Are You Doing Enough to Develop and Retain Your Millennials?

​Nearly half of all millennials plan to leave­ their jobs within th­­e next two years, which can present risks to both patient safety and employee wellness, according to speakers at the 2018 American Society for Health Care Risk Management conference in Nashville (October 7-10). Millennials (born between 1982 and 2000) represent the fastest growing segment of the working population, according to Arlene Luu, RN, JD, CPHRM, consultant for the MedPro Group Western Division (San Diego). Luu and her copanelists presented data showing that 43% of millennials plan to leave their jobs within two years, though they tend to be highly engaged during that time. Compounding matters is that millennials are less likely to accept overtime, Luu said, which leads to increased overtime for veteran staffers. "We have to start looking at these numbers," Luu said, "because it is going to lead to burnout." Frequent turnover is associated with increased patient harm scores, Luu said, and the average financial cost of each nursing turnover is $37,000 to $58,000. The panelists then presented strategies to keep millennials active and engaged within an organization. First, they reported, millennials favor a work-life balance. "We think of it as lazy," Luu said, "but we have to understand that it's just different values." The panelists recommended hiring more staff, knowing that younger staffers may be less likely to seek overtime.