Attracting, managing, and developing the next generation of public relations leaders has emerged as a key challenge in the field. Though academic and trade scholarship addresses millennials in the general workplace, there is a relative dearth of information about millennials in public relations. This project offers a practical perspective of millennial professionals’ expectations of the field, and executives’ management techniques. As the numbers and statistics show an increasingly-influential group in the workforce, recruitment, retention, engagement, and development of millennials become crucial to organizational success. Researchers, Dr. Juan Meng, Holley Reeves (doctoral candidate) and Dr. Bryan Reber, interviewed millennial PR professionals and the executives who hire and manage them. Several key themes emerged — relationships are key; workplace diversity is embraced; leadership development is expected; technological savviness is innate; and social responsibility is a workplace enhancement.

1. Recruiting, Retaining and Managing
Millennials: Insights from Interviews
Juan Meng, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Bryan H. Reber, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Mickey Nall, APR, Fellow PRSA, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
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Atlanta, Georgia

2. Attract, manage, and develop the
next generation of leaders in the
field of public relations and
communication.
Project Background
This project is funded by
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3. Who are the millennials?
No definitive agreement on birth years;
Experts agree that those born between 1982 and
2004;
Nearly 90 million individuals entering the workforce;
40% of employed Americans by 2020.
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4. Techno-
savvy
Connecte
d…24/7
Self-
confident
Self-
centered Unmotivated
Disrespectful Disloyal
Characteristics…
(criticism maybe?)
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5. Characteristics… (be optimistic!)
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6. Results and Insights presented in this
workshop reflect interviews with
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36 millennials PR
professionals
39 PR executives
who hire and
manage
millennials

7. How did we do it?
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8. In-depth interviews conducted by
two classes in the fall of 2014
ADPR 3510 PR Research
 Phone, Skype, or face-to-
face interview
 Millennial PR
professional
 Questions focused on:
 Recruitment and retention
 Engagement
 Leadership development
 Work-life balance
JRMC 7940 PR Foundations
 Phone, Skype, or face-to-
face interviews
 PR executives who manage
millennials
 Questions focused on:
 Recruitment
 Engagement, motivation and
development
 Impact and retention
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10.  BBDO
 Chick-Fil-A
 Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta
 Cohn and Wolfe
 Dodge Communications
 Edelman
 Fleishman-Hillard
 Golin
 Jackson Spalding
Participating organizations
(partial list)
 Ketchum
 NBC Universal
 Novelis
 Ogilvy
 Porter Novelli
 Southern Company
 The Coca-Cola Company
 The Home Depot
 UPS
 Weber Shandwick
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11. What the millennial
professionals are saying…
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12.  Post job openings on LinkedIn
 Provide an honest job description
 Show them how the company fits into the community
 Offer them a flexible work environment
 Let them ask questions
 Show you can promote them eventually
 Encourage a face-to-face environment
 Give them long-term opportunities
 Don’t overwork them too quickly
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How millennials want to be recruited
and retained?

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14. “Millennials want to grow quickly and rapidly
within a company. Promotion promises
retention. They have high expectations in the
workplace and want recognition, praise and
congratulations for their hard work.
Millennials are more interested in companies
who are involved in meaningful work—ones
who have social responsibility contributing to
a greater good.”
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Illustrative quote

15.  Insight:
 Millennials need to and want to be
engaged and motivated while on the
job. If they are bored or distracted,
they may look for other job
opportunities.
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How millennials want to be engaged?

16. Receiving praise or acknowledgement for hard work
Working in a diversified office environment
Attending team outings before or after work hours
Having opinions and ideas heard and valued by management
Being paid well with the opportunity for a raise or promotion
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Top Five Factors of Engagement

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18. “Every day when I come in, I go over my
duties with my supervisor so that I know
what I am expected to accomplish that
day. If my duties were not clearly stated,
my day would not have any direction and
I’d be bored trying to create work for
myself.”
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Illustrative quote

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20.  Guide them
 Offer safe opportunities to lead
 Challenge them
 Let them know it is okay to fail
 Allow them to explore new interests
 Pair them with veterans
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How to turn fresh talent into the
next great leaders?

21. “It is never too early for millennials to
become leaders.”
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Illustrative quote

22. “When you leave work, you should mentally leave
work.”
Work is an important part of life, but it shouldn’t take
over life. A lack of work-life balance leads to
unhappiness and it is definitely less tolerated among
millennials.
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How is millennials’ expectation on
work-life balance?

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24.  Choosing a hobby that regularly forces a person away from
media or a cell phone for a few hours.
 Creating a schedule for each day, and sticking to it. Doing
this ensures that enough work gets completed during
work hours, which allows employees the chance to
concentrate on other sectors of their lives while at home.
 Supporting co-workers in their lives and hobbies outside of
work, builds office relations and a sense of community. If
employees feel connected to their coworkers on a
personal level, they are more likely to be happy with their
job, and less likely to want to search for a new one.
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Ways to achieve adequate work-life
balance include:

25. “Even if work-life balance is the
millennials’ responsibility, employers
should value work-life balance and
understand that millennials have a life
outside of work. Millennials value this
highly, and it can go a long way toward
retention.”
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Illustrative quote

26. What the executives are
saying…
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27. Approach
Aptitude
Attitude
Three A’s of Recruitment
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28.  Agencies look for people that are curious, creative
and have a global mindset; meaning that they are
culturally aware and open to new experiences.
 Attitude is probably the most important.
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Attitude

29.  Millennials have to be incredibly smart. Public
relations or communications requires a genuine
global curiosity and an intellectual ability to quickly
learn about multiple subjects.
 Professionals have to use this acquired knowledge to
come up with solutions on demand.
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Aptitude

30.  Employees must understand that they have to be
professional. They have to present themselves in a
way that is appropriate to the environment.
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Approach

31.  Contribute to an organization’s culture
 Provide reliable service to an organization and its
client
 Demonstrate impeccable work ethic
 Produce quality work
 Strive for excellence
 Receive constructive criticism and are not defensive
Some qualities are desired from
millennials:
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Two-way communication
Challenging assignments
Opportunities for growth
Training programs
Recognition of accomplishments
Clear purpose of organization
Set goals to achieve

33. 1. Listen
2. Give opportunities
3. Provide experiences
4. communicate
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4 steps to engage millennial
employees

34. “As a leader, if I don’t have that road
map [defined of millennial
employees’ goals] then they could
very well leave because they could
find another agency or someone else
that could help provide that.”
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Illustrative quote

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36. “Millennials’ energy and personality
impact an agency positively. When
millennials are excited about their job
and their work, they can accomplish great
things for themselves and the agency. It is
important to keep millennials enticed to
come to work everyday.”
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Illustrative quote

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38. “A strategy to retaining millennials is to
provide opportunities to advance within
the agency. More importantly, recognize
when the employee is ready to grow. By
keeping opportunities in line with
recognition, employees are apt to
remain.”
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Illustrative quote

39. Real life stories in working with
millennials from Mickey Nall
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40. Thank you!
&
Questions?
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