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Managing Millennials is a perceived challenge in the workplace and there are a plethora of articles being written about it as we speak. But as a Millennial writing this post, and having managed quite a large and diverse group of them, I have learned a lot about both myself and what others enjoy in a leader in the workplace. Now what exactly motivates Millennial’s? Is it really as they say, that it is all about feelings? Do they really require all the positive reinforcement that it seems they do? What about work/life balance, how important is that?
How many companies have I worked with that did not articulate their vision in a clear, concise, and easy to understand way. Most of the time, we are asking ourselves, what are we even doing here? Not because we don’t like what we do, but because there is no clear vision as to where things are going.
Not only is there no clear vision, but if there is a vision it seems as though it is constantly changing and being readjusted to meet the requirements of the higher-ups (the board, shareholders, C-level, etc.). And that makes it seem as though leadership is lacking integrity and the courage to really be honest with what is going on in terms of company direction and who is involved in the creation of that vision.
Millennials want to contribute and want to feel like a valued member of the team. Not necessarily by having all the positive reinforcement in the world, but by feeling like they are part of an overall strategic vision that makes sense. If a large portion of the employees don’t feel like the vision makes sense, there won’t be the buy-in. If a large portion of the employees feel like management lacks integrity (does what they say really happen?), there won’t be the buy-in required to really maximize what Millennials can bring to the table.
Millennials want nothing more than to work hard and play hard. They want to feel appreciated, sure, but really they want to feel like all of their talents are being used.
Did you know that one of your employees is learning python as a hobby and is creating machine learning algorithms just because they enjoy it?
Did you know that one of your employees was a AAA hockey player and has leadership skills that could be leveraged?
Did you know that one of your employees would be ready to travel 80%+ of the time because they are unattached and enjoy being on the road to discover new places?
Did you know that your employee streams on twitch, or has a popular youtube channel and thus great digital marketing skills?
Why aren’t you leveraging those skills?
Most of the time, it is because you are not spending enough time mentoring them. I understand we don’t all have the time to “hand hold”, but really it is an investment into someone that will ultimately be helping you take things to the next level. Why wouldn’t you want to mentor them?
Many places we work at have antiquated technology. Why is that? Because the ones in charge are more comfortable with the status quo (most likely) and it requires some investment to change the technology being used (sometimes) within a company. Why not leverage the knowledge and drive your workforce has to improve the technology you have internally?
Remember the employee that is learning python as a hobby? Maybe that person can help you with forecasting algorithms. Remember the employee that streams on twitch or has a popular youtube channel? Maybe they can help modernize your CRM, automate your Marketing, or even create Funnels to get leads.
This is but the tip of the iceberg about what frustrations Millennials are experiencing at work. They know they could bring so much to the table, but may not be the most forthcoming in their approach as they have always been told to “listen to their elders” or to “follow the rules” as that was what was rewarded growing up. But there are so many possibilities, I encourage all of you to look inwards to your team and see how you can get the best out of all of them.
