Parenting styles have changed considerably over recent decades. While there is broad agreement that these changes have taken place, their long-term impact remains open to debate. Millennials — often referred to as Generation Y — have become an increasingly important part of the workforce, and with that has come a growing set of assumptions about how they approach careers, leadership and professional development.

Generalising about an entire generation is rarely helpful. Nevertheless, millennials have frequently been described as less accepting of traditional authority, more demanding of employers, impatient about career progression and more difficult to retain.

Motivational speaker and author Simon Sinek has argued that some of these characteristics may be linked to a combination of parenting, social media, workplace expectations and a culture of immediate gratification.

According to Sinek, these influences can contribute to lower confidence and a stronger need for external validation among some younger professionals. He argues that many grew up hearing that they were special and capable of achieving anything, while parents sometimes intervened to resolve challenges on their behalf.

When expectations meet workplace reality

Dorottya Nagy-Józsa, coach and founder of Y2Y Business Coaching, has also worked extensively with members of Generation Y. In her experience, some younger professionals enter working life with high expectations but can find the transition into professional responsibility more difficult than anticipated.

Compared with previous generations, major life milestones may also occur later. Young adults may leave the family home, establish families or purchase property at a later stage, while simultaneously progressing rapidly in their professional careers.

This can also affect career decisions. Professionals with fewer long-term financial or family commitments may feel more comfortable changing employers, pursuing new challenges or leaving a position that no longer meets their expectations.

From an employer’s perspective, this can sometimes be interpreted as a lack of loyalty. From the employee’s perspective, however, it may simply reflect a different approach to career management.

Feedback, recognition and confidence

One recurring topic in discussions about millennials in the workplace is feedback.

Sinek suggests that younger employees may sometimes seek frequent reassurance that they are performing well, while criticism can feel disproportionately significant if they have had limited experience dealing with negative feedback.

Social media may also influence expectations around recognition, visibility and success. Online environments frequently provide immediate signals of approval through likes, followers and comments, while professional development in the workplace tends to be slower and less predictable.

This difference between instant feedback and long-term career progression can create frustration, particularly when promotions, recognition or increased responsibility do not arrive as quickly as expected.

For managers, the lesson is not that younger employees require constant praise, but that clear and constructive feedback can be particularly valuable. Employees need to understand what they are doing well, where they need to improve and what progress towards the next stage of their career actually requires.

Career development takes time

Frequent job changes can create valuable opportunities to gain experience, discover new industries and develop different skills. However, moving too quickly between positions may also mean that professionals miss some of the benefits that come from seeing longer-term projects through to completion.

Some professional achievements simply require time.

Building expertise, developing leadership capabilities, gaining the trust of colleagues and understanding the deeper dynamics of an organisation rarely happen within a few months.

For professionals who are strongly motivated by finding meaningful work or making an impact, patience can therefore become an important career skill.

Nagy-Józsa argues that younger professionals should not necessarily be expected to demonstrate the same form of loyalty as previous generations. Their socialisation and expectations are different, and they may be more willing to change employers in search of new challenges.

Mentors and coaches can play an important role in helping young professionals understand career development as a longer-term process rather than a continuous search for the next opportunity.

Employers also need to adapt

The challenge does not lie entirely with employees.

Organisations also need to examine whether their management practices, career structures and corporate cultures reflect the changing expectations of the workforce.

According to Nagy-Józsa, successful integration requires development on both sides. Younger employees need support when adapting to organisational realities, while employers need to create environments in which people can develop, receive meaningful feedback and understand what is expected of them.

Middle managers are particularly important in this process because they shape much of an employee’s everyday experience.

An employer may invest heavily in recruitment campaigns and employer branding, but if the reality of working inside the organisation does not match the message communicated to candidates, those investments are unlikely to deliver sustainable results.

Employer branding must reflect reality

Generational differences have become a popular subject in HR and management, but excessive focus on labels can sometimes be counterproductive.

Companies may respond to changing candidate expectations by investing significant resources in employer branding without addressing the underlying organisational issues.

Flexible working, development opportunities, constructive leadership and transparent communication cannot exist only in recruitment campaigns. They need to be reflected in the actual employee experience.

If there is a significant difference between the employer promise and everyday workplace reality, attracting candidates may become easier while retaining them becomes considerably more difficult.

