A New Home: Second Wave Learning

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This will be my last blog post on the Coaching Millennial site, but have no fear! I will be posting my new blogs on the Second Wave Learning website.

The big new is, of course, the release of my new book, Second Wave Millennials: Tapping the Potential of America’s Youth. It is out and it is available on Amazon. Amazon makes it so easy to buy… if you are a Prime member, the book is 1-click away from your doorstep.

If you have been reading my blogs, you will recognize some of the material in the book. The book is really a “best of” material that has been crafted in a coherent way with an easy-to-read narrative and plenty of ideas for you on successfully engaging Millennials to peak performance.

This book is 10-years in the making. During this time, I have been on the front line in companies, gaining a greater appreciation of the generational dynamic and the challenges therein. So, the ideas in the book are “road-tested.”

Because I value high quality research, I’ve spent the time sorting through the best research on the subject of generations. In fact, there are over six pages of endnotes representing almost 60 different sources. All that said, it is not a research book, per se. It is a story about the challenges that different generations face in the workplace, and ways to overcome them.

The new kid on the block is, of course, the Second-Wave Millennial. Media seems to be picking up the “Gen Z” label, but I am old school, and sticking with the actual definition of a length of a generation being 20 to 25 years, thus marking all Millennials between 1982-2004. If anything, generations are getting longer because people are having children in their late 20s, 30s and even 40s.

This does not mean there are no differences between the older cohort (first-wave), and younger cohort (second-wave). There are big differences, and this is why there is pressure to identify a new name for a new generation. First-Wave Millennials (older) are more like GenXers–they are more street smart, focused on their goals, and gravitate toward leadership positions more readily. They were mostly raised by Boomer parents. Second-Wave Millennials, however, are more cautious, risk-averse, book smart, stressed out, and need detailed guidance in the workplace. They were mostly raised by GenXer parents, who used an even more hands-on parenting style than Boomers parents.

And all you crazy Xers like myself–you will find more written in my book about us than any other book on generations. So… check out the book and let me know what you think. In the meantime, look out for more blogs from Second-Wave Learning!

helicopter parents of millennials rescue

Millennials, Time Management, and Helicopter Rescues

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Iconic Boomer Yoko Ono once said, “The thing that would improve my life is 27 hours in a day. Then I could meet all my deadlines.”

As an Xer, I think I speak for my generation when I say that is a stupid idea. Generation X works within the time constraints of reality by developing their own structure, systems and rules in a scrappy, purposeful way. Our rule is simple: There is no structure—so make it yourself, do perfect work, or lose your job.

Fast forward to the Millennial generation—what is their deal with time management? Well, first off, it is a bad idea to tell your Millennial employee, “There are no rules for time management—you need to figure it out.”

Millennials are Kind of Awesome, Actually

My unscientific, anecdotal observation is that Millennials are kind of awesome. Generally speaking, Millennials really, really want to do the right thing. They want to achieve their goals, they are committed to the company, and they don’t want to let anyone down. In other words, their intentions are good. In fact, their intentions are probably better than yours when you were a new GenX worker. For Xers it was just making it through the day to get your paycheck.

The Helicopter Rescue

If these chipper young professionals are so dedicated, why do they struggle with time management and meeting deadlines? Because their personalized parental unit helicopter dropped them in a vast work ocean of unscheduled days.

As children and young adults, their days were scheduled full of activities and events, with parents, coaches or teachers telling them what to do and when. In an unintentional perversion of outcomes, the adults in their lives micromanaged them, but never taught these Millennials how to micromanage themselves. So then they get to work and they are set adrift without helicopter Mom and Dad. As a manager, you need to pull off a rescue operation—to get the Coast Guard and get them on solid ground.

Stuff You Can Do Now

There is some really simple stuff you can do directly with them. One thing is to introduce a structure for prioritizing tasks and projects. Have them organize their to-do list by “urgent/important,” “high priority” and “low priority” based on their deadlines and the importance of the task.

Also, help them see how they can break projects down into smaller pieces. The feeling of accomplishment itself can spur Millennials to keep going. Breaking down large projects into their smaller component pieces can make these tasks seem less overwhelming, help Millennials prioritize and encourage them to keep moving forward. The positive feeling of crossing something off the to-do list feeds their need to achieve.

