Phrases like “the youth of today are the workforce of tomorrow” flood Pinterest boards but we all know “tomorrow” always comes along a lot faster and a lot sooner than any of us are prepared for. Born between 1982 and 1993, there are over 80 million Millennials, which is larger than any other generation. Leading a migration away from ownership to sharing, they are are forging a path of complete transparency. We are currently in an era of “sharing”. Photos of what was consumed for breakfast drown news feeds, homes are posted on Airbnb and wardrobes are shared via startups like Rent the Runway.
The Era of Sharing
So if Millennials are sharing everything from a spare bedroom for a weekend to a designer gown for a special event, would it seem odd that they also share their time? The fact is, they are! And they want the companies they work for to also set volunteering and community involvement as top priority. While some may consider Millennials as self-involved and entitled, it is really a thick brush to paint over a small canvas. The reality is collectively they want to make a difference and have a positive effect on not only the company they choose to work for, but also their local environment and the global community.
Free Download: Winning Millennial Talent
In this download, you will find the following information:
- Get information about Millennials in the workplace
- Learn how to attract Millennial talent to your business
- See how Millennials view the workplace today
Millennials Volunteer
“Do-gooders” will be the driving force behind cultural change for a long time to come. As the youngest set of the Millennials finish up college, they are becoming a force for good in both the nonprofit and for-profit realms. Millennials aren’t waiting for opportunity. They are creating it. Many acknowledge that before a company can truly serve their local–and global–community, it must be in sync with its needs. Coupled with this acknowledgement and the action of volunteering, relationships are cultivated allowing for personal growth, team transparency and a more open and collaborative work culture. Whether it’s planting trees in local public parks, tutoring and mentoring inner city youth, or preparing and delivering food to the underprivileged, Millennials make an effort to incorporate outreach into their busy schedules. They aren’t just sitting around taking selfies despite popular belief. They actively seek out lives of purpose, whether that’s volunteering in unprecedented numbers in their free time, or demanding new levels of corporate social responsibility from the companies for which they work.
Voluntourism
In addition to local community outreach, a new trend that has been taking off with the Millennial crowd is volunteer tourism, or “voluntourism,” and it’s one of the fastest growing trends in travel today. It is travel with purpose–combining two things that Millennials have high on their priority list. Whether they are traveling abroad, taking a gap year, wanting to experience a volunteer vacation, or simply wishing to provide assistance in a developing country through volunteer travel, voluntourism provides affordable travel with budgeted housing and meal plans for the Millennial on the move. Options are endless: turtle conservation in Sri Lanka, teaching surf lessons to kids from Cape Town townships, or providing education and development to the street children of Ecuador. Millennials have found a greater purpose even for their travels. Doing good and helping other is empowering–a feeling that competes with no other. Does your company have a corporate volunteer program? Encourage your employees to get involved in the community and watch as genuine relationships begin to form.
