5 Ways to Motivate Millennial Employees

Haven’t you noticed that everyone keeps talking about Millennials? Is there any other topic in this world that needs discussing apart from the Millennials being “spoiled” or Millennials being “sell-outs” or “privileged”, sometimes even “la-di-da”? Grand issues like… Hunger? Wars? Trump? No? Okay then. Let’s talk about Millennial Employees.

So what if we’re a little different to the drab and dull 9-to-5 generations? Aren’t things supposed to get gradually exciting as the times change? We’ve brought the excitement, so there you go. Now, it is your turn to appreciate it.

Unfortunately, what keeps on happening is that we’re mostly treated like nothing more and nothing less than Capitalistic slaves, despite essentially being its power wheel. This may be due to the fact there are so many of us, and everyone is either equally good or better than the next one. The initially healthy competition for success got us collectively spinning and we’ve allowed our intellect and drive to be misused and striped for a point.

Anyhow, even with the pretty bad conditions most of us are working in, we still haven’t lost the drive – and I love that about us. It seems like the more they are knocking us down, the faster we’re getting up – each time with an even better idea for victory. Sweet, isn’t it? You know we’re the people you want on your team. It’s clear as day.

A message to all the boss-men and boss-women out there: to make us even better employees than we already are, treat us well. Not sure how? Here are a few points to help you out:

1. Stop humiliating us with that salary

Sure, we absolutely understand the meaning of “working yourself up to a position” but there is a (fine) line between offering the money you can actually support yourself on and money you can barely pay for cat food let alone a flat.

Your Millennials will be thrilled and happy to come to work knowing you are appreciating their work by giving them a solid wage. Their sole focus will be on YOUR projects and YOUR firm which will ultimately lead to the blossoming of your company. If your Millennial employees don’t earn enough money at your firm, they’ll be forced to take up another job, sometimes even two. This will leave them exhausted and not even remotely motivated, and hence – not fully dedicated to your projects. Is that what you really want?

On that note, we could really use some employee benefits, we really could.

2. Emphasize relationships more than structure

Forget about suffocating offices and cubicles and find ways to make the working environment pleasant and motivating. Millennials like to build strong interpersonal relationships, so it’s up to you to help them reduce the distance between their coworkers and supervisors, both physically and socially.

Millennials are very open-minded. They hate being reduced to a definition or an expectation. Dismantling unnecessary barriers is key for their feel-good at their workplace as well as creating opportunities for fashioning meaningful connections.

3. Be liberal with trust, autonomy, and creative freedom

To work successfully with us, you need to trust our vision. There’s no Millennial in this world (of an ambitious kind, at least) who enjoys being stifled or limited in terms of creative input, ideas and an imaginative approach to projects> So try to believe in them when they’ve got atypical solutions and fresh ideas.

If you’ve heard Millennial employees are changing jobs more than any generation before, you’ve heard right. We do. However, to make something clear – this isn’t due to our being aimless or disloyal. It’s due to our inner drive for success, pushing us to places that offer better work environments and conditions.

We micromanage like it’s the simplest thing in the world; appreciate it, please and trust us. Have you had it with all the boring, same-old-same-old stuff? Sure you have.

Also, most of us are filled with bursts of creative energy at strange times which is why we can’t really handle work hours well. The brilliance just happens, whether it is early in the morning or late at night. Don’t limit us – give us the freedom and flexibility to get the job done on our own terms. If you do, we’ll turn your business into gold.

4. Provide frequent feedback

We like to know where we’re at and what our employees would want to see different. Even though nobody likes hearing they haven’t done stuff right, we still put our egos aside and take our employees’ suggestions as constructive criticism. It’s making us better.

A supervisor who respectfully talks to his Millennial teammates and gives them guidance about both good and bad stuff is a Millennial-respected supervisor. Be one.

5. Avoid the BS

BS stands for bullshit, by the way.

Millennial employees are all about respectful relationships, morality and telling it like it is. They gravitate towards supervisors who are accessible and relatable, and they create phenomenal projects with people who are as open as they are.

Don’t go around lying to your Millennials about the expectations, salary, working conditions, or your own background. Just be yourself and be okay with it. Millennials will love the honesty and work to find a middle ground with you – just give them some credit, okay?

There’s plenty more to say but let’s keep things basic this time around. Work through these successfully and you’ll get a few more tips for even more successful collaboration with your Millennials.

Image Courtesy of Depositphotos