Appealing to the millennial generation in your team
Published
21st Jun 2016
by bathamm
Some define millennials as those born around the turn of the new century. Others include ‘Generation Y’, born between 1977 and 1997, who make up almost 50% of our workforce today. However you define the millennial generation, understanding how to appeal to their values and what’s important to them is a must if you want to optimise their performance, says Cass Coulston.
Top tips for managing millennials.
- Listen: Find out what they want from their career and align it to the organisation.
- Provide a strong sense of purpose: According to a survey by Deloitte of 7,800 millennials, the majority said they looked for employers with a strong sense of purpose, not just profit motive. Help your team make a meaningful difference in what they do.
- Give development opportunities: Offer a variety of development options and let them create their role in partnership with you. Involve them at the outset of the strategy so they help shape it with you. According to Deloitte, 68% of millennials say they want to initiate most of their learning and development.
- Be flexible: Help them to craft their work-life balance. Many companies employ “work smart” principles, which give you the opportunity to work when, how and where you are at your best.
- Be an inspiring partner: Instill a strong sense of empowering company values and culture through mentoring and coaching relationships. According to PWC, who polled 4,271 new college graduates, one third chose training and development as their 1st choice benefit other than salary.
- Speak their language: As more and more of the workforce is made up of digital natives, the need to speak the language of their teams in the form of social media is a must-have. At its core is the need create a community. Add social media into your company’s communication mix, share knowledge digitally and watch their engagement skyrocket.
