Internet and social media immersion is without a doubt second nature to Gen-Yers, AKA, Millennials. As a Generation X-er and an early technology adopter; I can clearly see how our most recent generation of college grads were born 1 step from where I was.  We’ve seen some recent research around shopping habits, customer loyalty, and working tendencies of Generation Y; I’ll bring these findings together here to offer insight in the realm of employee motivation, incentives and loyalty.

“45 percent of Millennials would accept a lower-paying job with more flexibility towards social media access, remote work and technology choice than a higher-paying job with less flexibility.¹” This is a pretty big number, but should not cause much surprise. As an entirely remotely operating company, GCP expects people to work this way, it’s in our company DNA. But we did not expect that almost 50% of a generation would prefer it. (YAY for us/GCP). Are you an employer who will rise to this challenge, knowing that embracing a remote working situation is a core motivator and a recruiting competitive advantage?

In a recent national poll conducted by the No. Carolina firm of Public Policy²; It was found that generations precluding Gen-Y, are skeptical about younger workers’ work ethics, motivation and engagement in their workplace. Gen-Yer’s said this about their own generation:

• 55% acknowledged that workers of their generation are generally less motivated to take on more responsibility (even with  a pay increase)
• More than 1/3 (34%) reported that millennial workers are less engaged than older workers

It’s clear that employers have their work cut out for them in order to motivate and engage with this generation. The tech-savviest generation yet has choice in the palm of their hands and they are fiercely loyal to the brands they love, follow and get daily deals on social media networks. Employers will need to embrace this rooted need for choice and offer flexible brand name incentives such as gift cards. Employers could buy several brands in bulk to give their employees a choice and then the recipients have yet another choice, what they want to buy.

They buy online and the internet is their buying oyster…they are entirely plugged-in and prepared to work remotely, but additional incentives will need to be equally as flexible.

1. TLNT – The Business of HR: Are We Asking the Right Questions About Millennials?
2. The national survey was conducted by the North Carolina firm of Public Policy Polling, September 8-11. 

Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.