How to Build Unrivaled Culture and Talent: Know What Millennials Want

Sep 25, 2017

Millennials are shaping new ideas about the employer/employee relationship. According to a study by ManpowerGroup, this generation will comprise more than one-third of the global workforce by 2020, so it's important for organizations to understand the needs of this evolving employee base.

As Yum! continues to build unrivaled culture and talent, we know it's essential to continuously assess the way we invest in our people. This ensures we're attracting, retaining and engaging top talent-current and future.

To help uncover key millennial insights, Yum! HR leaders facilitated a panel discussion during Grow Yourself Week. In it, millennial employees provided perspective about what they were looking for in their careers. Throughout the session, a few key themes emerged among our panelists:

• Millennials are motivated by challenges in their careers.
  Millennials prefer an environment that is constantly evolving, and they are eager to pursue opportunities that will allow them to stretch themselves and learn new skills. They like to play an active role in their professional and personal development.
• Millennials want flexibility and balance.
  'Work to live' is the motto of millennials. They prefer to work smarter, not harder, and find ways to balance their careers with their lives outside of work. They believe that when they feel fulfilled in their personal lives, they are able to bring the best versions of themselves to work.
• Millennials value personal relationships in the workplace.
  Millennials appreciate when a team member or a coach takes interest in their lives outside of work. They focus on building authentic relationships at work, which makes collaboration and team projects more fulfilling.
• Millennials prefer experiences over things.
  Experiences like traveling the world, investing in a new skill or hobby, or attending cultural events are more important to millennials than material things. They prefer to put their money toward opportunities that they feel will allow them to grow themselves.
• Millennials want meaningful work.
  Millennials want to make an impact on the world, no matter how small. They desire work that they are passionate about and aligns with their personal values. They value transparency from their organization and appreciate a clearly delineated mission and vision.

Yum!'s unwavering commitment to creating a culture where everyone counts and can truly grow is part of our mission to build the most loved, trusted and fastest-growing restaurant company in the world.