Managing Millennials

Managing Millennials

Generally Millennials (people born in the 80’s – 2000’s) are tech savvy, innovative and they do team work well. Before they start work, they are familiar with communications, media and digital technologies. They are an asset to the work pace.

Let’s look at some of the challenges and benefits to managing this cohort . . .

ATTRIBUTE THE CHALLENGES THE OPPORTUNITIES
Risk Takering Young employees don’t always think of the consequences before they act and the Millennials usually strive for acceptance, so they can sometimes try to out-do each others horse-play. This could lead to Safety or HR issues. They are wired for taking risks, which often makes them innovative. They think outside the square and are willing to take the risk of sharing their ideas. Combine this with them being big picture thinkers and you have the opportunity to bring energy and ideas into your workplace.
 Tech Savvy  Our reliance on technology has reduced our concentration spans, which can be a problem in the workplace, especially if our roles are repetitive. It is reported that our attention spans have decreased by 50% in the last 10 years.

Millennials have been immersed in technology for most of their lives, so they may not have developed the skills that older employees take for granted such as spelling/grammar, handwriting, basic maths, social awareness, committing things to memory and focusing on one thing.

Often they are not good at small talk and communication, because of their reliance on technology . . . though they are good with communication technology.

  Most workplaces are fully reliant on technology and Millennials are quick to learn how to use it and will likely give you some guidance on better ways of getting tasks done.

Tech savvy Millennials are a great resource to keep you informed and help you access technological tools. They can show you how to connect with customers better . . . especially with other Millennials, who are a HUGE customer cohort.

In the era of business interruption, we need energetic innovative people who are open to change and who like to challenge the norm.
Job Hopping It takes a lot of time, effort and money to hire and train a new employee, so if they don’t stay with the company, it is bad for business.

Millennials are usually more ambitious than loyal, though what they value in a job might be different than what we are used to. For example, they might change employers because of more flexible work hours instead of higher pay.

 Yes, Millennials like change, but it is usually a benefit to have team members who embrace change, rather than sabotage due to fear.

If given responsibility or their ideal work conditions, they are likely to stay with the organisation longer.

Changing jobs doesn’t have to mean changing organisations. There are benefits to having a workforce that can switch between departments, roles and tasks. And sometimes short term contracts suits your business as much as it suits the employee.
 Inexperienced Young workers are more likely to be injured in the workplace due to their lack of skills and experience.

Some young workers don’t understand the basics of having a work ethic because they haven’t worked before (or their workplaces were not ideal) and/or they have grown up in a household where neither of their parents had consistent employment.

 Millennials love to learn and they are the most educated generation ever, so they are geared to learn from you.

They are also keen to impress their managers and seek recognition, so they will thrive in an environment where they get opportunity and feedback.

Recommendations for managing Millennials; 

  • Challenge them in a supportive environment; they aren’t as confident as they would make you believe.
  • Give them an opportunity to grow; not just with work skills . . . they value personal development too.
  • Find out their motivators. Money is not the be-all-and-end-all. They are more likely to be motivated by flexible working arrangements and personal recognition.
  • Value, embrace and return their openness, honesty and innovation.
  • Give them the opportunity to collaborate and contribute.
  • Give feed back and remember they are just learning the ropes.
  • Be creative with your communication, especially around technical tools.
  • Give them the big picture. We don’t need to and should not “dumb things down”.

Game based eLearning tools are perfect for training and developing Millennials. Their brains are already trained to learn this way and they are more likely to retain the information presented in an interactive way.

TANDI Online Employee Inductions are an ideal tool for providing safety training and teaching workplace requirements to your young workforce.

The training is visual and interactive to promote engagement and content retention.

Safety needs to be a priority as young workers are more likely to be injured in the workplace. The TANDI Induction includes Workplace Health and Safety training, as well as industry specific Safe Work Practices modules.

The TANDI HR Policies and Procedures induction will give your team a clear understanding of the behaviours required in your workplace and also educate them about workplace processes.

For more information about TANDI, feel free to contact us.

Find out more about TANDI here.