Promote teamwork and communication. Millennials need to have a good understanding of how their tasks and projects affect other members of the team, the company and the company’s mission. Because Millennials are team-oriented, they may find motivation in understanding how their contribution matters to others.

Training, Training, Training

There are a zillion companies that can help you with time management. Pick one to provide the proper resources and training for this critical topic. As an Xer, your training took place on the street, with trial and error. As a young worker in the 90’s, I remember discovering the Franklin Planner system from a colleague, which was a huge breakthrough in my career. For Millennials, it will help if they are taught in structured, classroom setting to be effective and productive with their time. Millennial are good students. They didn’t skip classes like you did. If you schedule it, they will come.

There’s an App for That

Some workplaces have incorporated “gamification” into their workflow, rewarding employees for meeting incremental goals or deadlines and promoting teamwork to accomplish large projects on time. Many of these work gamification systems are available as mobile apps, allowing Millennials to be productive no matter where they work.

For individual time management, Millennials may respond well to cross-platform apps. The app you recommend may depend on the challenge Millennials are facing. If they suddenly realize hours have passed and they don’t know where the time went, try Rescue Time. As a training tool, the app will send weekly reports with feedback on what tasks are “stealing” time, and it provides accolades when the user makes improvements.

If they just need help focusing, Focus Booster is modeled on the Pomodoro method, with timers for “focus time” and “break time.” For the environmentally-minded, the app Forest lets users plant a virtual tree and watch it grow the more productive the user is at work.

Bottom Line: Help them with the training, skills, and tools they need for time management… then, and only then can you get out of their way and do your happy dance.

 

 

communicating with millennials

The GenXer’s Guide to Communicating with Millennials

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Warren Wright started Coaching Millennials in response to an overwhelming demand by companies to help hire and manage Millennials. He educates, teaches, and coaches leaders about Millennials and all generations, and consults and speaks frequently on the influence of the Millennial generation. Get in touch with Warren and learn more about Coaching Millennials here.

Nike’s iconic Just Do It was Generation X’s three-word instruction manual to how to operate in the world. It wasn’t Just Have Someone Else Do It, or Just Do It as a Team. These three words resonated so deeply with GenXers like me because we didn’t have an expectation that anyone else was going to do anything for us. After all, they thought we were wasted. Furthermore, there was a competitive, win or lose undertone to the messaging like icy cold water on the face first thing in the morning. Our motivation was survival. Someone had to lose for us to win—that was the way of the world.

We didn’t ponder deeply about the meaning of doing or spend countless hours perfecting our craft and justifying its value as Boomers did. We valued efficiency, pragmatism, and utility. And when someone criticized our work, we shrugged and said … “whatever.”

Are you with me, Xers? Well, let me get to the point because Xers like to get to the point:

Millennials were raised differently than you—they have different values and see the world in a different way than you. They communicate differently and are motivated differently.  From a generational perspective, they have very little in common with you. So, here are things you need to know:

You are Scary

To a Millennial, you are scary. Millennials are a nice generation. They are polite, caring, and pay attention to people’s feelings. They invented Facebook, where you “like” people. You had murky My Space. You had Pong, where your only advantage was reptilian speed, and later Atari, Space Invaders, and Pac Man, where you were constantly on the run from the bad guy.

Don’t be mean to Millennials. Tough love does not work. At all. Stay positive and point out their accomplishments. I know it is really hard and painful to do it, but just do it.

There is no “I” in Team

To GenXers there was no “I” in team, but that was okay because there was just no team. No team needed. Millennials are a collaborative generation. They were raised by Barney who told them to work together and respect others feelings. You were raised by Tom and Jerry, Beavis and Butthead, and an endless stream of ads for sugary breakfast cereals that rotted your teeth. Then you had to go to the dentist before they invented “painless dentistry.”

Consider hiring Millennials in batches—at the same time, like cords of wood—so they can all start together and get trained together and build rapport with one another. Compensate them in teams for achieving team performance. Reorganize your workspace with lots of big tables where they can congregate and work together. If it’s painful for you to join them as part of the team, that’s okay, just stay away. Remember, you are scary to them anyways.

