Solving the Millennial Conundrum
Vikram Sathi, AVP – HR, Hibu India sheds some light on how HR managers should deal with Gen Y!
Continuing our quest to find out how the HR fraternity is planning to tackle the change in the demographics at workplace with millennials gradually taking over, we had a tete-a-tete with Vikram Sathi, Associate Vice President – HR, at Hibu India, an organization which has 70% millennial populace among its 1600+ employees. Excerpts –
Hi Vikram, welcome and thank you for taking time out for this. How do you define the millennial generation?
The millennials like to challenge the status-quo. They demand self-respect, are impatient, look for instant rewards, quick growth and prefer less supervision. Even though they have an ephemeral attention span, this generation is extremely focused on a given task. They want to be told what needs to be done instead of how to do it.
Given these differences, what changes should HR managers bring in the way they-
a) Attract this talent pool
b) Engage them
c) Retain them
Since their attention span is less, it is necessary to have a crisp and to the point introduction of the company. A company’s social media profile too is of paramount importance as this generation relies heavily on social media for information. They are equally concerned about the brand image of the company. Focusing on employer brand would thus, be a wise investment for HR managers.
The millennial generation, with numerous avenues in front of them, need more than just a job to be engaged. At Hibu, for example, anything that is rolled out has a buy-in of millennials. Furthermore, since this generation is focused on health, work-life balance and well-being, we have an initiative- A habit called health- comprising of several in-office health talks and pro-active consultation by doctors from reputed hospitals, vaccination programs, awareness poster campaigns, yoga at work, etc. for all employees. Several CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities are also undertaken through the ‘Think Humanity’ initiative. Besides that, fun-activities are organized in the office once in a while to allay the stress. These initiatives help us maintain a healthy, happy and engaged workforce.
During the transition phase, when an organization has considerable percentage of people from both the generations, how can the risks of workplace conflicts be subsided?
We need to be sensitive while managing multiple generations at the same time. At several instances, young managers are quick to reward the new kids on the block for their speed and results. The older generation generally perceives that they are not being cared for, experience is not being considered, growth is slow, they are not receiving due credit, etc. In such situations, the HR team needs to actively intervene and ensure that all stakeholders are acknowledged.
Do you see the culture of internships rising, given that this generation wants to experience everything very early?
Yes, I see this trend growing and the benefits of engaging with them much earlier are numerous. However, once in, if they are not managed well, it will only have a negative impact on the company. HR managers need to ensure that a proper system is in place to manage, own, groom and delight these interns.
As an extension of earlier question, what major bottlenecks, in your opinion, need to be solved for HR managers to look at internships in a more favorable way and for internships to become a core component of their HR branding and talent acquisition strategy?
The non-committal and uncertainty attributes of the interns along with the tedious hiring process demotivates employers from considering this option. This gives an opportunity to the third party agencies to play an active role in sourcing, evaluating and shortlisting only the best set of candidates who are smart, focused and interested in building a long-term relationship with the company. The ‘filtering’ process will ease the pressure on the hiring team to a great extent.
Even in this digital age we use traditional methods for hiring. What key shortcomings need to be addressed to bring the entire recruitment process online?
Online portals and social media are effective ways to identify the right set of people and managers should invest in building, branding and publishing in these avenues. These portals need to be user-friendly and simple to navigate through. More importantly, they should have a well-established response system which can give a feedback in a pre-defined time-frame. Not everyone is looking for a favorable feedback, but they are certainly looking for some response. This key element needs to be plugged for this avenue to grow.
A career advice each that you could give to the young students and HR managers on Internshala platform?
For young students: Do more than what is required and be patient.
For HR Managers: Don’t take your role too seriously. Talk less and listen more.
Thank you Vikram for this insightful conversation. We’re sure the HR community out there would take a note of your suggestions and benefit from it. We at Internshala (http://internshala.com), of course, will always be there to help them find the best interns for their organizations.
Are you an employer looking for interns? Hire interns through Internshala; it’s free and hassle-free.
