Employers must focus on people and purpose to engage young workers, survey shows
Businesses looking to attract the leaders of tomorrow from the millennials employee group (born after 1982) will need to make significant changes, according to the global survey of millennial employees’ attitudes by Deloitte.
The survey asked 7,800 graduates across 29 countries about what makes effective leadership, how business operates and impacts society. It found that 77 per cent of UK millennials, and 75 percent globally, think businesses are focused on their own agenda rather than helping to improve society.
This perception matters because fewer UK respondents (71 per cent) said businesses have a positive impact on society, compared to 82 per cent in emerging markets and 73 per cent globally.
Academics and employers already acknowledge that younger workers place a higher importance on business ethics, sustainability and equality but this research shows how much more critical UK employees are than their global peer group.
In the Deloitte survey, only 48 per cent of UK millennials said businesses showed strong leadership on important social issues, compared to 61 per cent globally. Similarly, just 39 per cent of UK respondents agreed that businesses act in an ethical manner, compared to 52 per cent globally.
Steve Almond, chairman of Deloitte Global, said: “The survey sends a clear and strong message to business leaders that, to stay engaged with millennials, they need to focus on their broader purpose and their people as much as they do on products and profits.”
Barry Salzberg, chief executive of Deloitte Global, commented: “Millennials want more from business than might have been the case 50, 20, or even ten years ago. They are sending a very strong signal to the world’s leaders that when doing business, they should do so with purpose. The pursuit of this different and better way of operating in the 21st century begins by redefining leadership.”
Further findings from the study showed that education can do more to equip future UK business leaders with the skills they need.
Overall, just 36 per cent of UK respondents said the skills they developed in higher education are useful in fulfilling their day to day work responsibilities, while 44 per cent said their higher education experience is useful to improving their long term career objectives.
And just over a fifth of UK millennials, and 28 per cent globally, felt their current employer is making full use of their skills.
Interestingly a lower proportion of UK employees (43 per cent) aspire to become the leader or the most senior executive within their current organisation compare to 53 per cent globally and 65 per cent in emerging markets.
When respondents were asked which of their skills were strongest when they left higher education, academic knowledge and personal traits such as patience, maturity and analytical skills ranked highest, while leadership, entrepreneurial, sales and marketing skills and financial knowledge ranked lowest.