Managing the Unmanageable (Millennials)
Introduction
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| Picture 1: Managing Millenniuls Source |
The Millennials or the
generation born in between 1981 to 1995 are 76 million strong and they comprise
46 percent of today’s workforce (Randolph & Randolph, 2016). Some argue
that when the Millennials move into the workforce the disloyalty, neediness,
sense of entitlement and overall casualness enhance in the workplace which
creates troubles in management managing them (Thompson & Gregory, 2012).
The truth is that
Millennials are tech-savvy, ambitious, prefer to work in teams, and have a
great desire to make the world a better place. Their skills and mindset fit
well with the challenges facing organizations today. Therefore, it is vital for
Human Resource Management (HRM) to understand the mindset of this generation,
how they perceive the workplace culture and how to stimulate them to contribute
their unique talents.
How to inspire Millennials
Here are a few
suggestions to inspire millennial engagement and manage them at work.
- Recognize
How to motivate them
Millennials are different
from the work desires as they don't want to work extra hours. Hence to improve
millennial engagement management must mention the purpose and impact of their
job roles in relation to corporate values.
- Create
Opportunities for Growth
Studies show that
Millennials rarely stay in one job for more than five years since they are
highly expecting an opportunity to connect and grow while feeling like an
organic part of the company. This is a highly advantageous trait of millennials
that organizations can offer to attract, motivate and retain them by
identifying and developing new skills linked to the mission of the company.
Proper communication is important to identify whether the millennials are
satisfied with their current job.
- Promote
Recognition
Establishing meaningful
personalized rewards programs to recognize the achievements can go a long way. Sending a personalized gift or favorite kind of food or beverage is a
gesture of recognition the company can promote.
- Promote
Work-Life Balance
Millennials prefer to
work the hours they feel that is essential to get their work accomplished
rather than working for long hours. Consequently, remote work is becoming more
common within the global context. Offering to augment a workspace could go a
long way in showing them that organization care for their mental health and
success. Organizations can also organize team together, social activities once
a month to promote unity and personal value.
- Move
with the technology
Junior millennials are tech-savvy. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are a daily part of their life and as well as their work. Studies show that 56% of millennials would turn down the job that denied them access to social networks. Companies should take the advantage of technology without hinder its use to build competencies across the organization. On the other hand, it can help older employees learn from millennials' technological skills (Stein, 2016).
Examples from the Global Context
Panda Restaurant Group
Inc. Headquarters located in the United States has over 2,200 locations and
currently more than 30,000 employees attached it.
The company’s culture is
defined by the four parts of what they called as Panda Way namely; Healthy
Lifestyle, continuous Learning, developing others and acknowledging others have
become the key to attract, motivate and retain millennials. These cultural
values are more than aspirational words on a HR document and Panda could get
into the 2020 Best Workplaces for Millennials™ list.
According to the Millennials who worked at Panda, Panda Restaurant Group is a great place to work since it always creates opportunities for growth, provides recognition in the workplace, and provides timely training and development (Hastwell, 2020).
Conclusion
Millennial's entrance to
the workforce created a challenge, but also an opportunity. To effectively
manage millennials HRM must rethink their strategies changing the spirit of the
workplace, starting up the revolutionary development process, building
engagement models that are interactive, values-based, and, flexible.
References
Wow Rukmali , Very unique and amazing Topic . Since millennials are already the largest segment in the workplace, there should be proper and matching approach to manage millennials. If organizations follow typical methods they will not be able to get the maximum outcome from millennial work force. The key to manage millennials effectively is flexibility and opportunity for them to grow. Thank you so much for sharing this info.
ReplyDeleteRumali, thank you for unveiling an important and timely topic through your blog. Being Millennials themselves, we have the best experience of working with Generation X and others in our work places. As you have very correctly mentioned, we do like to move with the modern technology and to share our knowledge and experience specially in the social media. Furthermore, technology has become a part of our lives as well as the innovation. Also, as a fact the Work From Home strategy has also immensely supported the millennials to improve their work life balance factor. Great to go through the facts you have shared. Keep up the good writing.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Wathsala.
