Insight Blog

Millennials have many positive personal and professional characteristics and they have the potential to become a powerful workforce generation. Due to their upbringing, these individuals can come across as being arrogant and overly confident. Getting beyond this initial persona is critical and knowing how to harness their optimistic views and enthusiasm is important for engaging and motivating them. In a study performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it was found that Millennials consider training and development the most highly valued employee benefit. And there are a host of other ways to increase the engagement of Millennials such as:

1. Make them feel empowered.

2. Offer them responsibility early in their roles.

3. Provide structure and constant attention from superiors.

4. Give them consistent feedback in real time (don't wait for performance reviews).

5. Describe the rationale for their work and the value it provides to the organization.

6. Incorporate socialization of employees by planning lunches or after-work activities as Millennials enjoy social interaction. These types of gatherings will also foster their relationships with the peers.

7. Reward them creatively with what really motivates them. For example, instead of focusing on cash bonuses, consider flextime, vacation days or the ability to work remotely. Keep in mind that Millennials are attracted to the prospect of customizing their benefits.