How to recruit millennials in Accounting and Financing

By the year 2025, millennials are expected to make up over 50% of the workforce. Not only is the millennial generation changing the face of certain industries, it’s essentially re-shaping the entire workforce.

But why is it so hard to attract and retain millennial talent?

The stigma surrounding millennials is that they’re lazy, entitled and therefore don’t want to work hard to get rewarded.

However, that’s a pretty harsh generalization to make about over 75 million individuals worldwide.

There are far more nuanced views which may help to explain why millennials have been given this stereotype.

One train of thought follows that millennials grew up with easier access to information compared to previous generations.

As a result, millennials are far more aware of the opportunities available to them. Naturally, this helps to shape their decision-making when it comes to weighing-up their next employer. And arguably makes this generation more demanding than its predecessors.

Ultimately, millennials are far more interested in work-life balance, visible career paths and company benefits.

Understanding these needs will help your accounting and finance firm better understand what millennials are looking for and how you can attract and retain talent.

Here are a few things that your company can do to be more attractive to millennials.

Invest in training 

Continual learning should be a staple of any organization. According to a Gallup report, How Millennials Want to Work and Live, 87% of millennials stated that professional development was “very important” to them.

Companies that invest in training and empower their millennial workforce with the tools to succeed will reap the benefits.

Just make sure your training is tailored towards its intended audience. Millennials prefer to learn in bite-sized chunks with video and animations likely to get the best cut-through.  

Make sure your people feel safe

Forbes’ American workplace expert Larry Alton has highlighted the importance of workplace safety to millennials.

Alton says: “Millennials want to feel safe. Their formative years of childhood have been defined by increasingly high rates of crime, terrorism, and international hostility. While they don’t walk around in fear, they’re naturally less trustful of their surroundings. Anything managers can do to make them feel safer will lead to better productivity and healthier relationships.”

One way to enhance the physical safety of your employees is by installing security cameras, outside lighting and appropriate locks.

However, job security is important too. Providing regular feedback and fostering open communication is an integral part of this process.

Offer flexible scheduling

Flexible scheduling is a pretty broad topic and can be achieved in several ways depending on the organization and its objectives.

Some businesses allow people to work from home either part or full-time. Meanwhile, others are open to their people working four ten-hour days a week as opposed to five eight-hour days a week.

There isn’t a right or wrong way to do this. But the benefits of offering a degree of flexibility are empowering.

Allowing individuals to have flexibility has proven to make them more productive during their working hours.

Additionally, flexible scheduling takes away the issues associated with organizing doctor appointments and childcare. Affording this flexibility promotes a healthier work-life balance.

Create a pet-friendly workplace

This is an up-and-coming trend that has millennials signing on the dotted line with dogs the pet of choice.

According to one study, 42% of millennials said they’d enjoy having a dog around the office.

Meanwhile, another pet-friendly report found that “82% of the employees surveyed and 91% of HR decision makers said that allowing pets in the workplace would make employees more loyal to the company.”

You might not be able to make these changes overnight. But to attract millennial talent, accounting and finance organizations need to be in tune with the needs and wants of today’s workforce.

For more insight into how to attract millennial talent, as well as how to make your employer brand stand out, get in touch with me at: david.welch@bps-world.com.