What is generation?
The generation theory was first introduced by the socialist Karl Manheim in 1923. The theory divides generation into groups according to their wishes, experiences, expectancies, values, lifestyles and demographic characteristics, which influence their lives and the way that they consume and behave.
Since then many companies and academics have used generation groups to focus their research and understand better behavior and trends in the industry. In this blog we will review some characteristics of millennials or generation “Y”, people born beginning of the 80s until the late 90s.
Are your employees millennials?
Research says most of them are or will be in the coming years!
In the past years, a huge change in the workplace has begun. We see that we have up to five generations working in the same environment, but how are you dealing with it? Most organizations aren’t prepared to deal with the newest generations, it is an issue in some companies, especially because millennials are now the largest segment in the workplace – 25% and the youngest generation “Z” (born after 2000) is nearly making 24% of the global workforce.
Check the Global breakdown for 2020 below:
As time pass these numbers will change and by 2025, roughly 75% of the global workforce will be millennials. The corporate cultures of most large organizations will be directly shaped by this generation’s habits and expectations, says Mark Hall, 2017 Forbes.
Understanding this transition is essential to allow compliance professionals to keep a culture of compliance and mitigate risks in your organization. This is also considered a challenge for compliance officers and department in the coming years.
Challenges
The blending of generations in an organization can create tension, however, if well managed this mix can create a dynamic team. The biggest challenge for organizations is to find a balance and manage employees’ expectations to keep good talents.
Employers must educate themselves and create a strategy to keep these talents. Besides, understanding what each generation values in an organization is essential.
Millennials are highly confident concerning their abilities, skills, and training due to very involved and affirming parents. It reflects on their willingness to move on very easily from company to company.
66% expect to leave their jobs and 22% plan to leave in the next 2 to 5 years.
The high confidence brings another challenge for employers, which is making millennials to understand that constant training is important in all compliance roles. Millennials tend to believe that they are above required compliance training requirements.
On the other hand, millennials tend to value companies that provide constant training. Training must be part of your company culture to keep employees up to date. It then becomes a challenge if the training provided is not engaging. For them, training should include great content, stories and interesting, gripping visuals.
- More than one-third of millennials say they only engage with content that they feel has a great story
- 90% shifted their focus away from the speaker during a training or presentation they saw live
- 38% prefers to consume training content online and uses bookmark content to return later
Another characteristic of this generation to be highlighted is the value they give to companies who think more ethically and are society focused. This characteristic can be translated to a compliance role, as an employee who will be willing to follow the rules and process to keep compliance.
Preference for technology
The main characteristic of millennials is they have grown with technology. They respond very quickly to technology updates and very positively. This generation expects fast answers for everything, and technology is as important to them as food and clothing.
When seeking for an employer, this generation prioritize a good life balance, but they also highlight the importance of:
Investment/use of technology & Being fast-growing/dynamic
It is well known by the industry that millennials prefer to work for companies that use technology & automation to facilitate daily activities. They also rather work with companies that lead changes in the market.
Automation means that compliance professionals do not have to spend their days filling out forms – says Mark Brotherton, Director of Fraud & Financial Crime at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
Millennials are right! Why would you make compliance professionals to do repetitive tasks if instead, they can focus on the more meaningful “why” of their role? If your company still using a manual process to keep compliance you should review your business activities and be prepared for the future. An automated process is proven to reduce compliance risks in any organization.
48% of compliance professionals complained about “insufficient or outdated technology”. Have you thought how many of them will feel under-equipped when the workforce is represented mainly by millennials and “Z’s”?
Company purpose & reputation
Millennials don’t see revenue as the only way to measure company health and value. Surprisingly they state that ethics, trust, integrity, honesty and customer care are a factor when choosing an employer. In the future, we must expect leaders of this generation to base less their decisions in making money/maximizing profit as they consider it a lower priority than older generations.
Millennials would prioritize the sense of purpose around people rather than growth or profit maximization.
They expect companies and leaders to be committed to society. It explains why the company and its leader’s reputation are so important for them. It requests your company to have a “top to bottom compliance policy” that reinforces a health compliance culture and integrity of all involved in the organization.
What it all means for your organization and compliance officers?
If your company still using manual and difficult processes, likely, you won’t attract younger talents. When reviewing your processes make sure they are time saving and let technology help your compliance professionals so that you can mitigate the risks in this fast-changing industry.
We understand that changes are difficult, however moving forward is essential. Contact MCO today and learn about our solutions.
