By the time we hit the year 2025, 75% of the working population across the world will be millennials. To get the best out of your workforce it’s important to know what motivates and inspires these new employees. A change of traditional working practices, management structure, or how you reward staff perhaps?
Read on to find out more…
Teamwork
Teamwork should be written into the company culture
A significant change to education during the period that millennials were educated was the focus on teamwork and group projects to complete tasks. Traditionally you were given a task and off you went on a solo run only reporting back when you either ran out of time of completed it. Millennials, on the other hand, have always worked in team-based scenarios so make sure your office environment is structured in the same way.
This provides many advantages:
- No single point of failure in your processes
- A collection of energy and expertise is applied to each job or task
- A sense of belonging for each team member
- Structure and formality to roles and responsibilities
Electronic everything
If we were to list all the advantages that electronics and technology advancements have had on industry, this post would go on forever…
Millennials have grown up with this technology at their fingertips and use it as part of their everyday lives.
Take the internet for example:
Everything we do today is in some way connected to the internet.
Technology has advanced and the quality of research and knowledge at your fingertips is mind-blowing.
Communication techniques have far surpassed the days of picking up the phone and calling somebody or even writing a letter 🙂
The Millennial workforce expects these technologies to be available at work and by using their vast experience on each platform can help your business transform the way it communicates with customers and to itself.
Yes, there should be some rules around the effective use of technology but don’t let restrictions on technology hold you back or stop this energetic workforce advancing your company by not letting them use it.
Here is a great example of how technology can help your business:
Think back to when you ran a mailshot or published something in print media. This was time consuming and cost a small fortune to put together.
Today with an engaged and online workforce you can position your brand in front of millions of potential customers with a single tweet or post to social media.
By providing access to these platforms for your employees you are opening up new opportunities every single day for new business.
Be Flexible, Be Diverse
According to Deloitte, 43% of Millennials envision leaving their jobs within 2 years and that less than 30% of this group will still be in the same job in 5 years.
The tradition of a job for life, or at least staying in the same company for life has well and truly gone.
Millennials value companies that have diverse management styles and are flexible enough to accommodate their way of working.
By adopting a flexible management style you have a greater chance of hanging on to millennials works for longer.
Also by offering flexible working conditions, you are providing a better overall experience for your workforce.
Nobody wants to be tied to a desk all day working away on their own.
Yes, there are times when this is required to do your job but should only make up a small part of your work environment.
Create opportunities and challenges for your employees will spark interest and encourage commitment to the job.
Reward accordingly and provide constant feedback.
Results matter to everybody
Previous generations of workers worked very structured schedules, had a dress code (potentially) and valued processes and procedures.
The modern millennial worker does not operate in the same way.
Their focus is on end results.
This is a good thing.
They are a group of very hard workers but you will need to relax the rules a bit to take advantage of this.
The traditional 9-5 working day may soon be a thing of the past.
Relaxing rules around dress code and working hours will help you connect with the workforce and productivity will rise as a result.
It’s not always about the money either…
Millennials workers like the option to customise their compensation packages. This might mean an extra day or two off, being able to work remotely, flexible working hours.
Not everything fits into a 9-5 schedule so adjust if you can and attract more great employees into your business.
Why not draft some of the younger less experienced workers onto internal committees or invite them to management meetings.
You may find a new faster way of doing things or get insight into how your next generation of customers wants to buy your product or service.
Mobile Workforce
There is a severe shortage of quality candidates today – we all know this.
Millennials should be provided with the option to work remotely if possible.
This doesn’t have to be full time but at least provide a solution to your workforce where they can at times work from home.
Once you have a reporting structure in place and clearly defined targets and goals there should be no problem with this approach.
By being flexible you are providing options to potential employees that they may not get elsewhere.
This can help you stand out when it comes to decision time on where the pick to work.
Mentor, Provide Feedback, Guide
Millennials do not really respond well to managers flexing their muscles.
Respect from millennial employees is earned over time due to a manager being consistent, approachable and a mentor.
Managers should immerse themselves into the team and not sit behind an office door.
Traditional structures of authority do not work anymore.
As a manager you should be providing feedback and guidance to help and motivate your employees.
Ask for opinions and don’t be dismissive. Explore all options on the table. Is there a better way of doing things?