Despite all of the hand wringing among advisors and regulators about the need to attract young talent, few advisory firms seem to be the kind of place where millennials want to work.
Only two wealth management firms were named in a ranking of the 75 best places to work for millennials by the Center for Generational Kinetics and Best Companies Group. The list is based on BCG's analysis of over 4,000 U.S. companies’ policies, benefits and employee engagement data.
Greenleaf Trust, an independent trust-only bank in Michigan that focuses on wealth management, trust and estate administration, and company-sponsored retirement plans, was 29th on the list. Greenleaf was also named one of the “cool places to work in Michigan” by the BCG.
Sarah Johansson, vice president and director of marketing at Greenleaf, said nearly half of the 95 employees at the firm are millennials. Johansson said Greenleaf has a leadership team encompassing four generations that encourages cross-generational collaboration among staffers.
“This allows us to understand and take into consideration the different perspectives, motivations and work ethics of our teammates,” she said.
Greenleaf also has a “Communication and Culture Workgroup” to ensure that the needs of all team members, regardless of age, are being met.
“There are many preconceived ideas about millennials in the workplace,” Johansson said. “Provided with an environment that supports all generations, we’ve seen amazing things from our millennials and we look forward to the future impact they will make as their knowledge increases through mentorship with others on our team and as their talents continue to be refined.”
Rounding out the list at number 75 was Commonwealth Financial Network. As one of the largest privately held independent broker/dealers in the U.S., Commonwealth supports 1,600 advisors around the country.
At Commonwealth's San Diego office, which BCG named one of the "best places to work in San Diego," more than 60 percent of employees are millennials. The company also said that its younger employees challenge millennial stereotypes by being creative, engaging and dedicated.
“From boomers to millennials—working in all facets of our business—we have found that the different generations love to tap into the best of each other," said Kate Creagh, Commonwealth's managing principal of human resources. "In this process, the mutual respect that’s both required and given is a life lesson unto itself.”
Companies that made the list had millennial employees that reported higher levels of satisfaction in company leadership and opportunity for career advancement.
The data found that millennials with the strongest connection with their employers reported “feeling valued,” “making progress at work,” and “liking the type of work that they do.”
“Knowing what motivates Millennials to want to stay at a job has never been more important,” said Jason Dorsey, an author and researcher at the Center for Generational Kinetics.
The best millennial workplaces offered family-friendly policies like paid parental leave, lactation facilities for nursing mothers and flexible hours for doctors’ visits and school events. Eighty-one percent offered paid time off for volunteer work, 73 percent offered flextime or compressed workweeks as a standard practice, and 27 percent allowed employees to enroll in healthcare coverage on the first day.
The Center for Generational Kinetics said the list was released to coincide with 1.8 million college graduates ready to launch their careers, making millennials the largest generation in the workforce.
