Millennials continue to take over the workplace as this youngest generation of employees starts to fill voids left by retiring baby boomers. As a business professional, your management style should try to reflect the attitudes and expectations of millennials at work.
A good portion of young workers are very social, collaborative and influence-oriented. Millennials at work enjoy getting noticed and being the center of attention. This age group is more spontaneous, and younger workers generally thrive in a fast-paced, flexible work environment. Millennials also tend to mix personal and professional lives while having fun at the office.
Managing Style
Your management style must match these tendencies as millennials at work try to find the best fit for a company. Younger workers in a contemporary setting may switch jobs frequently until they find a fun, new experience that stimulates their intellect. As an example, you can engage the interest of millennials by emphasizing fun parts of a project and asking for input from younger workers. This produces positive feedback from the new employee.
When you see a millennial doing well and remaining motivated throughout the scope of a project or daily work, praise the person frequently. This motivates the employee even more. Millennials at work, in general, love constant feedback. That doesn't mean you should have formal reviews every two months, but you might try to tell workers how and why they are doing things right or wrong. Millennials want to succeed so that they can create stable careers, and one way to do that is by receiving relevant feedback from supervisors.
Managerial Strategies
Managers can take the initiative when it comes to helping the success of millennials at work. HR can produce vital information on personnel at the office as opposed to purely financial data. Regular, anonymous surveys from workers can help produce information about attitudes, feelings and behavioral aspects of employees.
Younger workers are more likely to take their work home with them. That's because they are typically well-connected through smartphones, apps and online searching. Although this may seem like a negative when millennials constantly check their phones at work, that could turn into extra productivity after hours.
Managers must have the ability to communicate with all types of employees. Encouragement for one worker may feel like punishment to another. This is where knowing someone's work ethic comes into play.
Mentoring and cross-generational opportunities represent great ways for millennials to get to know baby boomers and Gen X co-workers. Managers should look into creating project teams across all age groups so everyone can learn from each other while fostering respect for different personalities and ages.
Managers who learn to cater to millennials at work have an advantage over those who don't. These younger workers became the largest segment of the working population in 2015, so businesses that create happy work environments for millennials start the path to prosperity sooner compared to those who fail to realize this opportunity.
Photo courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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