What do you want to be when you grow up?
From a staffing perspective, this question does not seem difficult to answer— especially with the rising labor shortage, learning and mastering a trade may come off as the reasonable thing to do. However it’s not that simple for career millennials.
With big dreams, unwavering values and a desire for creativity, flexibility and freedom, millennials are rejecting the conventional concept of employment and instead embracing the ‘slash career.’ Being a ‘slasher’ means one isn’t just a software developer, for example, but a software developer/pro gamer/gluten-free baker/blogger.
Studies have shown that millennials are the least satisfied with their jobs, placing value not just on compensation but task variety, professional growth and workplace culture. That’s where slash careers come in: juggling multiple jobs allows one to achieve this work-life fulfillment that is difficult (if not impossible) to attain on one single career path. Millennials are then able to hold on to their dreams and even make them a reality, while also maintaining a steady stream of income to pay the bills.
As a business owner, you may approach career slashing with hesitation when staffing. However, by embracing this style of working, you win for a few reasons:
You are empowering your employees to pursue their passions
Slashers often have well-rounded skillsets
You will experience higher employee satisfaction, and, therefore, higher retention
Not just tolerating, but enthusiastically accepting the concept of career slashing in your workplace can mean saving a lot of money and adding a lot of value to your business.
However, when it comes down to the mundane, day-to-day tasks that you don’t want to burden your most valuable slashers with, where should you turn? Consider building an offsite staff that you can rely on for repetitive tasks that can be accomplished virtually. As the world changes and technology becomes more and more ubiquitous, it’s essential to adapt so your business can overcome common staffing challenges that will ultimately leave more conventional companies behind.
