How to ensure your millennial employees thrive in your organisation
They were born between 1982 and 2002. They are the first generation that boasts an abundance of self-belief and confidence, making them a ‘can-do’ generation. But most importantly, they are not willing to give up their lifestyle for their career – something that employers need to understand when hiring and nurturing this go-getter generation.
“Liberate them and see them thrive”– most leaders managing millennials would dispense this advice. Before anyone could even realise it, millennials changed the whole definition of the workspace. Cubicle walls were replaced by open workspaces, and business suits took a back seat in their closets. Millennials are a liberated generation, and when given the freedom to work on their own terms without being judged, they can outdo their employers’ expectations.
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That said, these are the three rules that you need to imbibe in your startup culture if you want to fuel this growing workforce.
Embrace freedom
This is not the generation that you can forcibly control. This is the generation that needs its fair share of freedom and, most importantly,enough ‘me time’. Even if you see your workforce goofing around the whole day, catching Pokemon, surfing YouTube, trust that when the deadline approaches, they’ll gear up and deliver their best. Multitasking is their way of life. As much as older generationscomplain about millennials being “unfocussed”, the fact of the matter is that millennials don’t need constant reminders to get their work done. They are quite adaptive when it comes to maintaining a work-life balance.
Freedom in the workplace can be achieved in several different ways, such as flexible work hours, indoor games, casual dress code and unrestricted vacation time. These small contributions not only foster their natural capabilities but also make them creative and critical thinkers.
Provide opportunities to explore
Millennials thrive on connections, checkpoints and team efforts. They prefer to be mentored over being managed. The only way to retain them is to give them exposure to different aspects of the business, provide resources that help them develop their skills further, and layout the platform where they can network with influential people of the industry.
Of all the talents that millennials bring to the workspace, their efforts to find the fastest way to complete the job is one of the greatest contributions to this fast-paced and tech-savvy world. But remember, the moment they feel their work has stopped contributing to the betterment of the company, they’ll start looking out and leave, sometimes without even any prior intimation.
Look out for seminars, networking events and training sessions to develop the skills of your employees. They like it when their employers show interest in their career development. As long as they are growing with the organisation, they won’t leave and will continue to deliver their best.
Constant feedback and reassurances
Needless to say, millennials want to feel valued. One of the biggest mistakes you can do with this generation is to hook them to a corner seat and make them perform daily operations without any recognition. Employers need to learn to give constant feedback to reassure them of their achievements and contributions to the organisation. When recognised with praise and labels like “Employee of the month”, they continue to feel valuable and feel further motivated to add their opinions to company’s important decisions.
If you want millennials to meet deadlines and goals, you must make them feel like an important part of the organisation. Share the company's achievements that resulted from their efforts, recognise the ones in particular who worked extremely hard to achieve a certain goal and, most importantly, inspire them enough to get them fired up. Boost their self-confidence and they'll score wins for your organisation.