Roadmap

If you are Managing Millennials, give them a roadmap of their job and their responsibilities. But not the kind of roadmap that you had. Your roadmap had ‘start’ and ‘end’ on it, with a straight line in between. The roadmap for Millennials is detailed. And beautiful. It has stops every 100 feet that say, “‘How ya doing?’ And ‘Keep going, you’re lookin’ great!’” It has smiley face emojis and low fat protein snack bars that give them energy but do not make them fat. Their roadmap is designed with care by their manager that assures their success, provides guardrails to guarantee there is no failure. It has tokens and points and small cash prizes to help them pay off their $30,000 student loan.

It includes their parents. Your roadmap had nothing to do with your parents. You were lucky if they knew where you worked or what you did. Millennial parents not only know this, they know what kind of boss you are, and they they have developed a log on your behavior, as a manager.  Are you good enough for their little Jacob or Amanda? You will know soon enough.

Time

This may be the hardest thing for you to do, but you need to spend more time with your Millennials. Regular intervals of feedback are an essential element in managing Millennials. Your boss didn’t spend much time with you but you didn’t want to be around him with his Boomer bad breath and stupid maxims about early to bed, and early to rise.

Millennials actually trust and respect authority figures. It started with their parents who were always supportive, caring, and flying the helicopter low and close to make sure they were safe from nearly every threat that never really existed.

You don’t need to spend long period of time with them, as your creepy boss did when he wanted to take you for a drink after work. A short check-in every day for 5-minutes is perfect for Millennials. Their brains operate in short intervals anyway. For the time it takes to check their Facebook, load an Instagram of their adorably funny cat, and Snap a friend, you can cover the basics of their goals for the day, and provide the tools for their success. You have to let them know you’ve got their back. Think of yourself as that one teacher or one coach that you had when you were young (not the pedophile) that really took a genuine interest in your growth and development. That is the kind of Xer manager you need to be to your Millennials.

You can do this.

Millennial parents called Parennials

Introducing the Parennials – Millennial Parents

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The first-wave of Millennials—those born in the 1980s and early 1990s—are becoming parents, and like all generations they are putting their own mark on raising children. In this age of generational label overkill, they even have been given their own name: Parennials.

As these Parennials transition to adulthood, they bring with them a brand new style of parenting that reflects their priorities in work/life balance that will affect employers for the next couple of decades.

And there are lots of them—already, more than 16 million Millennial women have children, and the number is growing by 1 million a year, according to Pew. Because they are having children later in life than previous generations—when their career is more established, they may have a better idea of what they want in life, and what they want in work.

If you are an employer of these Parennials, you will want to readjust your programs and resources to reflect their needs as new parents. Here are a few ways employers can do that:

Work to keep childcare stress at bay. An increasing number of workplaces are offering on-site childcare or setting policies that are childcare-friendly. If on-site daycare isn’t possible, offering pre-tax childcare savings or flex spending accounts (FSAs) and financial counseling as parents adjust to the reality of new expenses can help increase corporate loyalty among Parennials.

Set parent-friendly policies and schedules. Harvard Business Review reported, “Some organizations have implemented a policy that no meetings will start prior to 9:30 a.m. or end later than 4:30 p.m. This simple move cuts down on the anxiety surrounding timely daycare pick-up and drop-off, and the expense related to daycare overtime charges. When parents aren’t worried about running late, they can keep their mental energies focused on the business.”

In addition, offering perks such as closing the office early on Halloween, offering job shares (two people work 20 hours per week each) or providing paid time off for parent-teacher conferences and school functions can go a long way.

Invest more in telecommuting and remote communications. Flexibility around how, when and where work is done can all help keep Parennials engaged and productive. Some companies have found that investing in teleconferencing technology can help allow for schedule and work location flexibility while keeping co-workers connected to and engaged in the workplace.

Some Millennial and Generation X entrepreneurs are responding to these specific flexibility needs by creating professional co-working spaces attached to daycare centers or playrooms, such as Play, Work or Dash in Northern Virginia.

Set up workplace parent support groups. A new take on mentoring programs at work are parenting support groups. Millennials are the first generation who can get so much parenting advice online, but using the shared interest in parenting and how to juggle work and life can build bonds between coworkers and present new opportunities for mentorship. The Federal Government’s Office of Personnel Management offers a guide to creating these groups here.

