  • creating a buddy system that links the new hire with someone of a similar background who can help show them the ropes;
  • Encouraging patience in current staff ahead of time by highlighting some different ways that people of their culture show up in the workplace.

Belonging leads to retention

As panelist Hanif Ladha shared, “Trust starts with meaningful conversations.” In the workplace, that means conversations that create a human connection between current staff and new hires of different backgrounds to build trust and a sense of belonging. Staff take a queue from senior managers on this and that is why it is important to create an office culture that encourages people to be people. Workshop participants expressed a feeling of belonging coming from colleagues showing a genuine interest in their families, stories, and culture (and not assuming men don’t want to have those conversations!) and from having their office celebrate holidays and birthdays.

Belonging requires promoting a culture of celebrating diversity in the workplace. For example, participants fondly recalled Diwali parties with samosas and a Moon festival potluck that allowed them to take part in their colleagues’ cultures.

The key piece is buy-in from leadership. Having committees and resource groups for different backgrounds or LGBTQ employees and even for cultural celebrations is appreciated by staff, but do require discretionary funds. Participants also highlighted volunteer projects in their communities as a huge boost for staff morale and a way of infusing meaning into a newcomer’s transition into a team.

One participant stood up and shared that on the whole, newcomers don’t want to be treated as newcomers. They want to be treated as people. All people have a history and a culture. All people have skills and interesting perspectives. All people have something to offer. All people should be accommodated.

The ultimate goal is for every employee to feel like they belong and they are identified as a team member rather than being labeled as an immigrant or newcomer.

Opportunities for growth

Staff from all backgrounds want to work in organizations that take a personal interest in their wellbeing and their professional advancement. That includes opportunities for mentorship, professional development and space to move up, but also, one-on-one time with leadership. Many appreciate systems of recognition or peer spotlighting.

A strong workplace culture should ultimately allow all people to be heard without judgement, because adding different cultures adds different perspectives. That’s why we need to make the space and take the extra care where it is needed. It’s the right thing and the smart thing to do.

If you want to do a quick strategy session on your HR programs and policy to promote greater diversity and inclusion in your organization, please contact us at hello [at] vezacommunity [dot] com.

What is coaching?

Coaching is understanding who we are, what we want from life and what we are willing to do to get it.

Many ask, well I can do that for myself why do I need a coach.

Of course you can do that for yourself. At the end of the day, you are accountable to yourself and only yourself. A coach supports you to be accountable to yourself by being there for check in, a sound board or helping you facilitate a situation in which a change in perspective might help.

I have worked with coaches over the last eight years for my own personal development. The coaches have provided me resources, pushed my limits to make me uncomfortable which created change, they helped me understand what was going on and how to see things from a different light and most of all they made me realize that life is easy and fun so I created my life to be that way.

I feel the need to end this post with a good quote – I have two
“An expert knows the subject very well. A model teaches by showing instead of just telling.” Thomas Leonard

“You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.”
Galileo Galilei

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