Gen Y (aka the Millennials) will be invading the workforce for some time to come. I have personally discovered a few things that managers can do to successfully motivate and direct young professionals.
As businesses adapt to a changing economy, we expect the job market to remain extremely competitive. Gen Yers are feeling more pressure to get professional experience before officially entering the workforce. Roz Courtney confronted Gen Y/Millennial stereotypes in her post on September 10, daring the business world to involve us and reap the rewards. If you want to motivate and retain the best talent, perhaps it helps to understand what the Millennials need and how they think. Here are several rules of the game – Gen Y rules – which make good business sense.
Internship programs are usually a company’s first opportunity to engage Millennials, and perhaps the one with the greatest pay-back. It’s a time when eager students and young professionals arrive ready to learn about the business and actively contribute. At Time Warner and Common Sense Media where I’ve had the opportunity to work, managers challenge their interns with substantive work directly related to the business. These companies, and others, know how to leverage moldable, talented individuals – and in working with us, managers gain valuable insights into how the outside world uses their products and services. But just as many companies employ interns who know more about the copy machine and the filing system at the end of their assignments, than the actual business.
Unfortunately, many of the professionals working with Gen Y fail to realize the incredible resource available to them and the opportunity they have to learn from a generation that will eventually comprise a large percentage of the workforce. So how do you leverage our skills? How do you motivate us to produce the results you’re seeking – and all while taking care of your own responsibilities?
First, involve us as quickly and often as possible: For years one of the major complaints about Gen Y has been our inability to stay at one job for an extended period. Job hopping has become a trend because so many of my generation have not been challenged or do not feel like a part of the bigger team. As soon as a Millennial joins your organization include him or her in as many every-day happenings as possible – invite them to sit-in on the weekly sales meeting, copy them on emails pertaining to projects they may like to work on and introduce them to other members of the team, especially those who could have common backgrounds or interests.
Secondly, take the time to sit down to discuss expectations and goals early: We like structure and want a clear understanding of what, when, where and how. Ambiguity can be stressful for Gen Y, but if we are given the opportunity to innovate and be creative, within some parameters, the results and the dynamic can be eye-opening for others in the organization. Millennials have no preconceived notions about business, so anything seems possible to us. Obstacles that typically block innovation seem to disappear and we can spark great ideas.
Lastly, Gen Y needs feedback – like any of your employees: Not only do we like structure, we like to know how we are progressing - whether we’re doing things right or wrong. My recent internship program put a heavy emphasis on a final review. I clearly remember discussing the process with a fellow intern, who explained that he did not have the opportunity to communicate with his manager on a regular basis. Beyond that, when he presented his hefty final portfolio outlining all the work he had completed, it came back within 15 minutes – without feedback. What a let down; hardly a way to motivate anyone. Silence is especially detrimental and discouraging to a Millennial, and leads to so many of the criticisms about us: The tendency to jump jobs and the perceptions of superiority and entitlement can all be traced back to insufficient feedback. In the absence of feedback, we are most likely to assume everything we do is working.
Experienced managers, I know what you are thinking. Isn’t all of this time consuming? The answer is yes. The three simple steps, however, will make a significant difference in the way you experience my generation and what we are capable of producing for you. And as I’ve learned, it’s a part of leadership and management that makes a significant impact on results and motivation.
Gen Y may appear to be the new monster in the room, but by taking the right steps, I know you will discover our real value. Adapting your style just a bit - creating lots of involvement, expectations and goals early on, and regular feedback - will help you to produce a purpose-driven group that is ready to sustain and build an exciting business.
