Do you have valuable millennial employees working at your pharmacy?
Millennials are changing the way businesses view and treat their employees, and your independent community pharmacy may want to pay attention.
By the year 2020, two-thirds of millennials would choose to leave their current jobs to join another organization or do something different, according to the 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey.
Fortunately, there are ways to help keep millennial employees happy and engaged with their jobs.
Here are some key factors that influence millennials’ decisions to stay at their current jobs, adapted from this list from Small Business Trends.
Developing leadership skills
Millennials want to be able to develop leadership skills so they can continue to advance their careers and eventually take on management roles.
If you’re not providing enough training and support to help these employees become good leaders, they’re less likely to find value in working at your pharmacy.
Encourage younger employees to aim for leadership roles, and teach them the skills they need in order to get there.
For example, have employees shadow a member of your managerial staff to understand how a leadership role works. You can also suggest continuing education courses, helpful books and podcasts that focus on leadership—especially any that you’re familiar with and can discuss with them.
Having a mentor
When millennials have a mentor at work, it increases their job satisfaction, and makes them less likely to leave.
Try to establish a mentorship between younger employees and either you or another exemplary employee.
For a mentorship to be successful, a mentor should be someone people look up to based on factors of experience, knowledge or both, and it should be someone who your millennial employees are excited to learn from.
Contributing to society
Millennials value working for a business that’s committed to making a positive contribution to society. And, they want to know that, as employees, they’re actively contributing to that positive influence on society.
As an independent community pharmacy, this could mean going above and beyond to help your community.
For example, your millennial employees will appreciate that your pharmacy offers special patient care services, such as a smoking cessation program, because it shows you’re doing good for the community and the people in it.
Ensure your younger employees feel they’re a part of your contribution to society by specifying how their individual tasks help to accomplish your pharmacy’s mission. The more involved and important they feel, the more millennial employees will want to stick around.
Working in a supportive environment
Work environments are especially important to millennials.
They want to work in an environment where creativity is fostered, where there’s open communication, where their ideas are heard and where they receive support.
Make sure younger employees feel comfortable being themselves, and that all of your pharmacy staff are supportive of each other.
In addition, open the lines of communication in your pharmacy so that employees know how they’re performing. Encourage them to contribute ideas—and actually take those ideas into consideration.
Try to work some team-building activities into your schedule to encourage bonding among employees and boost morale in your pharmacy.
If you fail to create the supportive and inclusive work environment millennials are looking for, they may move on to another pharmacy or organization that can provide it to them.
Achieving personal goals
Millennials share the same values as other generations, such as a work-life balance and financial security, but they rely more heavily on their employers to help them attain these goals.
Achieve work-life balance in your pharmacy by giving employees ample time off and ensuring they’re not overworked.
Make sure your younger employees are fairly compensated, and present them with opportunities for advancement and salary increases when possible.
If it’s in your budget, offer bonuses at the end of the year. It’s a valuable incentive that encourages employees to work hard, and it contributes to their goal of becoming financially stable.
Satisfied employees are key to your business’ success. Check out these ideas for keeping all of your employees happy, so that they help grow your pharmacy.
