Author(s): Quentin Jeandeau, Nabila Ouchene, Eric Brat, Inmaculada Buendía Martínez
Subject: Innovation and cooperatives
Date of publication: November 2019
This study explores the attraction and retention practices and policies of Millennials in cooperative enterprises, based on their employment values, criteria and expectations. On the one hand, Quebec is currently facing a labor shortage, raising the challenge of attracting young, skilled workers to the labor market. On the other hand, a poll by Léger on behalf of the CQCM (2017) reveals that young Québécois (18-34 years old) have values close to those of cooperatives, but only 24% of them know cooperative enterprises. In this context, we asked the following question: given the attractiveness of cooperatives among young people and their lack of knowledge of these companies, how can the cooperative enterprises be promoted as en employer brand for new generations? This study deals with this topic in two main parts: first, it paints a picture of the values, criteria and expectations of Millennials with respect to employment and cooperatives based on a survey disseminated among HEC Montréal students; secondly, based on a literature search, it attempts to identify the policies and practices of attracting and retaining Millennials in the context of cooperative enterprises. This study shows that cooperatives have two key differentiators in the labor market: cooperative values and governance.