There’s much to say about millennials and their unique preferences when it comes to jobs , technology, and brands . In the workplace, they are often labeled rather callously as “lazy” or “self-absorbed,” but all these may only be stemming from how and where they grew up—in an environment very different from what it had been three decades back. Now, millennials are coming in big waves to many outsourcing companies, dominating over the workforce structure.
And managers are struggling. A study from Bentley University said that 68% of corporate recruiters are having trouble managing a workforce of digital natives, who come with many expectations and high attrition rates. To bring out the best from this generation, here are eight actionable employee training techniques to enrich their learning experience.
1. Answer the “why.”
Millennials are likely to immerse themselves in something if they fully understand its purpose and their role in bringing that purpose to life. Emphasize how they fit into the bigger picture, and you ll notice how this motivates them to invest their best capabilities.
2. Training Program
When designing your training program and developing instructional manuals, understand that because millennials spend most of their time in digital platforms, they’ve become used to skimming instead of thoroughly digesting content. This makes long pieces of content challenging to absorb. Shorter content with straight-to-the-point pieces of information have become more memorable, accessible, and applicable for them.
3. Provide constant feedback.
Millennials are always hungry for feedback—whether it s a compliment, constructive criticism, or inputs into their performance and how they can do better. This is useful not only for your workforce, but also for the company. Look at it as an opportunity to fine-tune the quality of your team s outputs while honing the skills of your employees.
Perhaps millennials are very much different from the previous generation because they were born into a highly digital world. And because they’re so familiar with it, technology is one of the best ways to engage them. Employee training techniques that incorporate social media or online discussions can promote learning and collaboration among millennials, and can help keep them from losing interest during training.
5. Offer flexibility.
The flexibility that millennials crave is not solely in terms of work schedules or dress codes. They also want flexibility in terms of how much the workplace allows them to express their own ideas and individuality. Outsourcing companies should watch out for this, due to the rigid systems common in this type of industry.
6. Clarify your expectations.
Along with the millennials’ limited exposure to the corporate world is their inexperience in understanding and keeping to heart exactly what is expected from them. Clarifying what you, the company, and its clients expect from them will help avoid miscommunications and encourage them to adjust their own standards as well.
7. Promote meaningful collaborations.
Teamwork and networking are everything that matters to millennials. A workplace that encourages them to collaborate with others in achieving specific goals is a healthy work environment for them. So rather than viewing social media as a distraction, welcome this idea by using it as a tool to engage your millennial workforce.
8. Emphasize the job’s deeper purpose.
Millennials are known for their proactive participation in meaningful causes. By making them understand the value of their job, you are actually motivating millennials to focus on the organization’s goal as you help them attain success in their own way.
Millennials possess a tremendous potential to push your organization closer to success. The most crucial step is to embrace this generation s uniqueness, and tap into their individuality to unleash what they are capable of.
