Millennials are all in on transparency, and companies need to follow suit
In 2021, millennials want more than promises; they want to see action.
When it comes to interacting with companies, millennials are demanding transparency. Having come of age through a recession, volatile markets, a rising cost of living, the student debt crisis, and increasing impact of technology, millennials are more distrusting consumers and are conscious of where and how they spend their time and money.
And money is not always top of mind.
In a recent survey conducted by The Org — with more than 1,000 respondents across all ages of working adults in the U.S. — 84% of millennials said they would be more loyal to a brand or company if they knew it was transparent, and the thing they valued most about transparency was knowing a company’s culture and values. And in 2021, millennials want more than promises, they want to see action. There is a low tolerance for inauthenticity amongst the generation that has come to be defined by its passion for social causes. Over the past decade, millennials have pushed brands and companies to think differently about how they operate, not just in the realm of technology, but in the world of social responsibility.
Related: Social responsibility: Doing good is good for business
As a whole, millennials are calling for the consideration of society and the planet in company operations.
Culture and values
Data shows the majority of millennials believe company values and culture are the most important facets of transparency, at 37%. This was followed by employee salaries and company revenue (26%) and company strategy and process (25%).
It’s no secret that workplace culture is a top priority for the generation that values teamwork and a sense of community. For millennials, work isn’t just a job, but a place to find empowerment and to be active in social causes. Numbers also revealed that 38% of millennials said their place of work has shared a public commitment towards transparency — higher then Gen Z, Gen X and Baby Boomer respondents. Additionally, only 22% of millennials said they didn’t know or understand their company’s strategy for success and what their role is in it, and only 23% said they didn’t know their place of work’s values. Meanwhile, more than 50% of millennials said they had visibility into their company’s numbers.
Demands for increased transparency
In spite of having more transparent workplaces overall, 80% of millennials still said they believed their work-life balance would be better if the company they worked for was transparent. What’s more, 74% said that they want the company they work for to become more transparent and 75% said they would take one job offer over another if the one company was more transparent.
When looking at this generation as a whole, there is a desire for honesty and a stripping back of corporate rigmarole – in language, processes and products. The metrics of success have shifted from those of previous generations. Increasingly, millennials are questioning the purpose of their daily tasks beyond pay and corporate ladder climbing, and are pushing for inclusion, diversity and moral and socially engaged business practices.
The answers they are demanding from companies go beyond mission statements and marketing pledges, millennials want real commitment, and beyond that transparent action plans. It’s wise (and really, imperative) for businesses to take this seriously, as these individuals continue to dominate the workforce and account for a larger share of purchasing power. How to increase transparency, and in turn millennial engagement
The key message from millennials: Be honest.
There are a number of opportunities for organizations to improve transparency efforts. Even with employees working remote, the survey found that businesses did not increase their efforts to become more transparent. The pandemic proved to be a pivotal time for companies to step up their communication game and ensure that their employees were kept in the loop across the board. However, a number of businesses failed to open up about the shakeup to remote work, and the strategies and processes that were changing as a result.
Additionally, almost half of millennials had not seen the org chart for the company they worked for. Org charts help the corporate world become more accountable and personal by celebrating an entire team, not just the big names everyone knows. Org charts give employees a better understanding of how their own work contributes towards the overall direction of the company, and are a helpful tool when it comes to mapping career progression.
On top of communicating workplace composition and strategy, companies must also clearly convey culture and values in an impactful way, and give their employees a reason to trust and believe in them. Millennials want to work for and support socially-oriented companies and brands, and want companies to make those investments. By being transparent about their efforts and processes, their successes and failures, and their goals and plans to achieve them, companies will see a massive value shift from their millennial employees.
And of course it is important for companies to embrace digital channels to communicate their efforts to millennials – and all generations at that. Sharing is in, transparency is important, and going against the grain of keeping corporate processes secret is the hot thing for the millennial generation. All in all, millennials want to know they are part of something bigger than grinding at a 9-5 for a paycheck, and organizations that embrace transparency are able to give these individuals a place where they can thrive and give their business more personality and power.
Christian Wylonis is CEO of The Org.
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