Millennials are giving birth to 5 of every 6 babies today, so as an employer, consider building the programs and allocating resources now to help keep (and attract) the best Millennial employees.

millennials fraud and cybersecurity

Digital-Native Millennials Get Hacked

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Millennials — the masters and commanders of the digital world — are putting themselves in cyber peril when it comes to online privacy and security.

It is a bit ironic that these digital sophisticates are being fooled by online scams more than older generations, but new studies by TransUnion, TrueCaller, the Better Business Bureau and other organizations have shown that Millennials are more likely than older generations to be duped by scams online, through text messages and even through phone calls.

TransUnion found that most Millennials (about 85 percent) keep bank account information in their mobile devices and access bank accounts through public, open wi-fi connections. Baby Boomers and even members of Generation X (the generation that tends to trust nothing and no one) are significantly less likely to take that type of risk with personal, financial information.

With corporate financial fraud on the rise through business email hackings, this is not just an issue surrounding Millennials’ personal information and privacy. Millennials’ employers, managers and corporate IT departments should start educational campaigns in their companies to help Millennials understand what’s at risk and how to protect competitive information at work.

Parental Control Backfires

Like many Millennial traits, this can be traced back to how Millennials were raised. Millennials grew up with parents and teachers who protected them in many ways from the dangers of the world. This included parental controls on cable television, websites designed just for youth, parental monitoring services like Disney’s Circle and more. Because many Millennials grew up in a digital world that was safe and largely trustworthy, they did not learn when to be wary or how to protect themselves.

Not all Millennials are the same, however. Within the Millennial generation, there are differences in how older (or first-wave) Millennials and younger (or second-wave) Millennials. First-wave Millennials tend to use security and anti-virus software, password managers and other tech tools to protect themselves more often and more consistently than younger Millennials, according to some studies.

Inevitably, some Millennials will learn “the hard way” about online privacy and safety when they become victims of a scam, they experience credit card or bank fraud, or their identity is stolen. Otherwise, older Millennials, Gen-X members and even Baby Boomers — the Millennials’ parents, managers and mentors — should work to instill some digital fear into members of this generation.

 

 

How Reverse Mentoring Can Benefit Millennials and their Managers

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Generation X and Baby Boomers are increasingly serving as mentors to Millennials in the workplace, but the new trend is reverse mentoring, where Millennials provide guidance on new and innovative ways to approach the ever-changing demands of work.

The benefits of traditional mentoring — where an older, more seasoned professional trains, teaches and coaches younger employees — are well documented. Mentoring young employees helps them learn more about their jobs, their role in the company, their potential career trajectory and how to advance professionally; it also gives older employees an increase in job satisfaction and purpose, builds their career legacy and gives them a unique professional outlet.

While the benefits of traditional mentoring relationships are known, the benefits of reverse mentoring are less known. Reverse mentoring is the practice of matching older, seasoned professionals with younger employees with a focus on having the Millennials mentor up.

What Millennials Can Bring

Millennials often have a reputation for being lazy, entitled, needy — the list goes on, and the majority of these negative stereotypes about Millennials don’t hold up to the light. Millennials are loyal, team-oriented, innovative and goal-focused.

Millennials often bring a new perspective to the workplace, with a desire to see the “greater good” in their job, their role in the company and the company’s role in the world. Giving Millennials the opportunity to convey that passion to older employees who have been with the company a long time can re-energize and reignite the dedication and enjoyment long-time employees and managers once had for their jobs.

In addition, Millennials’ desire for transparency and honest communication can lead more seasoned managers to question the way they’ve “always done” things. This can lead to positive changes throughout all levels of the company, with an increase in experimentation, newly discovered efficiencies and new business development opportunities.

Reverse mentoring also gives seasoned professionals an opportunity to reflect on their own way of doing things and may widen their understanding of the way their organization and industry are changing. With reverse mentoring, older professionals have a unique opportunity to close their knowledge gap in areas like technology, social media, work-life balance, workplace trends and more.

In addition, a long-term Sun Microsystems study of about 1,000 employees found that employees who participated in a mentoring program were 20 percent more likely to get a raise — and that went for both mentors and mentees. In addition, employees who received mentoring were promoted 5x more often than those who did not have mentors.

