#38: How To Attract And Retain The Next Generation
Executives Choosing Freelancers Over FTE's, The typical millennial is 40 with $128,000 in debt, 62% of global executives believe freelancers will substantially replace full time employees
Important Updates
Venture L opens up Storefront’s For All, a way for freelancers to productize a freelance business in under an hour, showing how technology is making it easier for everyone to translate their skills into a freelance business.
62% of global executives believe freelancers will substantially replace full time employees in the next 5 years according to a recent report from Ceridian.
Further evidence on Americans leaving their job at the highest rate in over two decades.
The typical millennial is 40 with $128,000 in debt and not nearly as wealthy as their parents were (i.e. why we need a new way to work!).
TL;DR:
The next generation might be our best generation
The best way to lead this next generation is to:
Drown them in responsibility
Measure their impact through outcomes
Enable loyalty and retention through freelancing
Invest in their development through budget to hire freelancers
What Does The Next Generation Expect From Work?
As a leader I get it. The younger the talent the more they seem like whiny entitled brats.
But as one of these whiny entitled brats I can promise it’s more of a communication disconnect than a fundamental difference. I’m willing to bet Gen-Z (below 24 years old) is our best generation yet. And the data backs it.
They’re ambitious as hell. They have the highest workforce participation since 1953 and 76% see themselves as owners of their careers.
They’re entrepreneurial as hell. According to PR Newswire, 49% want to have their own business (compared to 32% across all working generations).
They’re remote and digital first. According to Springtide Research Institute, Only 23% say they feel stress/anxiety about learning a new job in a virtual world.
BUT they have some unique differences.
They don’t drink the corporate kool-aid. They know you’ll lay them off (you laid off their parents) once you can.
They won’t read your moonlighting policy nor would consider following it as 65% agree “Passions, hobbies, and side-gigs are part of my financial plan for making a living”.
They won’t put up with toxic leadership as 82% say it is important that their future boss/supervisor “cares about my life” and “can relate to me as a person, not just talk about work.”
In a nutshell, they won’t put up with below. Not because they won’t work weekends, but because they won’t settle for soulless corporate drudgery.
What Can You Do About It
1: Drown them in responsibility
They want to put the work in.
According to Forbes, “58% of Gen-Z workers were willing to work nights and weekends if it meant achieving a higher salary”, while according to Springtide Research Institute, only 35% are worried about “How I will balance worklife and family life/life outside of work”.
But they won’t wait the generic timeline…2 years senior, 4 years manager, 8 years Director…etc.
They run on merit, and since they’re entrepreneurial they’ll create merit based opportunities like their side hustle or starting a new business.
So how can they earn this responsibility?
2: Measure impact through outcomes
Enable them to earn more responsibility through outcomes. The Human Cloud runs on outcomes, specifically an output or KPI outcome.
Output: What assets did you produce?
KPI: What goal did you exceed?
For a Product Marketing Manager, the output could be producing 3 new whitepapers a quarter while a KPI could be increasing awareness by 30%.
When building the toolkit my KPI was 10 customers by May 1. We used output outcomes like creating a press release, creating a sales deck, and building the product MVP on a quarterly basis. But responsibility was tied to the KPI. As evidenced by a promotion from PM to Lead Growth PM when we increased investment.
3: Try freelancing instead of resignation
Daniel said it best. Just because we leave doesn’t mean we want to be gone forever.
And guess who might be your best freelancers? Former employees. They know your brand. Know your processes. And they might be back when life situations change.
Also tap into alumni networks. There’s Facebook Groups, Alumni associations. These pools are goldmines of potential freelance talent.
4: Invest in their development through budget to hire freelancers (not tree houses)
They don’t need free lunches. They need the same leadership engine that you use to scale…talent.
When building the toolkit I hired over 15 freelancers. When publishing the Human Cloud I hired over 10 freelancers. Like this video? It was built with freelancers and full time employees.
What does this look like in practice?
If you’re a marketing director, allocate $5-10k/month for each manager and $1-5k/month for each junior level just for hiring freelancers.
This isn’t new. According to Michael Guta of Small Business Trends:
“younger managers are 30% more likely to acquire the talent from a freelancer compared to baby boomers”
“Once young managers hire freelancers, they are more likely than older generations to keep using them for strategic partnerships across multiple projects instead of one-time, one-off projects”
And best part…it’s probably the cheapest way to test an employees leadership capability. Instead of expensive headcount experiments, start with a $1k/month freelancer budget and see who shines.
It’s An Exciting Time
As a leader, it’s never been easier to find and mobilize the talent that’ll take your business to the next level.
BUT today’s talent doesn’t look like yesterday. They won’t send you a paper resume. They won’t check your HR boxes.
Instead they look like Change Makers, and no one is better suited for success in the Human Cloud than the younger generation.
Need 1:1 Support?
I have one spot left for an ambitious leader ready to scale.