DeleteHi Rukmali, according to the forbes, by 2025 millennials (the generation born between 1980 and 2000) will make up 75% of the world's working population. While it is significant not to generalize too much, millennials as a whole do own characteristics and motivations that differ significantly from earlier generations in regards to the office. To get the most effective from their millennial employees, managers must realize this and adapt their management style accordingly.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Nadun.
DeleteWell written article Rukmali, Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMillennials presently make up a sizable portion of the labour market, and they march to their own drum. They are changing the workplace atmosphere, and HR team and Managers must recognize their workstyles as they will continue to be the larger portion of workforce for another couple of decades. Management and managers must reconsider people strategies, changing the spirit of the workplace, launching new development procedures, and developing interactive, values-based, and flexible engagement models to establish and retain millennial engagement (Berger, 2020).
Thankyou for the valuable feedback Fayaz.
DeleteThank you for bringing up such an important study. Rukmali, In HR, complaining about managing Millennials, a generation that is frequently branded as difficult and arrogant, has become a new challenge. If you Google "managing Millennials," you'll find a lot of information on how to deal with that kind of group of people. You've written an excellent article with a thorough description from your findings.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Praveen.
DeleteIt seems that millennials will stay longer if employers give them more freedom to do what they like to do. This means giving them a quiet space to work in. They love that. There is a strategy to work with them and companies have finally found them. Even if they are not the loyal baby boomer type, there is still a way to make them work.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Kanchana.
DeleteGood topic Rukmali.The complicated part of employing this new generation isn’t necessarily understanding them, but attracting and retaining them, which requires a bit of culture change on the part of executives and business leaders. The millennial workforce is looking for, and expecting, something a little different than the generations that came before them.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Bhashitha.
DeleteThe millennial generation must be prepared to face obstacles in the workplace because they will be under command of replace the previous generation in the future. Millennials must be able to deal with problems like as technological advancements, mentality shifts, expectations alignment, and performance expectations .Integrity, trust, constant change, & significant advances are essential parts of excellent human resource management for millennial employees.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Pradeep.
DeleteInteresting topic. It's worth bearing in mind that millennials tend to be well connected on social media channels and the internet community. This can be an asset to your company, especially for certain job roles. However, if a job isn’t living up to their expectations, a millennial will use their tech-savvy talents to look elsewhere..
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Mihirani.
DeleteGood job Rukmali. Entrance of Millennial's to the workforce created a challenge, but also an opportunity. In managing millennials HRM must rethink their strategies changing the spirit of the workplace, starting up the revolutionary development process, building engagement models that are interactive, values-based, and, flexible.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Harsha.
DeleteThe way to manage millennials has completely changed. a generation often perceived as markedly independent and stubborn. Also, millennials want to feel their work has a purpose that goes beyond their own self-development. Make sure you explain how each project contributes to the customers’ in the end, what’s important when managing millennials in the workplace is to listen to your team members’ individual needs.
ReplyDeleteAs Millennials move into the workforce, stories criticizing the perceived neediness, disloyalty, sense of entitlement and overall casualness in Millennials' approach to work continue to surface in both the popular and academic press. Organizations have begun to pay attention as well, recognizing that managers are having trouble managing their “young people. “Normally leaders consider common stereotypes of employees from the Millennial generation in the context of the educational, political, economic, and social contexts present during their formative years, suggesting that management style may be the key to successfully leveraging Millennial employees' talents.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Parami.
DeleteMillennials might be difficult to manage, but understanding how they think can help you better manage both their talents and their faults. Implementing modifications in management style to accommodate millennial mindsets can pay off now and in the future. Improved morale, lower attrition, and more employee engagement can all result from managing millennials in a way they understand.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the valuable feedback Nadeeshan.
DeleteEven though it is hard to handle the Millennials, they were born in an electronic era which make them more familiar to technology and it helps the organizations to compete the technological changes in the business environment.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Oxford Living Dictionaries describes the Millennial as "Persons reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century or Persons who were born between the early 1980s to the late 1990s".
Thankyou for the valuable feedback Gangani.
Delete