Flexibility and work-life balance

Expectations around work-life balance have also changed significantly.

While previous generations may have regarded flexible working as an exceptional benefit, younger employees are more likely to consider flexibility a normal part of a modern workplace.

This difference in expectations can sometimes create tension between generations, particularly when organisations maintain working practices that were designed for a very different labour market.

The challenge for employers is to establish a balance between flexibility and accountability. Employees may expect greater autonomy over how and where they work, while employers still need reliable performance, collaboration and commitment to organisational objectives.

What does this mean for recruitment and retention?

For recruiters and employers, understanding millennials in the workplace requires looking beyond generational stereotypes.

Not every younger employee has the same expectations, motivations or career ambitions. Recruitment decisions should therefore focus on the individual rather than assumptions based on age or generation.

At the same time, several themes remain relevant when attracting and retaining younger professionals: meaningful development opportunities, regular and constructive feedback, transparent career paths, supportive management and flexibility.

For companies competing for skilled professionals, the question is therefore not simply whether millennials need to adapt to the workplace. Employers must also consider how their leadership practices and organisational cultures can evolve to engage a workforce whose expectations may differ from those of previous generations.

Successful recruitment and retention ultimately depend on the same fundamentals across generations: clear expectations, mutual trust, professional development and an environment in which employees can see a meaningful future.

Source: HR Portal

Workplace diversity can strengthen organisational performance by bringing together a broader range of perspectives, experiences and approaches. It can also help companies understand increasingly diverse customers, markets and business challenges. For many employers, however, the most difficult question is where to begin.

Creating a genuinely diverse and inclusive organisation requires more than individual initiatives. It needs to be reflected in leadership, recruitment, corporate culture, policies and everyday employee experience.

Here are seven key areas organisations can focus on when building a stronger approach to workplace diversity.

1. Corporate mission

Clear communication about the organisation’s purpose and objectives is essential.

Employees should understand what the company is working towards, why those goals matter and how their own contribution supports the broader mission.

A diverse workforce may bring together people with very different professional backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. A clearly defined corporate mission provides a common point of reference and helps ensure that these differences contribute towards shared objectives.

2. Leadership

Leaders play a central role in creating an inclusive organisation.

They should recognise the value of different perspectives and understand how diverse teams can approach challenges from multiple angles, identify alternative solutions and make better-informed decisions.

At the same time, managing diversity brings its own leadership responsibilities. Managers need to understand how to recruit, develop, engage and retain people with different backgrounds, working styles and perspectives.

Most importantly, leaders need to demonstrate inclusive behaviour themselves. Organisational culture is shaped not only by policies, but also by the behaviour employees observe from senior and middle management every day.

3. Corporate culture

A diverse workforce can only deliver its full potential in a culture where employees feel comfortable contributing their ideas and perspectives.

Organisations should therefore aim to create an environment that is open to differences and encourages respectful discussion.

When employees believe that their contribution is valued, they are more likely to participate actively, share ideas and take responsibility for achieving organisational goals.

An inclusive culture is therefore not only about representation. It is also about whether people feel able to contribute once they join the organisation.

4. Fair and relevant assessment

Recruitment and selection processes should give candidates a fair opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.

Employers should assess applicants according to skills, experience and competencies that are genuinely relevant to success in the position.

Selection criteria should be clearly defined and applied consistently. Interviews, tests and assessment methods should focus on factors that have a meaningful connection with job performance.

This helps reduce unnecessary subjectivity and supports more evidence-based hiring decisions.

For recruitment and executive search professionals, structured assessment is particularly important when ensuring that highly qualified candidates are not overlooked because they do not fit traditional expectations of what a successful candidate should look like.

5. Employee behaviour

Organisations should establish clear expectations regarding professional conduct and respectful behaviour.

Employees need to understand what standards apply in the workplace and which behaviours are inconsistent with the company’s values.

Creating an inclusive environment does not mean avoiding difficult conversations. It means establishing clear standards for how colleagues communicate, collaborate and treat one another.

Consistent expectations help employees understand their responsibilities in maintaining a professional and respectful workplace.

6. Organisational infrastructure

Policies and processes should support equal treatment and reduce unnecessary barriers.

