As a group, millennial employees are still plagued by stereotypes and misconceptions. Like any generation, millennials have their own quirks about what they’re looking for from work. But creating a millennial-friendly workplace — through mentoring, flexibility and strong company values — pays off for everyone. This week I’ve been reading about how millennials aren’t so very hard to understand after all — and how you can reach out to them more effectively.
Stop Treating Millennial Employees Like Enigmas via Fast Company: “Connect with us in a human way. Ask us challenging and thoughtful questions in meetings, in polls, in conversations, on social networks. Don’t limit constructive debate between you and your peers. Please encourage the dialogue, make the process transparent, and let us own the solutions. Have a little trust. Both our frontal lobes and our workplace tools have evolved beyond our early ancestors. Please liberate our reasoning abilities.”
5 Workplace Stereotypes About Millennials That Aren’t True via U.S. News and World Report: “They have staggering student loan debt for degrees that were supposed to give them job security but didn’t, and many studies show that their lifetime earnings will never equal that of their parents. Adding injury to insult, many millennials have been unemployed or underemployed since graduating and now must compete against waves of more recent graduates whose skills seem fresher. As for paying dues? Most of them are desperate to pay their dues, if only someone would let them.”
How to Retain Millennial Workers via CIO: “Even though more millennials may want a stable job at a stable company, they aren’t there just to punch their time card. They crave growth opportunities and stretch assignments to help them learn and gain recognition across their organization — which ultimately keep them at employers longer.”
Give Gen Y a Chance via CLO Media: “‘I think we need to do away with a mindset that age should equate to organizational level, and create more fluid structures that allow people to not only step down in level and responsibility but rapidly step up as they demonstrate the ability and willingness to do so,’ says Karie Willyerd, the workplace futurist in the HR line of business for SAP Cloud. ‘If we don’t give Gen Y opportunity, they will see that opportunity elsewhere. That’s how much drive they have.’”
3 Successful Onboarding Strategies for Your Gen-Y Workforce via Business2Community: “Recruitment—the first place that most businesses stumble with Gen-Y is in their recruitment practices. Many companies continue to recruit using such “tried and true” techniques as job fairs, HR consultants or ads placed in industry magazines or websites. The problem is that this is not where you’ll likely find Gen-Y candidates. Social media is a better tool for reaching Gen-Y, and companies that have re-tooled their operations to be able to receive resumes and applications through social media are finding great success.”
What myths have you busted lately about millennials? Share in the comments!
