How to Motivate Millennials in the Workplace?

Millennials have been changing the workplace ever since they stepped into the scene nearly a decade ago. Now, millennials are growing older and are climbing up the corporate ladder. There are many definitions of who “millennials” are, but the earliest year of when they emerged is 1980, which means the oldest millennials are now 38. So how can you motivate Millennials in the Workplace? ZenHR shows you how!

• Provide Encouragement and Regular Feedback

Millennials are often misunderstood and categorized as lazy individuals who do not take feedback and criticism lightly. In fact, research shows that millennials’ productivity rises when they receive regular evaluation and feedback. Keep in mind that it doesn’t mean you need to schedule long sit-down meetings on a daily basis; simple words of encouragement like “you did a great job on this task” or “thank you for your valuable input in this project” will go a long way.

On the one hand, any diversion in performance should be promptly expressed to your millennial employees, in other words, do not “sugar coat” feedback and give credit where credit is due. Let your millennial employees know that they are valuable members in your team and then proceed with pointing them in the right direction.

• Focus on Relationships

Craving social interactions is part of our human nature, but millennials take this need to a whole new level. Millennials prefer work environments that foster collaborative teamwork rather than the individualistic approach previous generations are used to. Research shows that 88% of millennials prefer a collaborative work-culture rather than a competitive one.

Taking this even further, millennials enjoy being friendly with the people they work with and some even prefer extending their friendships beyond working hours.   So, as an employer you should focus on relationships by dismantling all barriers between your employees to keep things interesting for them. Why not arrange quarterly fun and fruitful team bonding activities?

• Create a Fun Work Environment

We all admire the traditional values of respect and equality in the workplace; however, those values are not enough for millennials to feel happy at their work. Millennials are not looking only for a good salary and attractive benefits; they highly treasure a fun and flexible culture at work.

• Give Millennials the Flexibility That They Really Want

This talented generation does not believe in the number of working hours, but rather they believe in the quality and the outcomes of their work. Keep in mind that millennials were born in the age of technology where they believe in working anytime and anywhere, they expect flexibility in the workplace and they do not consider it as an added benefit.

As an employer, you have multiple flexibility options that you can offer to your employees, such as:

• Working from home or any place other than the office.
• Allowing certain employees to work part-time in order to accommodate for their other life responsibilities.
• Alternative work shifts where millennials can choose the schedule that suits them better.