This may include reviewing recruitment procedures, promotion processes, compensation practices, flexible working arrangements and internal development opportunities.

Organisations should also examine whether unnecessary bureaucracy or informal practices create disadvantages for particular groups of employees.

The aim should be to create systems that support fairness, transparency and equal access to opportunities throughout the employee lifecycle.

7. Personal and professional development

Employees should have access to meaningful opportunities to develop their skills and progress in their careers.

Training, mentoring, coaching and leadership development can help employees feel supported while also strengthening the organisation’s internal talent pipeline.

Development opportunities should be accessible based on potential, performance and professional needs rather than informal networks or assumptions about who is likely to progress.

When employees see that the organisation is investing in their future, they are more likely to feel valued and engaged.

Diversity should be embedded throughout the organisation

Effective workplace diversity strategies go far beyond recruitment targets or isolated HR programmes.

Diversity needs to be supported by leadership behaviour, fair selection processes, inclusive management practices, transparent policies and genuine development opportunities.

For employers, this means looking at the complete employee lifecycle — from attracting and selecting candidates to onboarding, development, promotion and retention.

Recruitment and executive search can play an important role by helping organisations access broader talent pools and evaluate candidates consistently. However, attracting diverse talent is only the beginning. The organisational environment must also enable those employees to succeed once they join.

Companies that build diversity into their leadership practices and organisational culture are better positioned to benefit from a wider range of experience, ideas and perspectives.

Source: HR Blog

Many business leaders — and even some HR professionals — underestimate how much time and money goes into finding, hiring and onboarding a new employee. The real cost becomes even greater when the person selected for the role turns out not to be the right fit.

The purpose of this overview is to highlight the key cost elements involved in recruitment and selection. Time spent planning the process, defining the role carefully, creating an effective job advertisement and conducting a professional selection process should not be viewed as wasted effort. It is an investment in making the right hiring decision.

So what actually contributes to the cost of a bad hire?

Creating the job advertisement

A quick look at almost any job board reveals a common problem: many advertisements are generic, uninspiring and provide candidates with little reason to apply.

Yet the purpose of a job advertisement is precisely to demonstrate why the opportunity is worth considering.

Standard phrases such as “competitive salary”, “career development opportunities” or “dynamic team” rarely differentiate an employer from its competitors. If companies want to attract high-quality candidates who genuinely match the requirements of the position, the advertisement needs to communicate the role and the organisation clearly and convincingly.

Writing an effective job advertisement can easily require several hours of preparation. Before the text can even be written, the organisation needs to answer some fundamental questions:

• Who exactly are we looking for?
• Why do we need this person?
• Which skills and experience are genuinely essential?
• What makes the company and the opportunity attractive?
• What will the successful candidate actually be responsible for?

A job advertisement is ultimately a marketing tool. It needs to present the organisation’s strengths, describe the role in an engaging but realistic way and communicate the requirements clearly.

Publishing and managing the advertisement

The position itself should determine which recruitment channels are most appropriate.

Not every job board or platform is suitable for every professional audience. Choosing the wrong channel can produce a large number of irrelevant applications or even negatively affect how candidates perceive the employer.

Selecting the right platform therefore requires an understanding of the recruitment market, target audience and available channels. Social media and professional networks can also be effective, provided that campaigns are properly targeted.

The administrative side also requires time: choosing a provider, arranging contracts, approving the advertisement, coordinating changes and monitoring publication.

In addition to the working hours involved, employers must also consider the direct cost of advertising. In the original example, publishing a vacancy could cost tens of thousands of forints depending on the platform and advertising period.

Reviewing and screening CVs

More applications do not necessarily mean a better recruitment process.

A vacancy with relatively broad requirements can generate dozens of applications. If 70 to 90 candidates apply and even five minutes are spent reviewing each application, the initial screening process alone can require approximately six to eight working hours.

In practice, reviewing a CV carefully and comparing it with the requirements of the role may take considerably longer.

This is why clearly defined selection criteria and well-targeted recruitment channels are so important. They reduce unnecessary application volume and allow recruiters to focus on candidates who genuinely match the opportunity.

Telephone screening and interview scheduling

A structured telephone or online screening interview can save significant time later in the process.

It can be used to clarify availability, motivation, compensation expectations, language skills or other essential requirements before arranging a full interview.

