×

Every generation of employees puts its own stamp on the workplace, and millennials are no exception. By understanding the values and motivations of this cohort, business and technology leaders can take steps to build attractive workplaces for their best and brightest.

We all have a point of view on what makes millennials—those born after 1982—tick. We know, for example, they are prodigious users of digital for just about everything in their daily lives. They also have a strong interest in protecting the environment, balancing their work lives with their personal lives, and advocating for social justice. However, to gain a meaningful understanding of millennials’ goals and aspirations and learn more about their views on business, leadership and their own careers, Deloitte began surveying these future leaders annually four years ago. According to our 2015 survey, which polled more than 7,800 millennials in 29 countries, the majority believe that business needs to reset its purpose.

While they believe the pursuit of profit is important to sustaining a business, millennials also say that pursuit must be accompanied by a sense of purpose, through efforts to create innovative products or services, and, above all, by viewing employees as members of society. In fact, 75 percent say businesses are too focused on their own agendas and not focused enough on improving society.

Based on the survey results, business leaders now appear to be at a crossroads. As baby boomers leave the workforce in growing numbers and Gen-Xers continue to pick up the mantle, how effectively businesses recruit, develop, and market to millennials—who now represent a quarter of the U.S. population—will be critically important not only to business success but to the success of the global economy. Therefore, we need to review, and perhaps reset, our organization’s priorities, define its core purpose, and do more to engage millennial talent. The more a business is able to develop and articulate a core purpose and engage with millennials, who equate purpose with business excellence, the greater chances for long-term success.

Overall, 60 percent of the millennials we surveyed say a “sense of purpose” is part of the reason they chose to work for their current employer. Among the “super-connected” millennials—those who are relatively major users of social networking tools—that number increases to 77 percent, compared to just 46 percent of those who are the least connected. And, in businesses where millennials say there is a strong sense of purpose, there is significantly greater financial and recruitment success and higher employee satisfaction.

Our survey indicates that millennials are aligned with their companies’ leadership on the need to ensure the long-term future of the organization; however, they say they would place far greater emphasis than their leaders on employee well-being, growth, and development. They also would place less emphasis on personal income and short-term financial goals while prioritizing their companies’ contribution to local communities in which they operate as well as the wider society. Millennials also believe that an organization’s treatment of its employees is the most important consideration in determining whether a company can be considered a leader.

The concept of pursuing maximum financial, social, and environmental impacts has gained traction here at Deloitte. Many member firms offer professionals the ability to mix paid and pro bono assignments, be “seconded” to not-for-profits, take sabbaticals to help at social enterprises, and perform other skill-based volunteering.

Further, recognizing millennials’ desire for opportunities to build leadership capabilities, develop new skills, and be challenged every day, Deloitte has built a culture of continual learning that spans from the classrooms at Deloitte University to daily work experience, including the opportunity to embark on mobility assignments and work on global client projects.

The bottom line is that millennials have strong opinions that will influence how we develop our business strategies and define and articulate our organization’s core purpose. For millennials, conducting business with a purpose that goes beyond making profits is critically important in determining the kind of company they want to work for—and the kind of company with whom they are willing to do business.

Click here for infographic highlights of the 2015 millennials survey.

—by Punit Renjen, chief executive officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited