It’s no longer a secret that the Millenial generation is rapidly taking over the job market. Companies and corporations are starting to feel the effects of the changing demands and needs of these employees. “Maternal leave” is no longer just reserved for mothers, and paid overtime isn’t guaranteed. But every company is reliant on the well-trained and young employees who are entering the workforce, which means that as an employer, you cannot afford to ignore this trend. To this effect, studies regarding entry-level employees are incredibly valuable to companies who wish to attract the best talents to staff their team.
Graduates and young professionals across Germany were surveyed to figure out important trends, with the goal of determining “Which company is the most attractive employer?” Before we present the survey winner, we recommend that you take this chance to assess your own company’s perceived “attractiveness” for young millennial employees, and to really analyze your company’s strengths and weaknesses.
Attractive Employers – Here’s What Counts
1. Flexible Schedule Planning
More than half of the 2,500 people surveyed preferred flexible working times (51.9%) as opposed to fixed schedules (22.6%). For a quarter of those surveyed, this topic wasn’t regarded as very important (25.5%). These results indicate, like in many reports, that concepts like “home-office” and flexible working hours are becoming more and more popular.
Employees are working to ensure that their private lives are not dominated by work. Therefore, as an employer, it’s a good idea to take this preference to heart and take the necessary measures to offer your employees more flexibility.
2. Further Education Opportunities are an Indicator of an Attractive Employer
When young professionals are asked about the most important features that make a company more attractive, the majority of those surveyed list opportunities for further education (75.6%) and upward career mobility (73.1%) as hugely important. The importance of these two features has notably increased in comparison to the year before, from 67.6%. Another important criterion that makes an employer attractive with young employees is the company image (64.1%).
These results show that financial considerations are not the lone factors that millennial employees consider when job searching. Instead, it looks as though job seekers place more value in what their companies do, and how these companies aim to reach certain goals.
3. Corporate Image
The philosophy and image of a company are also worth noting. 64.1% of those who were surveyed answered that a company should have strong moral values, and contribute to the community. Only 3.6% of those surveyed considered a company’s values and moral standings to be irrelevant, the rest were neutral. For you and your company, it’s also important to pay attention to which corporate philosophies your company supports, and to maintain a consistent message.
As soon as you pick up on dissatisfaction among your employees, it’s important to investigate the sources and do your best to counteract them.
4. Payment
While salary isn’t the most important factor for millennials when rating the attractiveness of a potential employer, it’s certainly a matter to consider. Only 2.3% of surveyed young professionals place little to no value on salary.
Therefore, it’s in the best interest of your company not to underestimate the value of young talented employees. Otherwise, you may be walking a dangerous line, making yourself unpopular among the top educated employees of today’s millennial workforce. So make sure to acknowledge that these job seekers know their value, and you should know it, too!
So, how would you measure up against the top 10? We hope that these insights can help you and your business to become more attractive to potential job seekers. And with no further ado, we present the 10 most attractive employers in Germany (Statistics from 2014).
- BMW (14.6%)
- Audi (14.1%)
- Volkswagen (10.9%)
- Daimler (10.2%)
- Bosch (9.7%)
- Porsche (8.1%)
- Siemens (6.7%)
- BASF (4.6%)
- Google (4.2%)
- Bayer (3.9%)
As a hiring manager or a CEO, are you creating the right work-culture for your company?