Without a screening stage, employers may spend valuable time interviewing candidates who could have been ruled out through a short preliminary conversation.

Even simply coordinating interview appointments with ten candidates can require considerable administration, especially when several decision-makers are involved.

The cost of interviews

If ten candidates are invited to interviews, the total time invested in meetings can quickly reach an entire working day or more.

In many organisations, several managers or specialists participate in interviews, multiplying the true amount of working time devoted to the selection process.

Recruitment may also involve several interview rounds. A second meeting with a senior manager, future colleague or other decision-maker adds further hours to the process.

Interviews should therefore be structured carefully. A pleasant conversation is important, but it should not replace professional assessment.

Candidates today are generally well prepared for standard interview questions. Where appropriate, practical tasks, competency-based questions or work-related assessments can provide much stronger evidence of how someone may actually perform in the role.

Candidate communication also has a cost — and a value

Candidates who participate in an interview should always receive proper feedback about the outcome. Ideally, applicants who are rejected earlier in the process should also be informed.

Failing to communicate with candidates can have consequences far beyond an individual recruitment process.

Every applicant forms an impression of the organisation based on how they are treated. A poor candidate experience can damage the company’s employer brand, discourage strong professionals from applying in the future and may even influence how people perceive the organisation as customers or business partners.

Candidate communication therefore requires time, but it should be considered an essential part of professional recruitment.

The recruitment process itself represents a significant investment

By the time a new employee is hired, an organisation may already have invested dozens of working hours in:

• defining the role;
• writing and publishing the advertisement;
• screening applications;
• conducting preliminary calls;
• coordinating interviews;
• interviewing candidates;
• assessing applicants;
• communicating with unsuccessful candidates.

Every hour spent on recruitment is time that managers and employees cannot spend on sales, customer relationships, business development, operational management or their core professional responsibilities.

However, these recruitment costs are often only a small part of the overall financial impact when the wrong person is hired.

What happens when the wrong candidate is selected?

An unsuccessful hire may only become apparent several weeks or even months after the person joins the organisation.

By this point, the employer has already paid salary, employment-related costs and onboarding expenses.

The financial impact extends beyond the new employee’s compensation.

Another colleague or manager usually needs to spend considerable time onboarding and training the new employee. Depending on the complexity of the position, this can require days or even weeks of support.

During this period, the colleague responsible for onboarding is also spending less time on their own responsibilities. This creates an additional productivity cost and potentially lost business value.

The hidden costs of a bad hire

Some consequences are much more difficult to calculate.

A poor hiring decision can affect:

• team productivity;
• employee morale;
• management capacity;
• customer relationships;
• project performance;
• reputation and employer brand;
• future recruitment costs.

One of the most serious risks arises when underperformance is not identified early enough and begins to affect customers or business partners.

If service quality declines, deadlines are missed or important relationships are damaged, the organisation may lose considerably more than the employee’s salary.

Professional recruitment reduces hiring risk

Recruitment and selection may appear straightforward from the outside, but making a consistently successful hiring decision requires careful planning, market knowledge, structured assessment and an understanding of candidate behaviour.

Specialist recruitment or executive search support represents an additional cost, but that investment should be compared with the potential cost of a bad hire.

A well-managed recruitment process can help organisations define the right profile, reach a stronger candidate pool, assess professionals more effectively and ultimately reduce the financial and organisational risks associated with an unsuccessful appointment.

For positions with significant responsibility, specialist expertise or direct influence on business performance, investing in recruitment quality can be considerably less expensive than correcting the consequences of the wrong hiring decision.

Source: HR Portal

Freelancing is more than a way of working — for many professionals, it becomes a lifestyle. In IT, where remote projects, international clients and specialist expertise are particularly common, freelancing can offer considerable freedom. However, it also comes with career risks that are easy to overlook.

Freelance developers and IT specialists often value independence, flexibility and the opportunity to choose the technologies and projects they work on. At the same time, maintaining long-term employability requires careful attention to professional development, market trends, networking and work-life balance.

Freelancer type 1: Completely immersed in the project

Some freelance software developers prefer working remotely, often focusing intensively on one project at a time. They value stability, autonomy and the ability to concentrate without unnecessary interruptions.

