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Millennials want to succeed.
Millennials expect great things
for themselves. Molded by their upbringing, these “achievement
junkies” have an ingrained sense of purpose and an inherent drive to
succeed. Willing to work hard in order to achieve and advance in the
workplace, they also crave structure and a clear career path. Managers
should not only tell, but also show millennials what success looks like.
Measurable goals, concrete benchmarks and regular training that help
millennials maintain cutting-edge skill sets and achieve professional
goals will all help managers get better results from their newest work-
ers. In short, millennials want strong leadership and clear instructions.
Millennials have a distinctive work style.
Having come of
age with mobile technology at their fingertips, millennials view their
time as a valuable resource so they multitask in order not to waste it.
They are accustomed to being connected to mobile technology at all
times and fully expect to communicate directly
with family and friends while at work. They
believe their “always-connected” state actually
outweighs any loss of concentration and makes
them more productive. To facilitate the transi-
tion of millennials into the workplace and to
encourage them to frequent business locations,
companies should integrate up-to-date tech-
nology as part of the overall infrastructure.
Because millennials live so much of their
lives through technology, they view work as an
activity that just needs to get done. Unlike the
generations before them, they don’t particularly
value “face” or “desk” time. This new orienta-
tion doesn’t easily fit traditional work arrange-
ments, so forward-thinking companies will
benefit from establishing flexible, informal and engaging processes and
work environments.
Millennials crave meaningful, challenging work so they
can personally feel they make a difference.
To help keep them
from getting bored, managers may want to keep millennials in the
loop with frequent communication about how the particular tasks they
perform contributes to the company’s strategic goals.
Millennials focus on relationships.
Millennials readily admit
they prioritize relationships over careers and have established their
own networks and communities. Because of their attitudes toward
relationships, millennials more often than not seek flexible hours,
working conditions and career paths. Companies, in turn, must develop
flexible work arrangements that allow for these new expectations
about work-life balance.
Representing a strong shift from a “me” to a “we” environment,
millennials prefer operating as team players who engage in informal
relationships with their colleagues. While they don’t respect hierar-
chies, they do desire strong leaders who express a sincere interest in
them.
Millennials believe they are special and want their man-
agers to recognize their specific strengths.
In fact, a close
relationship between supervisor and employee may actually help
ensure that millennials develop loyalty to their companies and meet
their own performance goals. Not surprisingly, mentoring relation-
ships can work well with this group as long as the mentors check in
often to make sure their protégés stay on track with projects and have
the necessary resources to feel sufficiently supported.
Millennials are informal.
Millennials personify informality.
They dress informally and prefer informal work environments where
they can readily interact with coworkers and supervisors. Accustomed
to the frequent and informal communications predicated by the world
of mobile communications, millennials expect similar approaches in
their work settings.
Many businesses have taken note by re-
designing the physical work environment.
Open and shared workplaces with good con-
nectivity and capacity for mobility suit millen-
nials. Companies should invest in up-to-date
technological solutions such as cloud comput-
ing, video conferencing, collaboration tools,
virtual private networks, etc. Asking millennials
to help with the technology transitions and
share their knowledge will help ensure the
technology fits the new workforce.
Engaging Millennials Begs Different
Approaches
While millennials seek frequent, specific
feedback, they don’t accept direct criticism
well. Managers should offer suggestions as part of regular feedback
rather than waiting for scheduled performance reviews. With their
need for frequent, positive feedback, millennials appreciate the use of
recognition and reward programs as ways to spotlight their accom-
plishments. Companies have also found success by including peer
recognition and specific celebrations as motivators.
Business leaders must be sensitive to the fact that baby boomers
and Gen Xers might view the public recognition of millennials as
excessive. To keep things in balance, companies should never resort to
“one size fits all” recognition solutions. They may also find a leveling
device by using a reverse mentoring approach in which millennials
coach older generations about technology as a way to create bridges
between boomers and millennials.
Marketing To Millennials
Experts predict that millennials will have more spending power
within the next five years than any previous generation. Without a
doubt, millennials have materialized as a key target across the market-
ing spectrum, but despite their significance in the marketplace, they
don’t respond well to traditional marketing approaches. In fact,
research has found that millennials don’t trust brands or regular
DECEMBER 2014 •
PPB
• 69
MEET THE MILLENNIALS
Experts predict that
millennials will have
more spending power
within the next f ive
years than any previous
generation.
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