With the workforce landscape transformation comes a tidal wave of twenty-somethings, looking to make an impact and build a legacy unique to their parents. During 2014, there are 79 million millennials in the U.S. compared to 48 million Gen-Xers—and still growing—making them the largest generation on the planet today, according to a blog post from Hillary Sabetta. The majority of the incoming workforce is millennials, who also make up 36 percent of the current workforce, and despite their social media obsession and apathetic stereotypes, they are highly ambitious and demonstrate the potential for personal growth and career progression. As a manager, you may have noticed that with this workforce transformation, comes a change in the way you recruit, acquire talent, and maintain these candidates to benefit your business in the long run.
Below you will find some noteworthy tips to consider when managing millennials that will increase engagement and productivity in your organization.
Tips for Managing Millennials
Culture is critical
Millennials are collaborative and relationship heavy, so workplace culture plays a big role in their decision to accept a position. However, loyalty does not carry the same weight as it does to Gen‐Xers when it comes to staying with a company. They are notorious for leaving a company because of a lack of cultural t, “up to 60 percent of millennials leave companies they work for because it’s not a good cultural fit”, according to Entrepreneur.com. When managing millennials, you can prevent this turnover by communicating and building relationships with them; try to identify a common interest such as favorite sports team, hometown, college, hobbies, food, or animals. Perhaps consider revisiting the recruitment and assessment process of your talent acquisition and pre-screening phases to ensure that an organic job and cultural t is established before you onboard; this will save you time and money, and guarantee a shift in productivity.
Coach and Inspire
Millennials have a constant desire to learn and educate themselves, especially on the matter at hand. Despite the convenience of always being able to find an answer to a question on Google, millennials in the workplace look to management for direction and coaching. When managing them, it is important not to neglect eager minds, but provide feedback and inspiration. This article by Karie Willyerd at HBR.com, stresses the concept of inspiring, “In all aspects of their lives, millennials engage with causes that help people, not institutions. The team and the mission, especially tied to a higher purpose, are far more compelling motivators than a message of ‘Do this for the company,’ or ‘Work on the department goals.’” These employees are purpose-driven, so create incentives that serve a greater good, and you will increase engagement and productivity.
Embrace Balance and Innovation
How relevant and current is your company when it comes to embracing technology? According to an article on LinkedIn Pulse, “this is a generation of multitaskers, Millennials switch their attention between media platforms like laptops, smartphones, tablets, and televisions an average of 27 times per hour!” When managing millennials, consider the fact that these employees squeeze multiple activities into their lives and prioritize family time. Provide a work‐life balance that serves as a complement to your current technological capabilities that millennials are all too familiar with accessing. Establish clear boundaries in the workplace and deadlines for projects to prevent any time discrepancies when employees are working o location.
Millennials are equipped with fresh and current capabilities and are driven to innovate and make an impact. Build a strategy for managing millennials around these tips, and you are sure to experience a splash in engagement and productivity.
