attracting and retaining the top talent in the southeast: managing millennials in 2016

© 2016 Michiki Morgan Worldwide LLC

With millennials are making up a rapidly growing percentage of the workplace, many organizations are struggling to navigate generational differences and technology in order to take full advantage of their millennial employees. Millennials have been undeniably impacted by technological changes and the speed of the economy, leading to a new social contract between employee and employer. While they have higher expectations of the companies they work for including an increased desire for flexibility and instant gratification, their desires and values aren’t quite as different as their non-millennial counterparts are prone to believing. One of the main ways millennials are notably different as employees is in their desire to partner with their organizations and bosses. They’re much more likely to care working for a business whose mission they find personally meaningful, and on average are more interested in wanting to learn about the inner workings of the entire organization. Throughout the discussion, attendees expressed concern over the gap between leadership’s perceptions of millennials and the reality suggested by the data. Participants also noted that values like work-life balance are shared across generations and were in line with their own hopes for their organizations.


Studies suggest that creating a positive, inclusive culture where communication is a high priority is key in working successfully with millennials. Making sure leadership is trust worthy, hands on, and provides mentorship and growth opportunities will also help significantly increase the length of service of millennial employees, as well as keep them engaged throughout their careers. While some participants expressed frustration at the prospect of greatly shifting their work styles and culture to accommodate new employees, they also acknowledge the necessity of benefiting from millennial talent and the opportunity for growth that change presents.

• Millennials will make up 75% • The birth rate of non-caucasian will surpass caucasians in the US • Women will be earning more advanced degrees than men • More than ½ the world’s largest companies will have HQ’s in emerging countries

• Demographic upheaval • Technology everywhere, digital everything • Speed in the exponential economy • New social contract between employer and worker

• 70% of workers are disengaged • 56% of companies are not ready to meet their leadership needs


• 86% of businesses and HR leaders do not believe they have an adequate leadership pipeline • 75% are struggling to recruit the top people they need

• Largest living generation • Born 1981-1996 • Currently 20-35 years old • Value: Transparency, meaningful work, instant gratification • Constantly use technology and social media • Hipsters • Entrepreneurial • Risk Takers • Want to work “with” an organization, rather than “for” one

• 87% of companies say it costs $15,000 - $25,000 to replace a lost millennial employee • 71% of companies say losing a millennial employee increases stress and workload for current employees • 56% say it takes 3-7 weeks to hire a fully productive millennial employee in a new roll

• 66% of millennials expect to leave their current organization by 2020


• 44% turned down a job because of an organization’s values • 49% have chosen not to undertake a work task because it went against their personal values • 55% consider personal values as very influential when making decisions at work • 56% ruled out ever working for a particular organizations because of its values

• 16.8% work-life balance • 13.4% opportunities to progress/ be leaders • 11.0% flexibility (i.e., remote working, flexible hours) • 9.3% sense of meaningful work • 8.3% professional development training programs

• Meaningful work • Hands-on management • Positive work environment • Growth opportunity • Trust in leadership


• What are your biggest challenges in attracting, engaging, retaining millennials? o Discussion of the potential role of gamification in training. o “As a millennial, we don't care about the history, we don't care how it was done 50 years ago that does not

pertain to us. We are about how we do today and how we can better do it tomorrow. And that is our main goal, is how we are going to improve tomorrow instead of how we did it 50 years ago.”

o “I grew up with the expectation that I have to give more than was asked of me… Always to succeed in business. And that's not how my experience working with millennials worked out. “

o Discussion on the millennial desire for more accessible management and how that differs from previous generations.

o Discussion of the cost of training a new millennial employee when organizations are unable to retain their current staff.

§ “I think it takes longer than three to seven weeks to get somebody. By the time you go through all the processes and review the post, the interview… I’d say it takes 12 weeks, two or three months to get through all that.”

o Discussion of the gap between what executives to be true about millennials and what is actually true based on research.

§ “One of the things I am looking at is there's really big gaps there. I wonder if the media is partially responsible for putting those notions in the heads of the executives and the executives not really asking the millennials.”

§ “Their presence it might be a little bit different, but down to the core or what is important to them might be pretty similar.”

o Discussion of millennial values.


§ “They really value family time, to say value can also mean be what the company stands for. So if they are environmentally friendly, are they a very inclusive company or not. All those values. They could be a big name company but if those values do not align, they might not take the job even if the salary is great.”

o Loyalty as a value: “That they build more loyalty to companies that do offer support around leadership roles. [...] If you do offer leadership and development and if you take that risk and invest, hypothetically you should get a return.”

o Discussion of the problems that arise from technological addiction. § “The moment you bought a smartphone you are in this. You bought an addiction. It just happens that

millennials you see all having them.”

• Thoughts/comments/feelings? What replicates through some of the numbers, the comments that I've shared and the discussion that we’ve had so far?

o “One thing I've learned is that the general media consumption are really misconceptions you can really generalize millennials. I think I've learned some of the statistical data and that I was wrong. And it would really help management ask what the millennials’ value are, what they are thinking, what their commitment level is. That also basic leadership and management is to ask and communicate with your employees. That’s not apparently not happening…again that has been going on for decades.”

o “I am also thinking to myself “What's the generational difference going to be like in ten year from now?”…. Virtual reality? You got the millennials and you got the Generation Z and there is the next one coming up. How is technology going to affect them and how is everybody else before them going to be critical of them?”


Nozomi Morgan is a speaker, certified Executive Coach and CEO of Michiki Morgan Worldwide. She is an expert in Japanese business culture and practices. She focuses on helping Japanese companies succeed in their global expansion and United States based firms working with Japanese companies to overcome the tension and frustration that can naturally arise from cultural differences. Her clients experience dramatic improvement in key performance by enhancing communication and cultivating trust through cross cultural leadership and communication training, team building and executive coaching. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and Huffington Post.


Her diverse international background—having lived, studied and worked in Asia, Europe and North America—gives her a wealth of experience and knowledge as a coach, speaker, and mentor. Born and raised in Japan, she values integrity, professionalism, and respect, all of which are core tenets of her deeply ingrained heritage.

For more than 15 years, Nozomi garnered expertise as a corporate marketer and strategist, working for top companies such as Delta Air Lines, Johnson & Johnson, BBDO, and working with industry-leading clients in the automotive, consumer package goods, fashion, finance, entertainment, IT, lifestyle, and airline sectors in Japan and the United States.

Nozomi is based both in the United States and Japan. She enjoys giving back to the community as the VP of Professional Development at the National Association of Asian American Professionals Atlanta Chapter and serving as the National Co-Director of Women in NAAAP program helping women’s leadership development. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Japan-American Society of Georgia. Nozomi holds an MBA from Yale and a BA from International Christian University in Tokyo.

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attracting and retaining the top talent in the southeast: managing millennials in 2016

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