With the baby boomers (Gen X) lumped in the era of retirement, many companies today are inundated with the fierceness and hyper-active mindset of millennials, the Gen Y. While Gen X are known for their optimism, directorial way of thinking, flat management structural system, and willingness to go the extra mile to get the work done, this cannot be said so to the prolific Gen Y go-getters. These differences breed a humungous gap in management style and leadership—and knowing what to do about them will ultimately carve a highly thriving millennial workforce.
The Beauty in the Beast
Millennials are, by far, the largest active workers today. Research has shown that in both macro and micro employment scale, these young professionals and entrepreneurs are growing in numbers leading industries and companies to new heights. But while their mindset may differ largely with that of the baby boomer generation, the millennial workforce still maintained its penchant for teamwork-based management albeit at a highly tech-savvy environment.
Prolific multi-taskers and oozing with self-confidence, millennials idea of achieving success can be both beautiful and beastly. They make good use of their insatiable energy and passion in setting seemingly impossible goals as well as high expectations upon themselves making them seek out complex challenges while yearning for that work-life balance. Additionally, their need for social connections, fast-and-furious approach in getting results, and relentless passion to hasten all forms of advancement without thinking things through can be both astounding and fatal when not done accordingly.
Key Learning
Upon close inspection, it is clear to see that there looms a huge generation gap and cultural disintegration between two succeeding generations. This somehow reveals a likely dislodgement of the long-held belief and processes on employee engagement and motivation. Basically, what could have worked for decades to a large baby boomer generation may no longer be successful in today’s millennial generation. Millennial workforce today is more into dynamic career opportunities, feedback-based growth, robust recognition, and diversified management performance.
This is why many companies today, particularly those which cater largely to a millennial workforce, have to come up with sound engagement strategies aligned to their needs. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation measures must be explored to drive engagement levels of such a highly dynamic workforce. It is also becoming clear that with their proclivity for feedback, managing performance should be on top of their list of engagement drivers in the workplace.
Company Reputation
It is also important to note that many millennials take pride in the reputation of the companies they work for. Often, these workforce is emotionally attached to their organization making them fiercely devoted to its core values and principles. This is why companies must work doubly hard on upholding, if not improving, their overall reputation by adding compassionate programs to their operational tableau.
Indeed, there is more to the working millennials than what meets the eye. To help maintain their engagement level while improving their productivity, it is essential for organizations to guarantee transparent processes, recognize both key drivers and threats to engagement, set appropriate goals, and have multiple engagement strategies in place. To be more effective, it is also crucial to conduct annual engagement studies to keep your system up-to-date.