How It Works

For companies, setting up reverse mentoring is easy, as it can work within the structure of the company’s ongoing, more traditional mentoring program. Cisco, for example, started their program by finding a champion within the organization to promote the program, set goals and metrics by which to measure success. Then, the company focused on recruiting mentees (i.e. older employees), and then recruiting mentors — the younger employees who indicated interest in participating. The company also provided the mentors with resources, tips, ideas and best practices for mentoring, as many had never been a mentor to someone in the past. Cisco’s former Business Operations Manager Laura Earle declared the reverse mentoring program a success, as it built relationships and helped all participants develop a better understanding of the company.

For a reverse mentoring relationship to work, many of the same rules apply as for a more traditional mentoring relationship. Both younger and older participants must keep an open mind and a positive attitude, trust each other, respect each other’s viewpoints and find ways to seek common ground. Both parties should set goals and commit to scheduling ongoing meetings to keep the relationship strong and growing.

managing millennials

Why Don’t Millennials Follow Directions?

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Often when I’m speaking to managers of Millennial employees, I’m asked, “Why don’t my Millennial employees follow directions?” As a manager, it can be frustrating to give an assignment only to find out a week later that the assignment is not completed, or partially-completed. What’s the deal? There are two things to know about Millennials that can help you with this on-going management challenge: speed and specificity.

Speed

Since childhood, Millennials have been conditioned to receive guidance and feedback at a high degree of frequency.  Instant feedback on their computer-based quizzes and tests, Google searches, texting and Snapchatting with friends has all had a profound influence on the expectations of speed or response. Particularly in school, Millennials were tested, evaluated, graded and given feedback more often than any other generation to date. Older generations indulged in the virtue of patience simply because things took longer to happen back then. Older generations understand waiting. Millennials were not raised in an environment where waiting is a thing. Instant feedback on almost everything is the norm.

As a manager in the workplace,  consider ‘checking-in’ with your millennial employees a few times a day about the assignment that you’ve provided. You might think it is overkill, but to a Millennial, that’s normal. Frequent ‘check-ins’ allow you to assess their ability to stay on task on that assignment you’ve provided them to make sure they understand how to proceed.

Specificity

Accelerating your check-ins is key, but another important element to get Millennials to accomplish their assignments is to provide directions to Millennials with a high level of specificity. Different generations have very different viewpoints on this issue. Boomer and GenXers embrace the notion of doing an assignment their way. They revel in the independence they have—they don’t need a roadmap, they just need a goal and they will likely get it done with little or no supervision. The viewpoint of Millennials is almost exactly the opposite. They are fairly dependent on you as a manager. They want very specific directions on how to do an assignment correctly, and also an explanation for why it is important.

Why is this? It’s because Millennials were raised in a highly planned and structured environment. From childhood, their lives have been heavily managed by their parents. Even their schools advocated a highly planned and structured environment. Free time and play was not something Millennials did—everything was planned for them.  Another contributing factor in their need for specificity is that they hate to take risks and hate to fail. An “opened-ended” assignment for them is viewed as a risk. Their viewpoint is “why should I take a chance on doing an assignment the wrong way when there is probably an already proven way to do it without error”.  Be assured that if there is a YouTube video on how to do something, they are on it.

A LifeCourse Associates survey revealed: “69 percent of Millennials say they like their supervisor to provide them with ‘hands-on guidance and direction.’ Only about 40 percent of Boomers and older Gen Xers said the same.” In response, many companies are doing away with the annual performance review. It is being replaced with more frequent meetings, updates, goal tracking and evaluations with more specificity. Major companies doing this include GE, Accenture, Deloitte and more.

As a manager, make sure to provide instructions that have clear goals and clear process with a roadmap that assures them they are going in the right direction. Providing them with frequent cycles of open and honest feedback will have positive affects — increased loyalty, professional satisfaction and more employee engagement. Millennials will feel valued, cared for and motivated to meet their goals. Incorporating these two simple elements—speed and specificity means they’ll be more likely to stay with the company for the long run, ultimately reducing recruitment and retention costs.

 

second wave millennial using a mobile device

Introducing the Second-wave Millennials

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Just as you were starting to figure out how to manage Millennials in the workplace, a major generational shift is underway. Coming to a workplace near you: Second-wave Millennials.

