17 May How to Motivate Millennials: Things U Can Do 4 Them:)
They are 80 million strong, and coming to an office near you. We’re talking about Millennials, of course — the 18-35 age cohort that is now comprised of real grown-ups out in the workforce. Though Millennials sometimes get a bad rap for being self-absorbed, thin-skinned and disrespectful, they actually have a lot of great traits as employees. The challenge is how to motivate Millennials – they have been raised in the age of texts, emails, and instant messaging, so they need a constant drip of new stimuli.
Here’s how to motivate Millennials:
The ABCs to Generation Y. First, you have to get them. Understand what makes this generation so unique to previous ones. First, they grew up with technology. Try to reminisce about days before cell phones and emails, and you’re likely to be met with blank stares.
They are aware of paper and pen – they just don’t get the point. And despite their fluency in 400 types of social media, and ability to Instagram, instant message and Snapchat at the same time, they are quite fragile in other ways. I
n particular, child-rearing of their generation focused on the value of a lot of positive feedback – leading to the infamous stereotype that they don’t take criticism well.
Learn to flex. Millennials tend to be less willing to be constricted to traditional 9 to 5 jobs, chained to their desks. That doesn’t mean they aren’t hard workers, they’re just used to taking advantage of the power of cyberspace.
Trust them to work remotely, make their own hours, and communicate online. They’ll reward you by knowing how to take advantage of technology to complete tasks faster and with more accuracy.
Maximize the middle. Millennials tend to be very sensitive to opportunities to advance. Consider the career path for them, and if you can break down promotions into smaller pieces – maybe positions that they can reach in 12-18 months instead of 2-3 years.
Bonus points: opportunities for them to learn – whether bringing in lecturers, sponsoring continuing education or on the job training.
Do a good job of saying “good job”. Yep – there’s no getting around this one. The Millennial generation really does respond best to positive feedback. Find ways to turn mistakes into learning experiences, and offer up praise when deserved.
The way to motive Millennials is with encouragement, not tough love. On the upside, it’s a job perk you can provide for free.
If you want to motivate Millennials, just ask.
One good (or not so good, depending on your viewpoint), is that this generation tends to be confident and outspoken. If you’re not sure what makes your Millennial workers excited, ask them what they’re looking for. They’ll usually be pretty straight with you.
And often what they value – working remotely, understanding career opportunities, having more learning resources – is not really expensive. And they are still relatively early in their careers, so their salaries are usually reasonable. So if you’re thinking about hiring Gen Y, the right answer might be, “Y not?”.
