We have begun to research this important piece needed for successful teams, and quite honestly it’s not as negative as you may think. Millennials are GREATLY different than any other generation, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Millennials are GREATLY different than any other generation, but not necessarily in a bad way. Click To TweetWe are in a new day. Living in a new era. Gone are the days of working for an “institution” or “corporation”. Welcome to the new days of working for a purpose.
Jeff Boss reported the following information in Forbes:
- 71% of companies say losing Millennial employees increases the workload and stress level of their current employees.
- 56% say it takes between three and seven weeks to hire a fully productive Millennial in a new role.
Why get your team OFF the same page?
1- Millennials need more than a paper, they need a canvas
After fighting it for sometime, I recently changed from Power Point to Prezi. Where has that been all of my life? While Power Point is great, Prezi is in a different dimension. You begin with a “canvas” and put all you want to accomplish on it, and watch the design come together.
Millennials see their lives as a canvas, and their career as one of the central points to their life. As they “paint” on their life canvas, each piece connects and blends together in their minds. Those of the previous generation were married with children by this age. Most Millennials are putting off marriage and family life until their late 20’s or early 30’s. They use their career as part of how they introduce themselves. It is often the basis of their social life, and certainly how they express themselves.
Millennials see their lives as a canvas, and their career as one of the central points to their life. Click To Tweet
2- Millennials need more than a vision, they need a dream
What Millennials DO flows out of who they ARE and what they want to BECOME. Since what they do is so important, the questions WHY and HOW become key. Money or a paycheck is not their motivating factor. Obviously, it is important, but it is not at the top of the list. The reason they seek opportunities for advancement is not to buy a bigger house or a luxury car, but rather to have greater opportunities to fulfill a greater purpose.
To a Millennial, they do not care as much about the vision the company casts as they do about the dreams it fulfills. Bosses would be wise to be sure the company vision has a purpose and room for a dream. If they would give the room for Millennials to dream, the company vision might hit the stars rather than just the moon.
To a Millennial, they do not care as much about the vision the company casts as they do about the dreams it fulfills. Click To Tweet
They are not looking for more toys or to be patronized, they are looking for the space to dream. Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup, says, “Giving out toys and entitlements is a leadership mistake, and worse, it’s condescending. Purpose and development drive this generation,”
A few years ago Google offered their employees the “20% Time” initiative. They were to work on their normal tasks but could spend 20% of their time working creative projects that would benefit Google. This no longer exists, and there are many who understand why. Yorum Soloman in INC. writes, “The greatest ideas hardly ever come from using 20% time away from work. They hardly ever come from the innovation lab. They come from busy people who had ideas while doing their day job, stayed late, and tried things without getting permission. They don’t come from companies who drive innovation. They don’t come from companies who celebrate innovation. But they come from companies who allow their people to try new things and fail without consequences. They come from companies that have the right climate for employees to be creative. They come from people who do those things that allow them to generate great ideas.”
Kristen Hadeed CEO of Student Maid, employs around 500 Millennials. They offer college scholarships and incentives to employees that bring the best dreams and ideas to them. According to Hadeed, many are great but many are not. The key is allowing them to have personal input that helps them to grow as well as the organization.
Millennials are already the largest segment of the workforce and growing. There are certainly some exciting days ahead. Look for upcoming posts on this subject as we grow together.
Connexus Group would love to work with your company or organization in developing leaders and in the area of culture-shaping.
We believe learning to integrate a healthy staff of Millennials will be the game-changer for an organization to THRIVE, not just SURVIVE, in the future. Click To Tweet