How to Help Your Millennial Employees Thrive and Succeed

Many assumptions have been made about millennials in the workplace. One survey by Beyond.com found that only 22% of HR professionals believe millennials are team players. It also found that only 11% of HR professionals think Millennials are hard workers, and only 9% say millennials are able to lead.

With assumptions like these, the odds are stacked against millennials. However, with a few small tweaks to your approach in leadership, you can help millennials thrive in your business.

1. Listen to their ideas

Millennials often feel like their ideas aren’t taken seriously simply because of their age—and in many cases, they’re right. The age bias is a real concern when there are various generations working together on one team.

Millennials, however, have a lot to offer. This generation is well-versed in modern technology and is known for being creative with their approach to challenges. If you encourage them to speak up and show that you value their opinions, you’re more likely to harness their unique skill set. Keep an open mind when you have conversations with your millennial employees. You never know when you may learn about a new piece of technology that could make doing your job a little easier or an out-of-the-box solution that might boost your revenues.

2. Set up lunch dates

Sometimes the reason why older and younger people struggle to connect is because they haven’t found common ground. Encourage millennials and other workers to get to know each other by creating a program that pairs younger/older team members and have them go to lunch together. For example, two people may both love golf. Once they get to talking about their strokes and favorite courses to play, they’ll have an easier time talking about work-related matters

3. Let the slang slide

Sometimes, what feels like a slang word to you might actually be an emerging linguistic trend. Instead of rolling your eyes at the way your millennial employees speak, try seeing it from a different perspective. This is how they—and potentially your buyers—communicate.

The best way to learn how to communicate with your fellow team members is to engage with them on a daily basis. If there’s a term you don’t understand, don’t feel ashamed to ask for clarification. Who knows, you might actually like it and come to use it yourself! Or, if you serve millennials, you can use this new lingo to improve your customer relations.

4. Don’t work in silos

One of the hardest things to do is delegate. Many people like being hands-on so they can ensure the job gets done exactly how they want it to get done. Does that sound familiar? It’s time to break the habit.

Don’t silo yourself off. Collaborate with your fellow employees of all ages. This type of collaborative work gives you deeper insights and more ideas for how to reach your goals. It’s beneficial for a few reasons:

• It lets your millennial employees learn your expectations.
• It gives your millennial employees a chance to feel heard and appreciated.

That last point is important. Millennials do their best work when they feel like what they’re doing matters, which brings me to my last point...

5. Give them work that matters

Perhaps even more so than other generations, millennials like to feel that the work they’re doing is making a difference. This can be a difference in your business reaching its goals or a difference in your customers’ lives. No matter what, millennials want and need to feel like a valued part of your team.

Hand over responsibility and let your millennial employees know why their performance on a specific project matters to the greater good. You’ll get the best results out of your employees this way.

Quick recap

Millennials have excellent ideas. Although they might speak a different language than some of your other employees, usually everyone can find some common ground. Encourage collaboration and teamwork, and give your millennial employees freedom to work on projects that matter to your business. Do this and you’ll watch your younger team members come to life in the workplace.