Millennials in the Workplace

What does Managing and Motivating Millennials look like in your workplace?

Millenials truly want to make a difference in the workplace and they want to challenge the old ways of thinking.

According to a recent survey, the Millenial generation is the largest generation in the workforce. They believe that innovations are being stifled by managements attitude.

What does that mean to you?

Managing and Motivating Millennials in the Workplace

What it means is that we need to allow this younger generation to have their moment in the sun. We need to step aside and let their ideas flourish. So, how do we do that? Especially if you are in the conservative industry? When we have younger employees that want to try something different, try something new, rather than saying no right off the bat, ask yourself these 4 questions.

Whatever they want to try or do, does it negatively impact:

1. Cost
2. Quality
3. Safety
4. Service

If the answer is NO, that is your little red flag to yourself to allow yourself to try this new idea, a new way of doing things.

Bringing New Ideas to the Workforce

Recently, a client of mine in a financial institution had 2 millennial salespeople that were great. They approached the management to change the commission structure. One manager was all for it, but the upper management was committed to the old ways of doing things. They said no. They lost those two great salespeople as they went off and started their own business.

So clearly, we do have an issue with Millennial Employee Retention!

Can you image, if Steve Jobs was approached by his team about this new idea called an iPhone, and he would have said no? He would have liked the flip phone the way it was. He would not have seen the need for a new phone. A revolutionary phone. Where would the iPhone be?

Challenge the Old Way of Doing Things

If we just allow the millennial generation to challenge the old way of doing things, 2 things will happen.

1. At worst, you will have no change.
2. At best, you’ll have the equivalent of an iPhone in your industry!

So go ahead and ask yourself the 4 questions. Use that as a guideline for managing and motivating millennials that want to bring these new ideas into the workforce.

In the next videos sessions, we will further investigate the Millennial generation and what they are bringing to the workforce today!

 

 

 

 

What does the Millennial Employee Retention mean and what is the strategy to achieve it?
What are Millennials looking for when they start their career paths?

I’m a professional speaker, generational expert, and generational humorist.

I speak to groups, associations, and corporations like yours about the ever-changing generational dynamic that is blowing through our workforce, our corporations and our offices today.

The Generational Signposts

Recently, I had a member of an audience that approached me before the presentation and she said to me “Is your presentation going to be all about generational stereotypes?”, she said. “I do not like stereotypes!”

I have to agree with her, I don’t like stereotypes either.

I like generational signposts. Generational signposts explain how events, technologies and economic forces shape various groups of people.

People born during a certain time period or a certain timeframe have experienced similar situations and can be differentiated from other generations. You can use this information when you are working with multiple generations.

Well, let’s take the Millennial Generation everybody’s talking about.

The Millennial Generation

These are people born after 1980. When I have lots of Millennials in my audience and I ask the Millennials “How old were you in 2002?” and I get ages from 12-17 years old. Basically in 2002, the Millennials of today being in their late teens, they have influenced three to four hundred billion dollars of the family spending! Over 80 percent of the family apparel choices, and over 50 percent of the family car choices – that’s before they could even drive!

Baby boomers – you have brought teamwork into the family and you encouraged to have conversations with your millennial children. You talked about where to go out to eat, what type of electronics to buy, and where should you go on vacation. Not only did you have these discussions with your children but their opinion mattered.

And that is one of the reasons many Millennials are strong collaborators.

Millennial Employee Retention

74 percent of Millennials rank collaborative work environment as their number 1 or number 2 most important characteristic of a rewarding place to work.

So…What does that mean?

We need to offer Millennials multi-layered career paths!

Millennials really have turned away from that traditional corporate ladder. In fact, the corporate ladder has disintegrated and when we say things to Millennials like “You need to pay your dues before you climb the ladder” is a total disconnect.

Look for ways to be able to encourage your Millennials to have different experiences at your organizations.

Opportunities for Millennials to Grow and Experience

I recently spoke for the Association of Chiefs of Police in Colorado.

