Temkin Group recently published a new research report, “Engaging Millennials in the Workplace,” that identifies five strategies for engaging younger employees.
Common estimates predict that the Millennial generation—those born between 1980 and 2000—will make up 60% of the workforce by 2020. As with each previous generation, this group of employees brings its own set of expectations, attitudes, and approaches to the job, which creates both challenges and opportunities for the organizations that employ them.
Temkin Group surveyed over 5,000 U.S. full-time employees and found that only 52% of Millennials are moderately or highly engaged, lower than any other generation.
The research identifies key traits of Millennials that organizations must account for in their employee engagement efforts. Companies must adjust to the fact that these younger employees tend to be more group oriented, technologically savvy, progress driven, socially conscious, and autonomous.
“Employee engagement is a critical component of a customer-centric organization,” states Aimee Lucas, vice president of Temkin Group. “As Millennials become an increasingly larger portion of the workforce, companies, especially human resources groups, will need to adjust their efforts to meet the unique needs of these employees.”
The research identified the following five strategies that companies should use to engage Millennials in the workforce:
- Expand Job Descriptions: Clearly define performance expectations and create a variety of opportunities for Millennials to expand their knowledge and skills.
- Create Connections: Foster network building within and across generational lines, organizational levels, and functional roles.
- Make Work Matter: Help Millennials connect to the company’s brand values, its culture, and the causes they care about.
- Allow for Flexibility: Demonstrate adaptability in when, where, and how the company communicates, trains, and expects work to be done.
- Develop Millennial Leaders: Help non-Millennials understand and effectively engage this generation.
The report includes many examples of companies that are following these strategies. Here are some of them:
- At Halogen Software, new graduate hires have the opportunity to spend up to 20% of their time on work outside of their primary job and are encouraged to join projects outside of their usual responsibilities to build their business knowledge.
- Created by Millennial volunteers, genKP is one of Kaiser Permanente’s many business resource groups. It provides Millennials with a range of activities and resources that are designed to meet their needs and show them that there is room to grow inside the company
- Hewlett-Packard (HP) uses reverse mentoring within its IT organizations, pairing a recently hired Millennial mentor with a CIO mentee.
- Ernst & Young runs innovation challenges to tap younger employees for original ideas about new product development or client needs based on these employees’ experiences.
- TD Ameritrade uses its generational IQ program to teach employees about generational differences in both co-workers and customers.
The report “Engaging Millennials in the Workplace” can be downloaded from the Customer Experience Matters® blog, at ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com as well as from the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.
| Related reading: | ||
To understand employees, understand their generations
|
5 Proven Ways to Motivate Your Staff Without Spending Money
|
6 tips for successfully managing millennials
|