Author: Blake Hodges
1. Lack Feedback
There are a couple of factors that have gone into driving millennials to the be type of people who depend and expect a steady stream of feedback. First, this is the generation that is use to receiving grades with their score and critiques at the click of a button. If they took a test that morning in college, there is a good chance they had all the feedback on that grade uploaded to their college’s educational hub the same night. Secondly, this generation’s soul is fueled by the constant chatter of their cell phones. If they are going to be going out with friends that night, plans can be made in an instant via text. There is no need to set things up long in advance when the entire friend group can correspond in the group message rapidly. Millennials want feedback 50% more often than other employees. Does your organization have a system in place to ensure they are receiving this?
Conclusion: Millennials have always had quick feedback on the quality of their work and expect rapid communication. Thus, feedback on their performance must be given regularly rather than quarterly. This is an immense benefit to businesses if they will realize they have a workforce ready for direction and constructive criticism.
2. Lack of Leadership Development
Millennials were conditioned to believe that leadership skills were the greatest thing they could possibly develop. Want to get into a good college and get a good job? Better join some extracurricular clubs in high school to ensure your college resume is filled with leadership experience! With 71% of millennials planning to leave their job in the next two years because of their leadership skills being underdeveloped, it is clear that the training to become leaders hasn’t left the millennial mindset.
Conclusion: Companies have to find a way to give millennials leadership opportunities early on to ensure employee retention.
3. Lack of Flexibility
The broad phases of the economy have brought us to an interesting position. With the industrial age, everyone needed to show up to work to ensure products were being made. These jobs were called the “blue collar” jobs and the next phase came with the “white collar” jobs. After more and more jobs started to develop where people worked in offices on their computers, the same rigid schedule stayed in place but the work was on a computer rather than a production line. The millennials now want to be the “no collar” generation. They can unplug their laptops from the company, wear a tee-shirt, and work from home just as easily as they could in the office. With 75% of millennial employees wanting to work from home more, it is clear that the rigid 9-5 that build the economy is now hampering it.
Conclusion: Companies should strive to find some activities that millennials can accomplish outside of the office.