What Defines Them?
There seems common agreement that Millennials, by and large, view the world differently. Some popular myths focus mostly on negative perceptions, but they are a talented and potential invaluable resource to organizations. According to an exhaustive study by the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC - Chapel Hill, "Millennials are continuous learners, collaborators, diverse, optimistic, achievement oriented, socially conscious and highly educated."
How Are They Different?
Millennials respond best to active and involved management versus a hierarchical one. Free flowing information, teamwork, loose structure and flexibility are particularly motivating. In short, they don't just follow, they want a dynamic and interactive environment.
What's important to Millennials is quite different from what's viewed as important by their managers. For example, the University of North Carolina study compared views of Millennials/Managers in the following areas:
- Meaningful work - 30/12%
- High pay - 28/50%
- Sense of Accomplishment - 25/12%
The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey conducted among over 140,000 of their global employees pointed out the importance of work/life balance and flexible scheduling, along with internal appreciation and a supportive organization.
Actions for Employers
Understanding their unique skills and strengths is essential to gaining the most from your Millennial team members.
A study of 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials suggests that the organizations that focus on these employees - what's important to them and how to engage them - are more successful in providing a win/win culture and environment for all concerned.
Here are some suggestions from the experts that all organizations should embrace or further develop in order to better engage Millennials.
- Encourage strong, open two-way communication
- Engage them in significant ways
- Listen to them
- Develop and challenge them
- Coach and mentor versus classic management
- Build trust and fairness
- Establish clearly defined performance standards
- Do away with or minimize needless structure and bureaucracy
- Encourage innovation, suggestions for improvement
- React to them, provide encouragement and continuous feedback
- Be creative in meeting the workload demands. Accept the importance of the work/life balance and allow for more flexible work schedule models
- Be flexible on how technology is employed. This is a mobile generation not a desktop one
One core problem for this up and coming generation is the conundrum of slower growth in the economy compounded by older workers and leaders delaying retirement, thereby holding the better paying jobs, clogging the promotion pipeline and holding the reins of power.
Be aware as this can lead to dissatisfaction among the young, productive and talented employees.