Every generation has a first wave (older cohort) and a second wave (younger cohort). Each wave has slightly different traits because they were raised by the parents of two different generations. Older Millennials are First-wavers (as of 2017, ages 25 to 35), and were raised by Baby Boomer parents. Younger Millennials, coming into the workplace now, are Second-wave Millennials (ages 13 to 24) and were raised by Generation X parents.

As an entire generation, Millennials have broad traits and behaviors that are enduring and unique regardless of the generation that raised them. But within these traits there are subtle differences based on how Boomers raised them compared to how Gen-Xers raised them. These subtleties are apparent in behavioral shifts in the workplace — and managers should take note.

These differences include Second-wave Millennials’ seeming lack of capabilities in written communications for the business world. In addition, face-to-face communication coaching may be necessary to ensure Second-wave Millennials receive adequate training and development regarding eye contact, posture, voice volume, and pace.

In addition, Second-wave Millennials may have challenges around their own ability to solve problems and think critically. Managers may need to provide training on problem-solving processes and tactics.

Lastly, Second-wave Millennials tend to have less self-awareness about their role as a team

member in a workplace setting. Navigating their way as part of a team is often perplexing to them.

Second-wave Millennials, despite these challenges in the workplace, can be developed into incredibly valuable employees. They will give their full loyalty and talent to your company if you invest in them.

CoachingMillennials has been working with a group of curriculum designers to create six training modules specifically for the Second-wave Millennials in your workplace. Our signature program is called “Developing Your Emerging Professionals: Gaining the 4 Skills Required for Workplace Success.”

The workshop covers key skills such as self-awareness, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. Contact me directly if you’d like more information on this workshop:

warren@coachingmillennials.com, or call (703) 559-9130.

trust, communication and flexibility for Millennial employees

How to Attract Millennial Employees: No Ping Pong Table Required

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It seems like the dream of most Millennials — an open, modern office with windows, lounges, ping-pong tables, a smoothie bar and nap rooms.

Thanks to images of excess from some of Silicon Valley’s tech start-ups, a lot of executives come to me worried about their office environment. Will their lack of budget (or space) for a ping pong table put them at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring the best and brightest Millennials?

I tell hiring managers that while “perks” like those offered by giants like Google and well-funded start-ups like may attract Millennials, those cool office features don’t keep Millennials fulfilled in the long run.

Hiring is a serious expense and commitment, and if you want the best Millennials to stay with your company for more than a year, there are other things you can — and should — do.

1. Trust is one of the keys to helping Millennials feel professionally valued in the workplace. Allowing Millennials to manage their own schedules, and providing work-life balance assistance through telework or flexible hours shows Millennials that they are trusted. Although new Milennial employees may need guidance and limits on telework and flex scheduling to ensure the team is supported, Millennials like working for companies that don’t chain them to desks when they can work just as productively elsewhere.

2. Communication is critical — especially with telework and flexible scheduling. Millennials appreciate feeling like they are part of a team and understanding their role in a project or event. They crave engagement and comraderie, and they want to feel that their work and role is contributing to a greater good. Open, honest and frequent communication are key to making Millennials feel engaged at work.

3. Provide professional challenges. Despite the perpetual myth that “Millennials are lazy,” they actually thrive in workplaces that offer them challenging-but- achievable goals and projects. Setting incremental deadlines and targets, and communicating how their project and role fit into the company’s mission, will help Millennials see their path forward.

4. Offer mentorships. Millennials (and all new employees) benefit from and appreciate the value that mentorships provide. Millennials particularly have long-term thoughts but short-term patience spans when it comes to career goals and growth, and mentorships can help them understand how they can get from point A to point B by staying with your company. Mentorships can also help them see what skills they need to develop to get promoted, and companies that simultaneously offer these opportunities for professional growth and development are rewarded with employee loyalty.

Overall, Millennials aren’t looking for the coolest open-concept office or best smoothies at work. They do want an open communication culture and the best opportunities for professional growth. Flexibility with work-life balance will help, too. The companies that are able to show those perks are the ones that will attract the best Millennial employees, and keep them around for the long haul.

how to boost millennial engagement in person at work

How Do I Get My Millennials to Engage More In Person?