Here’s my own bias. I assumed that because these were law enforcement people, that they would be very rigid. Thinking, they’re not going to be very open to new ideas. I was wrong. See, that was my own stereotype.

In fact, one of the Chiefs said to me “You know, in the past, it used to be that someone wanted to be a detective forever. They became a detective and they were a detective. But that’s the old way of thinking and the new detectives that are entering the force today, a four to five-year stint, that’s about as long as they want to be a detective! So we’ve had to change and we move people out of the role of a detective after four or five years.”

Rules are like in burglary. They have even shorter stays – three to four months, the officer said. The drawback is that they’re losing a good person but the benefit is they have somebody new, with a fresh perspective coming on board.

They are offering these multi-layered career paths, different opportunities for Millennials to grow and experience.

Embrace and Intrigue the Millennials

An industry that can do this very well is the construction industry.

Ironically the construction industry is struggling to find millennial employees as the older employees age. An industry where you can have an apprenticeship or a craft training, this is an industry where you can learn.

You can hit the ground running and you begin your career with no student debt. It is opportunities like these that really embrace and intrigue the millennial.

In my next video, we will talk about the ever-changing generations in the workforce and what we can do to communicate and enhance our relationships.

How to attract and retain Millennial Employees in your company or organization?

Let me show you how…

How to Attract and Retain Millennial Employees in the Industry that isn’t Sexy?

The insurance industry, medical coding, procurement, manufacturing, construction…

What do all these industries have in common?

All of them report attracting and retaining millennial employees difficult, challenging and almost impossible. Why? Because their industry is not considered sexy!

Now, I’m gonna sound like an ‘old person’ when I say this “…but when I graduated college”…

Seriously, when I graduated Arizona State University, a long time ago, my first job out of college was working for Quaker Oats – the oatmeal company. You know the guy with a great hat sells oatmeal, however, quicker oats is a big company.

I wasn’t in the oatmeal division. Oh no! This college grad ended up in the Chilean canned bean division.

I love canned beans just as much as anybody. After all, they are the musical fruit, however, I do not think of them as sexy.

I snapped up that job and I was happy to take it.

But…

Millennials are different.

Millennials will shop a job much like they will shop for a product or an item. 80% of job seekers will research an employer online before even deciding to apply for the job.

So what is the good news?

The good news is that traditional companies, traditional organizations and industries like construction, manufacturing, insurance, all of them serve a purpose. When organizations identify that purpose and promote that purpose as a lifestyle, the likelihood that they’re gonna connect with Millennials will increase. They will attract and retain millennial employees much easier.

Motivating Millennials – Is there a Secret Formula?

There’s an organization called Tuft and Needle. They’re a mattress company.

I’ve never thought about buying, selling or distributing mattresses as very flashy or exciting. However, Tuft and Needle are different!

Visit their website at https://www.tuftandneedle.com/

This company was started by two Millennials. Two guys named JT and Daehee. Both of them had discouraging experiences when it came to buying their first adult purchase – a mattress. So they decided to disrupt the industry.

They have the very best company story videos I have ever seen! It is entertaining and informational. Also, it works really well as a connectivity tool both for potential employees and customers.

What really caught my eye, however, was their career page.

The career page reads like this: “Don’t just work here – Grow here!” They describe themselves as being much more than a mattress company.

How to Attract and Retain Millennials as Employees?

They are a team of creative minds. Minds that are disrupting the industry through purposeful design, continued learning, and meaningful connections.

Tuft and Needle have identified the purpose and the service they provide. They tied it into a lifestyle.

Traditional organizations and industries need to identify the purpose they serve. The service they provide their customers. And turn that into a proposition to Millennials! A lifestyle they can lead by working with these organizations. That’s when they will really begin to connect with the Millennial employee.

In the next video, we will discuss how to further connect, contain and capture all that talent that Millennials bring to the workplace today.