As much as I hate to admit it, I’m a millennial. I am driven by the desire to feel like I’m contributing, adding value, respected. All admirable qualities, but as anyone who has employed a millennial knows, there is a down side. I, like many of my cohort, have left employers in the lurch, just as I’m starting to fit into their grand plans, I’ve gone and put my notice in, like a 25th minute red card, forcing a backline reshuffle.
Guilty as I may feel about leaving, it doesn’t outweigh the primal desire to chase the next big adventure or give myself a better work life balance, and to the confusion of my manager, it never has anything to do with money.
As an Australian mining professional I’m fortunate enough to say money has never been a driver to leave, because in reality, as a graduate, I was earning enough to fund my next Instagram worthy holiday. Since then, the surplus has pretty much gone on overpriced schooners at a pub always called The Royal, every town has one.
So, how does MEC keep someone like myself, someone who manages to feel anxiousness about not having saved enough for the future but also simultaneously worried that they won’t get to visit Iceland before it becomes ‘commercial’?
They create an engaging and flexible work environment, that’s how.
They match fit for purpose people into fit for purpose roles. Millennials want to add value, be connected to people and achieve goals. Clients have bespoke needs that often require the right person to add value.
It’s a perfect match, MEC has worked it out and that is why they are unique. With a varied group of professionals on the books there will be the right solution for any client AND for the right consultant.
In my experience I have had 3 contracts with MEC, all 3 unique, all 3 challenging but we have delivered outcomes above and beyond client expectations on all 3 occasions, and that has been the most rewarding part for me.
An observation for anyone reading this, in my 8 years in the mining industry all the millennials that I know that have stayed with a company long term:
- Have been continually challenged, promoted or developed new skills within the business
- Have sorted themselves a very sweet quality of life
- Or are unhappy and looking for the next perfect opportunity
For me and MEC it’s a perfect fit and considering that the last millennial was born in 2004 it’s clear that more companies need to start adapting or expect a few more unexpected reshuffles, which ironically can be filled by a MEC consultant.
Written by Dom Varley