Working with Millennials

Working with Millennials

When contemplating about millennials, we might visualize a teenager holding an iPhone with earbuds plugged into their ears, but the truth is that most of them don’t look like that. Whatever your views are of millennials, they are constantly making up a huge percentage of the workforce, and they perform and think very diversely than the generations before them. For example, they frequently use technology to complete a task more proficiently, and their yearning to know the “reason” behind everything can form opportunities for your organization to sharply focus on doing the correct things to encounter big-picture objectives (Little, 2017). 

Today, organizations are adjusting to innovative approaches of work, mainly introduced by millennials. This creative generation of experts are granting excellent skills, expertise and new vitality levels to the workplace; three essential benefits for any business. Millennials are known to interrupt long-established work styles, including hierarchy and inflexible workplace timings. They welcome change with arms wide open, and they really do want to achieve countless things and contribute to the organizations they work for, and therefore, it is vital to both appreciate how to successfully guide them and know how to leverage their strengths.

Here are some tips that will help to manage and lead a millennial workforce:

1. Engage them in Decision-Making
Millennials want their thoughts and viewpoints to be heard and be taken into consideration. They typically have a “can do” perspective and are constantly looking to offer input on work-related problems. Also, they are very interested in getting into the thick of things. Getting them involved in decision-making where they have enough understanding to share a useful opinion will make them feel more appreciated and persuade them to contribute more frequently. This will also allow them to associate more personally to the project at hand.

2. Be Transparent with Millennials
Nobody respects the idea of being deceived; especially not millennials—and lies of deletion are just as shoddy as actual false information. When employees are often lied to, they are not going to be as committed in their work because they fail to recognize the effect of it.

In other words, be open and provide employees the “big picture” outlook of the organization and their place in it. Then, we can have employees who feel like they are an essential part of the team. This forms a sense of empowerment, but also accountability, that inspires Millennials and creates a sense of achievement when they, or the larger organization they are a part of, accomplishes a goal.

3. Provide Frequent Feedback
It is very important to let millennials know distinctly what they are doing right, what they need to improve, and how to improve. Employers should not be reluctant to offer advice and suitable levels of coaching, but they should keep the relationship complete by giving feedback specific to the assignment at hand. Also, criticism should always be directed towards their work and not towards them personally. 

4. Provide Opportunities for Career Advancement
Millennials are absolute go-getters. When given the chance to learn or improve their skill set, they are continuously up to the task and excited to refine their skills. They will desire to know that they will have the opportunity to progress and develop their careers within the organization they choose to join. So, during the recruiting procedure, individuals should be informed about opportunities that they will have to move-up in the statuses. 

5. The Option of Flexibility
Millennials want more out of their life than to be tangled in an eight-hour office schedule. They are interested in occupations that provide them flexibility, a sense of independence, and an overall better life. In order to encourage millennial employees, provide flexible rewards that will eventually pave the way to more productivity (Little, 2017). 

By Nathasha Hindurangala

Bibliography
Little, L. (2017). 6 Ways to Get Along With Millennials at Work - Chief Learning Officer - CLO Media. Retrieved 18 July 2020, from https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2017/05/15/6-ways-get-along-millennials-work/

Image Reference
Cover Photo : Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash