Motivating Millennials

The Millennials generation, is the most studied, talked, and discussed generations of all times. These folks are very different from the way their preceding generations were seen and experienced. The millennials are indeed talented, have faster learning curve, get easy access to "Global" networks and carry very diverse experience, but on the flip side they also seem to be casual, impatient and a lot which gets bored easily. Their strong preference is to be their own managers, create their own rules & design their own career paths. They are also very independent, determined and have confidence in their abilities to deliver on any assignment.

Considering that these folks are very different from their earlier generations, it requires managers/leaders to adopt a completely different approach to manage them at the workplace. 

The following are the suggested ways in which this engagement can be made effective:

Provide them autonomy: Their inherent desire is to be independent and not to be controlled by others. Parents in the current times know it well as these folks prefer to make their own decisions and choices concerning. Work for them is in continuation to the college life and accordingly they tend to prefer the same autonomy in the work place as well; hence what works best for them is offering them control, control on what they do, when they do and how they do. They deliver best results when there are no boundaries defined. This provides them with the opportunity to be creative, think out of the box and deliver unique solutions. 

Providing greater controls of their careers: On the same lines of taking control of their work, they also prefer taking control of their careers. Important here would be to understand their expectations and engage with them to co-create the career paths. If they see value in this engagement they will be more open to involving others in chalking their paths and stay longer with the team / organization.

Expose them to short burst assignments: This generation look for variety, spices and one of the ways to motivate them is to add variety in what they do, this may prevent them from getting bored very quickly. What is required is to expose them to different assignments, provide them with opportunities to work on live projects which offer them those challenges, variety and visibility. We run the risk of losing these folks if we put them on routine and mundane jobs which they clearly dislike. We shall also give them time to do something which they value; this can be in the area of business interests which can also serve as a tool of innovation for the company for them to come out with new business ideas. 

Create Growth opportunities– For this generation growth in “Title and Designation” is important as that helps them in meeting their needs of social & peer recognitions. To fulfil this need the expectations is to be creative in designing and creating titles without disturbing the broader grade bands. This also meets their need for growth and contribution by providing them varied exposures and adding varierty in what they do. The best way to get their commitment is to offer them clear visibility of their career path, what means success and where can they reach if they are successful.

Provide Educational and Developmental opportunities– this generation uses social media extensively and is very well connected and informed to what’s happening across the globe. The access to information is easy and comes at a very fast pace. They value information and knowledge a lot hence it is in organizations interest to provide them with learning and development opportunities. This could be done through nominating them to long term / short term courses or even sending them for technical / functional seminars which exposes them to new ideas, new filed of knowledge etc. 

Provide Regular & Relevant Feedback– They have a constant need to remain connected, spoken constantly and they respond well to constant feedback, which shows them that someone is taking care of the progress they are making. This can be supplemented with developmental conversations on what they are doing well and what they can do better. This is a constant motivator as they think is someone is taking care of their growth and development.

Clarify understanding on performance standards– this has significant impact on improving performance, as they like visibility on what they are expected to deliver and also how their efforts impacts the overall organizational goals. It is highly essential to set and agree on clear goals, deliverables, help in understanding expectations, clarify accountabilities and responsibilities.  

Recognise efforts in a timely manner– Timely and constant recognition plays a major role in keeping them engaged and motivated. This feeds to the need of social recognition as well as a morale booster which plays positively on their self-worth. 

Offer flexibility– Since their inherent need is flexibility, the aspect of work life balance is very important for them. Having said that this needs to be very contextual to the environment of operation hence it need to be dealt with little bit of caution on autonomy and ensuing that the delivery levels are not impacted.

Allow Controlled Usage of Social Media Platforms – This generation is addicted to social media and however hard you try to control they will always find a way to access social media hence it’s in our important to allow them flexibility and use this positively to have a positive impact on the deliver, but off course with strong controls so as to protect organizations interests. 

In overall terms, these millennials bring lot of positives to the workplace and at the same times they also bring multiple challenges and for a successful execution of organizational strategy it is important that their drive and energy are assessed and channelized properly to align them to the organizational priorities.  

* The views expressed in this article are personal