HR Insights

Industry powerhouse Deloitte has a lot to say about Millennials in the workforce.

As their far-reaching survey concludes, Millennials and employers have to learn to strike a bargain if they're going to work together.

In many cases, Millennials tend to have one foot out the door of the traditional workplace. 

Today's young professionals are likely to hop quickly between jobs, make flexibility a top priority, and value benefits like unlimited vacation time. However, Millennials aren't impossible to please.

A Canadian study of the American private sector indicates that only 49% of employees use workplace retirement and/or 401(k) benefits.

But wait, this low number is largely due to the fact that only 58% of employers provide these benefits!

The ACA has a whole bunch of free preventive care provisions designed for businesses and their employees to use, for a happier and healthier America.

The problem is, no one seems to know what they are. The MBGH, one of the country's largest nonprofits for self-insured companies, finds that only 10% of employers are aware of the range of ACA preventive care provision. Their employees are even more in the dark.

With all the talk of physical wellness in the workplace, financial wellness gets little attention.

This is starting to change. Employees of all ages are concerned about making their salaries extend as far as possible.

Millennials may be trying to pay off their student loans, or buying their first homes. GenXers and Boomers may be eyeing their upcoming retirement, hoping to be fully prepared when the time comes to leave their careers behind for good.

Just when you thought you were getting used to the Millennial generation, there's another generation (with a catchy name not yet set in stone) entering the workplace right behind them.

That's right. Teenagers are entering the workforce. Born right on the cusp of the new Millennium, these kiddos don't have even the foggiest recollection of the pre-internet days, unlike their older siblings the Millennials.

The ripples they're making through workplace benefits policies are just as ground-shaking, however, and in somewhat the same style.

In a large survey by Payscale, companies that exceeded revenue expectations tended to pay their employees more. The correllation was strong, using data from more than 7,500 companies all over the world.

In 2015, about 90% of "top performing" companies gave pay raises. Of survey respondents, more than 1/3 of raise-givers increased compensation to between 96% and 100% of employees. 81% of top performers have bonuses.

And while these numbers may dazzle, it's not always well understood where success comes from; more simply, do raises cause success, or does success create the profits from which raises can be awarded?

Workplace mentorship is one of the few initiatives that can legitimately claim to save money, develop leaders, and cut turnover.

Mentorship is the act of developing leadership by demonstrating good leadership in action. And even though it is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to improve your company, it can also be difficult and even intimidating.

Meditation, the practice of Mindfulness, learning to be "in the moment," whatever you call it – this practice has been shown to work wonders for indivudals, especially in terms of stress, attention, and mental stability.

But do these benefits rub off on businesses when practiced by staff or management? Studies are starting to demonstrate just how much mindfulness has to offer the corporate world.

Circumstances keep conspiring to inflame the multi-industry talent shortage.

More than 800,000 jobs were added last year, thousands stopped working altogether, and thousands more became entrepreneurs or freelance contractors.

Businesses continue to grab for the best and brightest with a host of interesting perks and benefits.

Many employers provide an excellent suite of benefits. So why don't more employees take better advantage of them?

Anyone who has worked for such a company knows how disorienting the process can be. Dense paperwork, incomprehensible web platforms, and industry jargon can make employees decide they're better off fending for themselves.

Businesses that truly want to provide for their workers' needs must find a better way to communicate.