{"id":943,"date":"2014-08-14T13:16:58","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T13:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/hr-advice\/?p=943"},"modified":"2024-04-30T07:08:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:08:52","slug":"how-millennials-work-why-the-key-to-managing-millennials-is-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/how-millennials-work-why-the-key-to-managing-millennials-is-flexibility\/","title":{"rendered":"How Millennials Work: Why the Key to Managing Millennials is Flexibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millennials currently make up over one third of the North American workforce. By 2025, 75% of the global labor market will be millennials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This new generation of workers brings with it a shift in the nature of the workplace and in particular, how the workplace is managed.<\/p>\n

Millennial employees are not all that different from boomers.<\/p>\n

A recent article in Forbes, How Millennials Work Differently From Everyone Else<\/em><\/a>, shows that the two generations are really not all that different.<\/p>\n

Both value good communication, hard work, and advancement. Millennials just have a different approach and understanding of these values.<\/p>\n

Millennials are more flexible about communication, productivity, feedback, and work structure. To manage them, it is important to understand how to work with their desire for flexibility, not against it.<\/p>\n

Effective communication doesn\u2019t have to be face-to-face.<\/p>\n

Yes face-time is important, but many millennials find FaceTime to be just as good. A 2013 study of Gen Y executives<\/a> conducted by Cisco found that 87% of them believe video has a significantly positive impact on an organization.<\/p>\n

Millennials also tend to use texting, and email<\/span> as a major part of daily workplace interactions.<\/p>\n

A more flexible approach to communication is an important part of keeping younger team members engaged, and on the same page.<\/p>\n

Effective feedback doesn\u2019t have to be structured.<\/p>\n

The annual performance review is antiquated. Millennials want your feedback, they thrive on it, but they want that feedback in real time.<\/p>\n

Instead of pre-scheduled formal reviews, provide constructive criticism in the moment. This will encourage constant learning. Also make sure to provide positive feedback to encourage employees to keep working hard.<\/p>\n

When or where work gets done doesn\u2019t matter, so long as it gets done.<\/p>\n

Millennials place significantly less emphasis on structured working arrangements and hours than boomers.<\/p>\n

But the lack of structure does not seem to affect their productivity. The opposite may actually be true.<\/p>\n

According to Gallup\u2019s State of the American Workplace<\/a>, remote workers log more hours and are more engaged.<\/p>\n

Offering flexible work options is a way to improve retention and employee satisfaction. It is also a powerful recruiting tool for attracting Gen Y candidates.<\/p>\n

Being rigid with technology is a no win situation.<\/p>\n

Millennials are going to use Facebook at work. And Twitter. And Instagram.<\/p>\n

So you should ban social media at work right?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily.<\/p>\n

Taking short breaks to check out social media throughout the day can lower stress levels, and boost creativity.<\/p>\n

A recent study on social media in the workplace by Evolv<\/a> showed that workers who visited 5 or more social networks during their work day boasted higher sales<\/span> than their less socially active peers.<\/p>\n

Creating rigid social media policies won\u2019t do much to prevent its use, and makes you less appealing to millennial candidates.<\/p>\n

Instead, try having an open dialogue about the personal use of social networks, what is okay, what isn\u2019t, and trust your employees to know the difference.<\/p>\n

You may even be able to capitalize on your millennial employee\u2019s social media know how by getting them to help you grow your online brand.<\/p>\n

If all else fails, try company yoga. It works for Lululemon<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millennials currently make up over one third of the North American workforce. By 2025, 75% of the global labor market will be millennials. This new generation of workers brings with it a shift in the nature of the workplace and in particular, how the workplace is managed. Millennial employees are not all that different from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[149],"tags":[89,124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7121,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943\/revisions\/7121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}