Manager Tips to Keep Millennial Employees

Manager Tips to Keep Millennial EmployeesManager Tips to Keep Millennial EmployeesYouve hired Millennials. Now how can you keep them around? If I could give you one bit of advice about dealing with the latest generation of employees to come under your management, it would be to remember those words. Things arent always what they seem with Millennial employees. If you are like most business leaders, youve no doubt elendiced a trend in the way employees behave in recent years. fruchtwein likely you consider it a negative trend - too much entitlement, bedrngnis enough loyalty, no work ethic, only interested in themselves, and on and on. You should consider that perhaps these are not negative trends, just different ones. Things arent always what they seem with Millennial employees. To better understand who your Millennial employees are and what drives them to succeed, perhaps its easiest to understand who they are not. You. Thats right. They may even be your offspring but in the workpla ce, they bear little resemblance to the you of yesteryear. Gen Xers (born 1965-1979) and Millennials (born after 1980) are operating in this world with a completely different perspective. Their definitions of loyalty, time, and success are often quite different from yours. Rest assured they do recognize all of these concepts and value them in very important ways. The key to your organizations future success is understanding how the Millennials view the world and using that knowledge to motivate them in a way that works. Heres a hint meet them where they are and they will achieve your underlying goals try to force them to fit your definitions and they will run for the door every time. So lets take a look at some of the pervasive myths about our youngest generation in the workforce and discuss why these changes are happening. You can tailor your workplace to meet your needs and your employee needs. In meeting these needs, the company will thrive. Myth Younger Generations of Millenn ials Have No Work Ethic Reality Millennials have a self-centered work ethic. This is not necessarily the negative that it may seem at first. Millennial employees are dedicated to completing their task well. They have not been raised in a way that demands them to look around and see what should be done next. Instead, they ask what is my job and go about figuring the best, fastest way to complete that task. Then they consider themselves done. This is a key differentiator between your employees and yourself. The younger they are, the more your employees view their jobs as something to do inbetweenweekends. For most, early employment has nothing to do with a career path it is a way to earn money to have fun in their free time. And that is okay. When you understand what motivates your employees you are better able to set mutual expectations for success. Instead of being frustrated that your youngest employees are not interested in climbing your corporate ladder, embrace their true motiv ation - reliable spending money - and use it to your advantage. When you tell an employee, I understand this is not your lifelong career, but to earn the paycheck every weekhere is what I expect. They are much more likely to respond than if you try to motivate with promises of promotions and titles down the road. Understanding that being at the job isnt as important to Millennials as completing the assigned task also opens up new opportunities for motivation and reward. Younger employees are very likely to respond to offers of paid time off. A leading retail organization has recognized this new way of thinking with its Working Hard Card When managers witness an employee rising to a challenge, exceeding expectations or otherwise giving 110%, they can hand the employee a Working Hard Card on the spot. Each card is worth a set amount of paid time off to be used at the employees discretion. It is a simple strategy that rewards employees in the currency they value most - their time. Myth Millennials Dont Want to Put in the Hours to Get Ahead Reality Millennial employees are willing to put in the time to do the job, however, they are uninterested in face time. Gen Xers and Millennials view time as a currency. While Baby Boomers tend to see time as something to invest, the younger generations view it as a valuable currency not to be wasted. These are the generations that demand work-life balance and paid time off. They want to get the job done, then put it behind them and enjoy life. Boomer managers have a tendency to lose the interest of their Millenial employees by looking too far into the future. Millennials live in the time frame based on right now. Their world has proven that nothing is a guarantee - from nationwide layoffs to war to soaring divorce rates, they have decided that theres not a lot you can count on. As a result, they are not interested in promotion plans for five years from now. They dont even want to know what will happen at the end of the summer. Life is uncertain. To reach the Millennial employee and reduce turnover, make it certain. Tell your employee that you have a plan. Take pains to ensure it is in a timeframe short enough for them to enimagination. Be prepared to fulfill your promise - once fooled, the Millennial employee is forever jaded. This approach feeds into their realitywhile