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There exists a significant gap between what Indian millennials — those born after 1982 — would prioritise if they led their organisations and what their senior leadership currently focusses on.
According to the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s fourth annual Millennial Survey, millennials feel their leaders to be too focused on meeting short-term financial goals, their own income or rewards, and improving efficiency and productivity.
On the contrary, millenials would put far greater emphasis on making a positive contribution to society, employee well-being and employee growth and development. Deloitte Global surveyed tomorrow’s leaders, from 29 countries including India, on effective leadership, how businesses operate and impact society.
Millennials overwhelmingly believe (75 per cent) that businesses are focused on their own agenda rather than helping improve society.
Findings from the survey suggest businesses, particularly in developed markets, will need to make significant changes to attract and retain workforce in the future.
“The message is clear: when looking at their career goals, millennials are just as interested in how a business develops its people and how it contributes to society as they are in its products and profits,” said Barry Salzberg, chief executive officer, Deloitte Global.
“These findings should be viewed as a wake-up call to the business community, particularly in developed markets. They need to change the way they engage millennial talent or risk being left behind.”
More than half (53 per cent) of the millennials aspire to become the leader or the most senior executive within their current organisation.
There is also a gap between the ambitions of millenials of emerging markets and those from the developed markets.
Sixty-five percent of emerging-market based millennials said they would like to achieve this goal, compared to only 38 per cent in developed markets.
In India, 80 per cent of those surveyed aspire to become the leader of their organisation, while 81 per cent aspire to reach a senior executive position.
While 58 per cent of Indians surveyed feel their current organisation is making full use of their skills, the global figure compares to only 28 per cent.
Improving confidence the overall image of business is positive in all regions.
India is among the top five countries where millennials (90 per cent Indians against the global average of 73 per cent) feel that businesses have a positive impact on the wider society in which they operate.
Additionally, the survey found large global businesses have less appeal for millennials in developed markets (35 per cent) compared to emerging markets (51 per cent).
Developed-market-based millennials are also less inclined (11 per cent) than millennials in emerging markets (22 per cent) to start their own business.
