Millennial mindset shift

Yet, despite difficulties, businesses know they must change to get Millennial talent; they are about to become the most populous workforce demographic - by 2020 - after all. To attract – and then retain, develop, and engage – this cohort, HR has a central role. One business who understand this is the global lifestyle retail company Urban Outfitters Inc. To discuss how the Millennial mindset has forced the high-street stalwart to take a look at its own employer branding proposition, D&I strategy and engagement tactics, in order to align it with the needs and values this important workforce generation, HR Grapevine met for an exclusive interview with Emily Lofting-Kisakye, HR Director, Europe of Urban Outfitters Inc, at the company’s London office.

Emily was upfront about how the new generation was forcing Urban Outfitters to change its approach to how they work. “The newer generations force us to think differently about how we work, what a work-life balance looks like and what flexibility look like,” Emily explains. She also doesn’t buy into the stereotypes. “The negative narrative of Millennials not being loyal or that their expectations are too high; I don’t find any of that to be true. Their expectation is that you can help them maintain a work-life balance, you will look after their mental health and wellbeing, you will help them to develop in the way they want, and they are very happy to help you understand their narrative and say ‘no, I don’t think that’s right’.

Balancing future leaders and seasoned pros

To get the best out of this generation, Emily believes every organisation needs to ensure they are building their people strategies to reflect what their workers are now more concerned about. She notes that younger generations are no longer discussing topics such as pensions and private healthcare, things that the older generations would have, and are instead talking about where a business is with its sustainability targets, how it enforces better Diversity & Inclusion(D&I) measures and what training is available. Recent Robert Walters’ stats, from the whitepaper Attracting and Retaining Millennial Professionals, show Millennial appetite for continual learning whilst a 2017 KPMG report found that this group overwhelmingly wants their employer to be socially minded.

Emily believes it is crucial employers keep these demands in mind to ensure that they manage to keep attrition rates down and keep them around for long enough to develop into leaders. “They’re the future leaders. That [mindset] change is coming whether you want to be within it or not, so for us we just try and absolutely embrace that,” she adds. Yet this doesn’t mean ignoring what older workers want. In fact, Urban Outfitters is developing intergenerational communication channels within its employee base which ensures the workforce initiatives are truly age diverse, that the chain remains inclusive, and branding and ethics programmes are informed by a wide range of employee views.

“URBN is a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN, Terrain and the Vetri Family. In Europe Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People have store and online presence along with a multichannel office based in London; BHLDN ships globally, and within those we have a high percentage of the employee base who is Millennial and below. But then you have a high percentage of our leaders that are not Millennial and haven’t grown up in their careers through that way. So, our joined focus in terms of Millennials and retention is to understand the multigenerational workforce – it’s the first time it’s really been as palpable as it is now. We need to look at how they connect with those generations and how they can get their narrative across properly,” she explains.

Developing D&I

As part of this Millennial-minded branding and operational tack, Emily has ensured that a key part of Urban Outfitters’ people strategy heavily focuses on D&I. The US-headquartered chain is in the first year of a three-year strategy, where the business is set to focus on education, positive action methods, leadership commitment and candidate attraction. Building on each of these key points, Emily hopes they will better develop Urban Outfitters’ D&I plans, while also boosting the profile and reputation of the business, which will of course lead to attracting and retaining Millennials who are conscious about the message and purpose a brand emanates. “The big thing everybody is agreed on as an action point is to make sure that from a brand and user perspective it’s really inclusive and everyone knows what we are working towards in that each individual brand,” she explains.

Emily also points to why having a purpose that not only resonates with its employees, but its customer base too, is crucial for any business. For example, as Urban Outfitters’ customer base is mainly young adults, such as Millennials, ensuring the business is as diverse as possible from the ‘inside out’ will ensure it continues to attract its diverse mix of customers. “For us if you look at our customers, they are incredibly diverse so we should be from the inside out – we should be diverse,” she adds.