In Today’s organisation, Millennials are taking over the workforce. They’re smart, exposed, energetic, and technology-driven, but they are also difficult to retain as employees. Many of them last less than two years in new roles, as they are constantly looking for the next challenging and fulfilling opportunity.
Concerns regarding work-life balance, inclusiveness, flexibility and personal development are top of mind, and if not addressed, employers will continue to witness rapid exits of millennials from their organisations.
It is in recognition of this trend that Greensprings School, the first thinking school in Nigeria organised a forum, “Disruption: the new normal” to engage employees to address issues affecting millennials in today’s workplace.
The initiative was executed as a panel session/bonding timeout with millennials; creating an atmosphere infused with fun and intellectual discussions. All the millennials across all four campuses of Greensprings School, including Anthos House were invited to deliberate on issues bothering of work-life balance and explore ways to make their work experience more exciting.
Cynthia Odunaiya, Head of Human resource at Greensprings School says the aim was to listen to their experiences within the system, without their line managers or principals present.
Odunaiya noted that the initiative also afford them an opportunity to learn what will make them stay longer in the organisation, understand what will motivate and keep them engaged, adding that we need to hear them, otherwise we will lose them.
According to Odunaiya, “When we did a statistics on the number of millennials in the system, we found out that Millenials make up about 55 percent to 60 percent of both the teaching and administrative workforce,” “Millenials have a lot of energy, which is good, but the ability to ensure that the energy stays positive and channelled towards achieving corporate goals is what leads to excellence.”
The impact of the session was felt almost instantly. By the following Monday, positive reports and feedback started pouring in. Two very talented Millenials who had planned on exiting the system stated that the programme changed their minds and made them feel more included. Some other members of staff shared that they were happy and glad to be at work. The HR department also responded instantly to feedback and made changes based on a survey conducted.
Odutayo, assistant coordinator of wider curriculum at Greensprings Ikoyi campus, mentioned that “this programme was very apt to have for young people. It was great to be in a truly open and transparent environment where my opinion truly matters.” she also added that “what we learnt here is that we can’t all keep quiet. If we don’t learn to speak up as young people, then nothing will change.”
Olaitan Koshimo, shared her thoughts saying “I feel like it was long overdue and we need to have more avenues like this outside of the typical workday and environment where people can actually talk openly and share ideas. It is also a good way for the management to get feedback.
With over one hundred Millenials in attendance who were able to openly express themselves without holding back, the event was considered a success.
