Concepts Your Millennial Employees Wish You Understood

The Millennials

Baby boomers are at present the largest generation of active employment. As per the Gartner report, baby boomers distinguish their strengths as organizational memory, optimism, and their readiness to work long hours. The millennial employee generation grew up in enterprises with large corporate hierarchies, rather than flat management structures and teamwork-based job roles.

Millennials have an extremely varied outlook on what they prefer from their work experience. The Millennial generation employees are basically well educated, skilled in technology, able to multi-task, and have plenty of energy. Millennials prefer to work in teams, rather than as individuals as they have big goals for themselves. Though Millennials are ambitious they prefer a balanced lifestyle. However, they do realize that their need for social interaction, fast results in their work, and a desire for speedy growth may be seen as weaknesses by older colleagues in the organization.

Employers now will need to make major changes in their engagement models to manage the Millenials being the largest scale of employees. Encouraging, engaging, and retaining employees with wages will never end as managerial practices, but employers will now have to carefully think about strategies they will use to develop and retain valuable millennial employees into the future. The report found that, among small businesses nationally, the millennial full-time employee population is comprised of 54.7 percent males and 45.3 percent females; and millennials make, on average, $21.80 hour ($5.79/hour less than the all-generation average), but millennial wages are growing at a rate nearly double that of all generations (5.8 percent compared to 3.0 percent, respectively).

How to engage Millennials?

Engagement strategies for various age groups and cultures of employees are one of management’s bigger goals. But managers who have developed successful strategies for retaining Millenials are going to have put those strategies in the corporate archives.

1. Provide a system and process.

System and process involve monthly or daily work reports, Assigning daily, weekly, or monthly tasks in advance, project deadlines are set and work is assessed. Providing reward recognition badges for finishing the project on or before time. With the Creative Social Intranet task update module, employers or admin, or project leaders can assign tasks to their subordinates, tagging them for their work. Project features and timelines can be assigned. You can see incomplete, delayed project lists, with the teams assigned to them in red and the completed list in green. This will help cultivate a fair working hour model without delays in projects. Rewards and recognition can be provided to the employee which can be seen on a featured section of the intranet dashboard as well as, the employee profile page.

2. Provide leadership and guidance.

Millennials expect a work culture where managers sit next to them in the workplace and guide them on day to day basis. They want to learn new things and expect feedback on their work. However, such a scenario may be possible sometimes but not always. With a digital workplace like Creative Social Intranet, you can set up an online e-learning module with case studies based on live project experiences to download. Employers can even set quizzes based on the e-learning courses to reinforce employee learning and assess their capabilities.

3. Encourage the millennials.

Motivating Millennials to achieve a task within the timeline on a regular basis. Millennials are ready to take on the world. Employers need to encourage them rather than squash them on certain things. Motivate them to join teams and provide a work environment that stresses teamwork. Creative Social Intranet can provide such motivations with ease to every generation of employees. You can post a motivational quote on the intranet on a daily basis which will be featured on the employee dashboard. Involving employees in group discussions using the group forum feature as well as making groups and departments online in the intranet to share thoughts with your team from wherever and whenever required.

4. Listen to the millennial employee.

Your millennial employee generation is kids of loving parents who have scheduled their lives around the activities and events of their children. These young adults are creative with ideas and opinions and expect employers to listen to their thoughts. Creative Social Intranet makes it easy for employers and millennials to communicate with its 1 to 1 internal chat. Millennials can post images, videos, ppts of their concepts, and ideas online in the intranet for the admin and their team leaders to read. One can give feedback in comments, and raise likes or dislikes for their thoughts.

5. Millennial employees are multi-taskers.

Millennial employees can talk on the phone while doing email and answering multiple instant messages. This is a way of life for them. In fact, without many different tasks and goals to pursue within the week, millennials will likely experience boredom. Employers should take advantage of your millennial employee’s skills and introduce a social element in the intranet. Optimize their capabilities for building a company brand and encouraging other employees to engage in your company intranet. Creative Social Intranet was introduced to use this utility of millennials and allow them to socially interact with other generations of employees within your organization. With Facebook-like features, Capitalize on the millennial’s affinity for networking.

6. Provide a fun, employee-centered workplace.

Millennials want to enjoy their work. When you install a Social intranet in your workplace, your workplace will become a fun place to interact. Millennials< who are shy by nature can make friends in their modern workplace. Worrying if your millennial employees aren’t laughing, going out with workplace friends for lunch, and helping plan the next company event or committee, the Creative Social Intranet event module will with calendar scheduling help your long-term employees make room for the millennials.