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One trend I’ve been noticing in workplaces is the empty break room, where employees would typically gather to take a break from their work routine. There is a generational explanation for this, and it is not that people are necessarily working harder. The fact is that younger employees are more likely to take breaks at their desk, checking social media on their mobile device, or listening to podcasts.

“The young ones hide behind their computer and simply do not engage in person,” managers of Millennials often lament.

The Digital Footprint Started Early

Millennials are, yes, digital natives. In school and at home, Millennials had more electronicdevices and on-demand media than most Baby Boomers ever dreamed possible. With computers in the classroom and at home, the growing ubiquity of cell phones and (later) smartphones, Internet everywhere, wi-fi and video on-demand, it’s no surprise that the generation that grew up with technology is very comfortable engaging with it. In addition, the ability to work from anywhere for many Millennials has made engaging with people in the physical office less critical to productivity.

Give Them a Good Reason to Engage In Person

In recent years, some companies have tried to rein this in and force more in-person engagement among employees. Most notably, IBM in 2017 brought back into the office the company’s work-at- home employees, terminating most telecommuting options as a way to encourage more collaborative product development, comradery and even company loyalty.

Forcing employees to come into the office is, in part, an overblown response to an ongoing myth about Millennials — that they actually prefer to avoid in-person conversations with others, opting for text instead of talk. In fact, repeated studies have shown that Millennials do like in-person communication and even recognize the importance of it in their own career and professional development.

While digital modes of communication make up an important part of Millennials’ productivity and workflow, it’s not digital over in-person or an either/or choice. While some new employees may retreat to their mobile devices until they develop professional friendships, Millennials do come out of their shell and use in-person communication. In particular, they seem to prefer it to digital communications when they need to get help with a project or task, when it comes to learning career-place skills and processes, and in coaching and mentoring relationships.

Ideas to Help Encourage In-person Communications

For managers of Millennials, there are a number of ways to encourage in-person communication among Millennials and other generations of employees.

Have an open-door policy with both the physical space and with communication styles. Regularly hosting “office hours” (the way Millennials’ college professors did) can encourage Millennial employees to walk into executives’ offices and chat about the workplace, goals and strategies.

Develop mentorship and coaching programs that encourage employees to meet for lunch or coffee to discuss professional development, work-life balance and long-term career goals. Mentorship programs are one of the best ways to help make Millennials more loyal to the company and increase engagement and performance.

Create opportunities for teamwork such as professionally-related volunteer opportunities, in-person trainings and activities. Millennials are more emotionally connected to jobs in which they understand and have an active role in how their company contributes to the “greater good” in the community and in the world.

There’s always food. Last week I had a meeting at Bloomberg’s headquarters in NYC. On the sixth floor is a massive reception area with a smorgasbord of free snacks, and Millennials buzzing around everywhere. Coming out of college, many Millennials are comfortable with food-oriented activities. Few things get people away from their desks like treats in the breakroom — but managers may want to center a meeting or activity around those treats to prevent (or at least delay how quickly) those treats being taken straight back to Millennials’ desks.

how to get millennials to hit deadlines

Can Millennials Hit Deadlines?

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It happens, and it is annoying— you set deadlines and your employees don’t meet them. But it’s more than annoying—it disrupts workflow, affects productivity, and makes everyone else’s job more difficult. Missing deadlines is a universal problem with all generations, but I more frequently hear from managers that Millennial are not hitting their deadlines.

The most common question I hear is: “How can I get my Millennial employees to actually complete a task on time?!” 

Ditch The Lazy Millennial Myth 

Many managers assume that Millennials don’t hit deadlines because they are lazy. But that’s not why. Contrary to the stereotype, most Millennials are not “lazy,” in fact- they are probably the least lazy generation in the workplace. Millennials crave “busy-ness”. They are always on the move, navigating between different tasks on multiple screens. They are multitasking masters of the universe. And this makes sense if you think about how they were raised in a hyper-stimulated environment where they had back-to-back activities filling up their schedules after school and on the weekends, driven by pushy parents.

In fact, with this high-achieving ethic, sometimes they can bite off more than they can chew and this is what gets them into trouble. This is where good management practices can help, so I have three simple suggestions to get Millennials on track for hitting deadlines.

