Millennials in the Workplace

Customization!

That was a big buzzword with baby boomers and Gen Xers. It was about making someone’s experience customized, but now it’s not so much about customization, but personalization. Especially when it comes to the millennial generation. Engage millennials with personalization!

Millennials, people born after 1980. They are currently the largest generational section of the workforce today.

What does ‘Personalization’ mean?

Hiring or managing millennials?

Make the engagement personal and customized.

When it comes to you and connecting with the Millennial Generation, well what was previously impossible or financially not doable. Through technology, it can be done and the Millennials have embraced this.

We don’t call them “the selfie generation” for nothing. They’re able to put their image, their thoughts and their feelings on anything. They personalize the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, the phones they carry.

The more that you engage this generation through personalization, the stronger your connection.

Engage millennials with personalization!

How to Personalized a Job Application to Millenials

There’s a clothing store in Saugatuck Michigan – it’s a terrific place.

I was lucky enough to meet the owner and he shared with me his job application. I thought we’ve all seen a job application. Most of us could fill one out in our sleep. But what David did with his job application, was something I have never seen!

The job application starts out like this:

“Howdy! Thank you for considering joining the talented and fun crew at land sharks. This is our fancy job application for every job opening. About fifty-five people who complete this quiz, have a less than 2% chance of becoming a shark.”

That’s what he calls the people that work at his store – sharks.

“We understand this may not be worth your time, but if you’re interested in meeting and working with some really fun and talented people, please answer the questions below. Preferably honestly!”

Engage Millennials with Personalization

What’s so beautiful about this job application is that he has taken something so mundane, something so ordinary, and he’s personalized it. And not only does it represent the personality of his store, but it engages the millennial employee to bring their own personality to the interview process.

Here are a few of the questions on that job application:

• How many of your friends are getting married this summer?
• And how many weddings do anticipate standing in?

When I asked him about this question, he explained to me that people in their 20’s often have friends getting married. If they’re standing in the wedding, they want Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Those are his busiest times in business.

• What is your favorite book and why?

I asked him about this question. He said, “well, for one thing, I’m a voracious reader. I’d like to know what other people are reading,” he said “but also I feel that people that read, tend to bring a different personality element to the store”

And like one of my favorite questions on the application:

• Are you really good at anything? Please explain…either way.

I really like how he’s changed some of those mundane, standard questions that people get asked in the interview and he’s personalized it.

Learn from this example to engage millennials with personalization.

The Millennial Generation

They are the fastest-growing generation in the workforce and the marketplace today. The more we engage this generation with personalization, the more we connect and then we succeed.

I look forward to seeing you next week.

We will discuss this incredible millennial generation and what they bring to the workforce and how you can connect with them successfully.

When it comes to managing millennials in the workplace, the leaders and managers of the organizations have a responsibility to engage as well.

According to a recent study, 60% of the millennial generation wants to be learning something new at work. Also, 64% of the millennials want to feel that their work is valued by their leader!

So, a leader or manager of your organization – what does this mean to you?

Managing Millennials in the Workplace

We all have a lot on our plate on a day to day basis, so what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to manage the millennials best?

Just one 15-minutes monthly conversation with your millennial employee!

But wait… not just any kind of conversation. In this short meeting, you should discuss four questions:

Question Number One:

What is Something You Are Better at Now than You Were Last Month?

This question puts at the forefront of the Millennials mind what the organization has done to invest in their skills and development.

If the millennial can’t name something that they are better at now than they were last month, then there is something wrong with the training or development program they received…or the lack of.

Question Number Two:

What Would You Like to Get Better at this Month?

This puts goal-setting into place. Makes them think of something they’re going to work on and develop more skills in.

Question Number Three:

What is Your Plan Developing these Skills?

Let them tell you what their plans are and listen carefully what they are saying.

Question Number Four – This is my favorite question:

What resources Can I Help You with to Develop those Skills?

Millennials appreciate these conversations once a month for 15 minutes.

They’re collaborative and it also demonstrates to the Millennial that there’s somebody there for them. Somebody on board that’s invested in their development, their skill set, and their career.

And this is very important, as it helps tremendously with managing and motivating millennials.

Next week we will discuss the ever-changing generations in the workforce and what we can do differently to achieve success.

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.