10 Strategies To Empower Your Millennial Employees Give Their Best

If you have millennial employees on your team, you may find that they want and expect different things in the workplace than any other generation. These tips can help you support your millennials in reaching their full potential.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2017 U.S. Census Bureau data, the largest section of the workforce is comprised of millennials, at 35 percent. Millennials are critical for nearly every organization’s success, a fact that presents challenges as well as opportunities.

To gain a competitive advantage, business leaders must embrace hiring millennials and learn how to capitalize on their strengths. The key is knowing how to empower them to be their best. Here are 10 proven strategies you can implement to help get the best out of your millennial employees.

1. Create Weekly Social Activities.

These days, distractions are closer at hand than ever before. All that an employee needs to do is pull out a cell phone. The cure shouldn't be too hard: Create a more social and friendly office environment.

For younger workers, such trust and inclusion can provide both a great learning opportunity and a deeper sense of engagement with the organization.

When you empower millennial employees to create stronger and closer relationships with each other, they will enjoy their work more, and their work output improves.

Host weekly social events and activities for your staff members, such as office happy hours, company sports teams or even a quarterly event planned by your millennial team. You will see higher levels of employee engagement and energy across the organization.

2. Allow for Occasional Remote Work.

Millennials want to explore the world and to do that, they thrive on a little bit of freedom.

You may understandably feel a bit reluctance to allow your employees to work remotely full time, yet try allowing them some occasional flexibility in the hours and days they work. They'll be grateful, which builds loyalty and trust.

3. Challenge Your Millennial Employees.

Millennials need to be challenged to remain engaged. The second they become bored with what they are doing, their effort levels and interest drop.

To combat this, constantly look for new ways to help them learn new skills and reach challenging goals. For example, give them role-specific challenges, monthly goals or even non-work-related intellectual pursuits, like a company book club.

4. Check-In With Them Regularly.

Historically, many employers have treated young employees poorly, based on some misguided notion that they had to earn their rite of passage.

Fortunately, these old attitudes have improved. Millennials understand that they don't have to put up with such old ways of thinking—they can simply go work somewhere else.

To keep your millennial employees engaged, check in with them regularly. Ask questions and seek to understand their goals and aspirations. When they feel genuinely valued, they will be much more willing to give their best efforts.

5. Pay Them Fairly.

Salary is a crucial component to encouraging high employee output, and it's especially true for millennials. Even someone intrinsically motivated can lose enthusiasm and energy if they realize they aren't being fairly compensated for the value that they are delivering to your organization.

A higher salary might tax the payroll budget, but in the long run, it may lead to higher company revenues and less turnover cost.

6. Provide Them With The Best Technology.

Millennials can be more equipped to take advantage of new tools and technology than most other generations. To boost their output, provide them with access to the best technology possible. This does not necessarily mean you have to purchase the most expensive gadgets and devices. Instead, it means understanding your employee's pain points and looking for better technological solutions. For example, if they spend an hour a day manually entering data, you should look for tools to cut out such demotivating work.

Equipping your employees with the best possible tools can help foster a sincere sense of gratitude and a desire to succeed.

7. Keep Them In On Decisions.

Millennials like to know what's going on around them. They're grateful when you can include them and remain transparent about critical business decisions. For younger workers, such trust and inclusion can provide both a great learning opportunity and a deeper sense of engagement within the organization. Plus, you never know when they might contribute a valuable idea.

8. Don't Assume They Know Something Because You Did At Their Age.

Millennials may have grown up in a different era. Just because you knew how to change a tire at their age, that doesn't necessarily mean they do, or even care to learn. False assumptions and the inevitable sore feelings that follow will only undermine whatever trust you're trying to build.

9. Give PTO for Community Service.

Even one or two days of annual PTO (Paid Time Off) for community service can help expand the horizons of younger employees, promote the social consciousness of your organization and your millennials will tell their friends about the great place they work.

10. Give Them A Peek Into Other Business Units, As Well As The Flexibility To Try New Things.

Millennials want to grow and by offering them the chance to explore other business units or departments within your organization, this can be a valuable tool to increasing engagement and reducing turnover.

In today's competitive business environment, don't view younger employees as a drain on resources. They're so adaptable and vital, they can help reinvigorate an office, as well as your profit. Integrate them into every reasonable aspect of your business and you will see your bottom line improve.

Sherri Elliott-Yeary, CEO of Generational Guru is an award-winning speaker, professional business consultant, and published author who energetically engages international audiences with her practical strategies for attracting, growing, and retaining top talent and loyal customers from every generation. Sherri brings over twenty years of hands-on experience to support you in designing generational solutions that address:

• Cross-Generational Leadership Challenges

• Generational Blind Spots in Sales

• Effective Recruitment and Retention

• Marketing to Millennials

For more information, please contact Sherri via email at sher@generationalguru.com or text/call her at 469-971-3663.

Consider Sherri Elliott-Yeary to be your next Millennial/Generation Y or Generation Z keynote speaker by clicking here...

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