simultaneously building trust and buying you more time. Reward small successes along the way, string these milestones together, and you will soon realize longer tenures among your staff. Myth Millennial Employees Have No Respect for Authority Reality Millennial employees have great respect for leaders and loyalty. But no, as a rule, they dont respect authorityjust because. For the younger generations, every ounce of loyalty and respect must be earned. But when it is earned, it is given fiercely. In fact, loyalty to the individuals leaders and thebabo is the number one reason Gen Xers and Millennial employees stay in a job, es pecially during the first three, tenuous years. Dissatisfaction with the boss is the number one reason they quit. So in buchung to increase retention, managers must take a flipped view onleadership- it is no longer enoughto hire the right peopleand show them the way, now you mustbethe right person to win their affection. Sounds a little touchy-feely for the workforce? Yes, but the more quickly leaders understand this new relationship, the faster you will see the rewardretention of Millennial employees. There is one big caveat to the be the person they want you to be approach to leadership, however. Millennials have a tendency to seek tight bonds they want a boss who is close, caring, and aware. And, you can be all that as the boss of a Millennial. But, be careful. It is very easy to cross the line fromthe boss as advocatetothe boss asfriend. That is a slippery slope. Friendship can be especially tempting in situations where managers and employees are close in age. When activities o utside of the office become too regular, too casual, or largely social in nature, it is time to examine how this will affect your role as a boss and leader. What Millennial employees need most from their boss is a guide - not a social life. Myth They Dont Want to Grow Up Reality Millennial employees really dont know how to grow up. The youngest generations in todays workforce are facing a delayed adulthood. They are getting married later, having children later and just generally facing the real world later. This isnt the result of a mutated maturity gene, it just is. And, if we are being completely honest about this situation, Boomers had a lot to do with why its happening. As parents, Boomers had a tendency to coddle their children and use their own good fortune to make sure their children didnt experience adversity.As career models, Boomers demonstrated the toll of working long hours andpaying their duesin a way that made their children less likely to follow in their footstep s. Millennials today look at the corporate ladder and think, there must be another way. Advice About Managing Millennials Dont waste time wishing your Millennial employees were different. Dont spend your energy comparing todays youth to the desires and drive you had at age 18. These employees are not a reflection of you, nor are they an earlier version of you. And again, that is okay. Your task is to take this new understanding and use it to reposition how youinteract with, motivate, andreward your staff. Take attire for instance. Your 18-year-old self would have gladly donned whatever uniform was necessary to fit the company mold. Be it pressed khakis and a tie or a specific corporate uniform, fitting in was part of the package. Todays youth wants to stand out. They want their individuality to shine through even when required to provide a consistent voreingestellt of service and performance. Balancing corporate needs with individual desires takes some creative thinking. Home De pot is one company that has addressed this dilemma at a very basic level - company uniforms. They simply require that all employees wear a standard Home Depot apron. Be yourself underneath (within reason) and show the customer that you are on the Home Depot team with this bright orange apron. Is there a standard that you can adopt to accommodate individual preferences? Something to think about. Not all change is bad. The myths surrounding todays young employees are not always what they seem. Attitudes toward work, life, loyalty, andrespect have all changed, but each is still considered valuable. In fact, some of the demands made by todays youth are creating positive benefits for employees in every generation. Flexibility and respect for the individual, as well as the organization, are good for everyone. Loyalty from younger employees, once earned, is long-lasting. Theadjustments you make to accommodate the changing attitudesof todays youth will be returned to you tenfold withdecreas ed turnover,improved morale, and measurable business results. And when the frustration mounts, just remember things arent always what they seem. Open your mind to the possibility that there is a benign, generational reason for the disconnect between what you want and what your Millennial employees are providing, and you may just find room to create a sharedvisionof success. - Cam Marston is a consultant who specializes in multigenerational communications and marketing, educating executives about the workplace expectations of different generations. Marstons expertise has also been featured in theWall Street Journal,The Economist, theChicago Tribune,BusinessWeek,Fortune, Money,FastCompany,andForbes, as well as onGood Morning America,CNN International, and theBBC.