These professionals are often highly aware of market rates and contractor day rates. Because experienced developers may receive frequent approaches from recruiters and clients, they tend to develop a strong understanding of the value of their expertise on the IT labour market.

Especially at the beginning of their careers, technology and professional development are often major priorities. They want to deepen their knowledge, acquire marketable skills and work independently while still remaining connected to a broader development team.

For many, programming is not simply a profession but also a genuine interest. This can result in impressive levels of focus, productivity and commitment to delivering projects on time and to a high standard.

What is the risk?

The greatest risk is that work gradually takes priority over everything else.

When a professional spends several years working intensively on the same project or technology, they may become an expert in that particular area while unintentionally falling behind developments elsewhere in the market.

This is especially relevant in IT, where programming languages, frameworks, methodologies and infrastructure technologies can evolve rapidly.

A developer who has worked exclusively with the same technology stack for three or four years may therefore find that their expertise has become increasingly specialised while demand for other skills has grown.

Extended remote working can also reduce opportunities for professional networking and face-to-face collaboration if these are not actively maintained.

When a long-term project eventually ends, freelancers may therefore face an important career decision: continue working independently or move into a more structured environment within a small, medium-sized or multinational company.

Freelancer type 2: The international project specialist

Another type of freelance IT professional actively seeks variety.

They may work for a different company or client every year, move between technologies and projects, and collaborate with international teams across several countries.

One project may involve Scandinavian colleagues, another Central European teams, while the next could involve specialists based in Asia or North America.

These professionals often develop strong adaptability, communication and problem-solving skills. They are comfortable working across cultures and tend to understand quickly what both clients and project teams expect from them.

International experience can also make them highly attractive candidates on the Hungarian IT market, particularly when combined with strong technical expertise and several years of project-based experience.

What is the risk?

A highly mobile freelance career can make maintaining balance between professional and personal commitments more difficult.

Frequent travel, changing projects and demanding client expectations can place significant pressure on personal relationships and long-term stability.

For some professionals, this lifestyle is highly attractive. For others, priorities change over time and greater stability becomes increasingly important.

The key question is therefore not whether international freelancing is inherently positive or negative, but whether the lifestyle continues to match the individual’s longer-term professional and personal goals.

Finding the right balance as a freelance IT professional

For freelance IT professionals, one of the most important factors in maintaining a sustainable career is continuous learning.

A strong CV should demonstrate clear professional development over time. Ideally, the technologies, responsibilities and project environments listed today should show meaningful progression compared with those from several years earlier.

Keeping technical knowledge current is particularly important. Successful IT professionals follow emerging technologies, understand evolving development methodologies and look for opportunities to gain practical experience with new tools.

International experience can also be valuable, although it does not necessarily require relocating abroad. Hungary is home to many international companies where developers can work with colleagues and clients across different countries while remaining locally based.

Freelancing also means running a business

One of the most important differences between employment and freelancing is the level of personal responsibility involved.

An employee can generally expect the employer to provide the infrastructure and organisational support required to perform their role. A freelancer, by contrast, is effectively responsible for operating a small business.

This may include:

• finding new projects and clients;
• negotiating contracts and rates;
• managing invoices and accounting;
• purchasing and maintaining equipment;
• planning periods without projects;
• managing taxes and administrative responsibilities;
• maintaining professional development;
• organising their own working environment.

Freelancing may offer freedom from traditional management structures, but it also means that benefits associated with employment — such as paid holiday, sick leave or certain employee benefits — may no longer be available in the same form.

Successful freelancers therefore need more than strong technical skills. Self-management, financial awareness, discipline and the ability to maintain motivation are equally important.

Keeping your IT career competitive

From a recruitment perspective, employers and clients increasingly look for professionals who combine technical expertise with adaptability, communication skills and evidence of continuous learning.

For freelancers, this means regularly assessing whether their current projects are supporting their long-term market value.

Working independently can provide exceptional opportunities to build specialist expertise and gain exposure to a wide variety of organisations. However, professionals also need to ensure that they continue developing skills that remain relevant beyond their current assignment.

Ultimately, the most sustainable freelance IT careers are built on balance: between specialisation and continuous learning, independence and professional connection, and financial opportunity and personal priorities.

Source: Petend