Many people that are part of the baby boomer generation pride themselves in a strict work environment that keeps employees tight to their desk and offices 40 hours per week, and rarely steps away from the standard work week they are accustomed to since entering the work force. As work place culture evolves the past few years, we are seeing more and more large corporations get carried away with providing unique working environments for their employees that encompass anything from beer in the fridge, a foosball table, and work from home options. Recruitment firms have even started interviewing companies on what type of culture and flexible benefits they will be able to offer candidates to compete in this changing workplace. Here are a few suggestions you can make to a client or a few you can consider as a company to make small steps towards culture change.
- The work from home option. Micro-managers likely cringe at the suggestion of losing sight and in their opinion, control how long Sheila is sitting in her office by her computer each day. Reality of this is, Sheila is caught up on work from knocking out late hours on projects the past few nights and is now sitting staring at a computer with mental exhaustion counting down the minutes until she can leave. Many employees who have an endless task list and projects to get done need a little flexibility on when and where they crank out their work for peak mental performance. With a work from home option, even once or twice a week, Sheila could get up at 6am and crank out emails then take a break to make a healthy breakfast and start laundry before launching back into the next project.
- Non-standard hours. As many companies are starting to have a national or even global span, 9am-5pm is no longer as feasible for peak performance. Companies who instead determine how many hours make up a salaried role and then allow their employees the flexibility to report those hours in a week help an employee work during their peak times without feeling burnt out or overworked/underpaid.
- Overtime for salaried roles. This is a great follow up from point 2, where additional work hours should be reported and compensated accordingly. Travel time as well as night or morning meetings and calls should all be factored into an employee being allowed time off the next day, or extra compensation.
- Finally, consider part time roles for high level positions. For instance, a Director of Communications role for a smaller company may be able to work remote and part time and accomplish more than a full-time employee based on the latest tools and trends to speed up processes. Many parents who do not have the commitment to a full-time role but the talent to help a corporation immensely may be left behind due to a rigorous in office schedule.
If your client is looking to hire millennial talent they need to be prepared with options that appeal to their candidate to help them stand out. The above points are a good starting point to discuss as the work place continues to evolve and change.