Do These Three Things

Communicate frequently. Millennials want open, honest and transparent communication. They also crave frequent feedback — the annual review, for them, is archaic and unhelpful. Instead, very frequent ‘check-ins’ that let Millennials answer questions, receive feedback and advice, and tackle the next steps will help significantly. Instead of berating them for blowing a deadline, ask them to take the lead on coming up with the steps they will take to ensure the next deadline is met.

Set incremental goals. Employees of any age may be overwhelmed by one big, long-term project. For Millennials in particular, breaking down a big project into several steps with incremental goals and targets will help move that project along. Some workplaces have even implemented “gamification” into their workflows — using game-like systems to reward employees for meeting incremental goals and promoting teamwork to get larger projects and tasks completed on time.

Promote teamwork. Millennials grew up on organized sports teams, doing group projects at schools, and with an emphasis on the larger community (whether that was their school, church or neighborhood). In the workplace, Millennials often seek a feeling of family, community and teamwork. Ensuring they understand how their work, their piece of that large project and their deadlines will help make everyone more successful can go a long way toward motivating them.

 

concentrate at work

How Can I Get My Millennials to Take Their Work Seriously? 

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This is a common question that comes up when I’m speaking or training executives who work with Millennials — “How can I get my Millennial employees to take their work seriously?!”

The idea that Millennials don’t take their work as seriously as their older professional counterparts is largely a myth. Studies have shown that in many ways, Millennials are workaholics. Almost half (48 percent) of Millennials “think it is a good thing to be seen as a work martyr by the boss,” — a higher percentage than any other generation surveyed, according to a research by Project: Time Off.

In addition, Millennials are more likely to forfeit paid time off than members of older generations, according to a Bankrate.com survey.

Work Gets Done, Just Differently

The difference in the way Millennials work is often the cause of the misconception that Millennials aren’t taking work seriously. Technology allows many employees to work anytime, from anywhere. For some employees, that means they need to spend less time at their desk in the office. Social media and online project management systems, email and mobile devices, remote desktops and more let Millennials stay connected to work wherever they are — and many sleep with their mobile devices, checking email before falling asleep and again before their feet hit the floor in the morning. (A Harris Poll survey showed 93 percent of Millennials have admitted to using their phones in bed.)

Getting the Best Work from Milliennials

If Millennials in a workplace don’t seem to be taking their work seriously, managers are often able to correct the situation through effective communication, goal-setting and mentoring.

Millennials are most engaged in their work when a few key factors are in place. They include:

  • Understanding their role in the organization. Millennials grew up with team projects and team sports, where they knew and understood their place and role in the group. They seek that same understanding in the workplace, and managers who communicate effectively about how a Millennial employee’s job is important can help Millennials feel more engaged in their work.
  • Understanding the organization’s role in the larger community, economy and world. Further, Millennials were raised with a sense of community and want to make a difference in helping make the world a better place. Millennials who know how the mission of their company aligns with their personal values, helps people and contributes to a “greater good” in society are more engaged at work. (Many companies have started encouraging volunteerism as both a team-building activity and to show corporate responsibility.)
  • Being provided with long-term and short-term goals and support to succeed. Millennials perform best when they have both short-term, achievable goals with the support to succeed, and long-term plans that include professional development and growth. Millennials like to achieve, and they look for a supportive network of colleagues to help them do so. (This train comes from their parents, teachers and coaches, who raised them in a supportive, encouraging setting and taught them they could do anything they put their minds to.) Cross-generational mentoring programs can provide Millennials with an understanding of how to grow and develop professionally over time, putting their short-term achievements at work into a longer-term context.
  • Enabling open, honest and transparent communications. Millennials are more loyal and engaged with employers who have open-door policies in the way they communicate. Millennials watched their parents fear the surprise layoff, and fostering a culture of openness, honestly and genuineness can help prevent employees from looking for new jobs based on false or incomplete information. Good communication and honest feedback can also help Millennials in their quest to achieve their goals and feel professionally fulfilled.

If All Else Fails…

If you are convinced that your Millennial employee is not taking their job seriously, start a dialogue where he or she does most of the talking and you do most of the listening. Make your case—put all the cards on the table, and do your best to listen. Sometimes it is hard to get to the root cause of the issue, especially if your relationship is strained or frustrating. If that still doesn’t work… well, not all hires are a guarantee fit to the role. But if this is happening with more than one employee, you might need some coaching of your own.