There is a lot of discussion about how to manage and motivate Millennials in the workplace. Michael Fertik, an
Internet entrepreneur and author of “The Reputation Economy” (Crown Business, 2015), says twenty-somethings are especially hungry to learn and to receive affirmation that they are doing a good job. “The best ones are motivated much more by incremental education and acknowledgement than by a modest bump in salary,” he states in an article for Harvard Business Review.Here are Fertik’s other suggestions for keeping younger employees engaged:
Throw them into the deep end on their first day.
Give them decision-making authority on at least one mission immediately. If they don’t know how to do it, tell them to figure it out. Even talented younger employees may be tempted to ask questions they can answer themselves. If you tolerate learned helplessness, they won’t improve. If letting them solve something on their own feels too risky, reconsider assigning the project in the first place. Once they have completed the objective, give clear feedback immediately. Postmortems are critical accelerators of their learning process.
Publicly reward junior members who are doing a great job.
Praise in front of peers is the traditional method, but an effective alternative is ask the employee in front of others what he or she thinks of an idea, especially when the debate has been among senior people. The question itself is confirmation of the employee’s growth within the company, and it will raise that person’s status in the eyes of his or her peers.
Ask frequent questions.
When you ask junior colleagues a question like, “What’s the dumbest thing we’re working on?” it shows that you invite and insist on truth telling and hearing bad news. It stimulates younger employees to think for themselves and affirms their contribution of ideas.
Emphasize long-term rewards and set an example.
Despite their oft-reported reputation of being entitled ingrates, the best employees in their twenties admire people who focus on longer-term rewards. Letting them see that you are resisting some forms of short-term pay or comfort will fire them up to do the same.
Set short-term projects.
There is truth to the notion that young employees have short attention spans. You need to adapt as a manager. Set daily and weekly goals. Setting quick and predictable turnarounds creates high-velocity rhythms and a happy, productive-feeling younger work force.
Fire those who are not performing.
Younger workers are disproportionately affected by seeing others slide by in their jobs. Excellent junior colleagues start to resent their less-competent peers and the boss who keeps them. Middling-quality junior colleagues emulate the bad ones who aren’t fired.
Beware of setting up high-performing 22-year-olds with 28-year-old managers.
Too many managers in their late twenties are threatened by super-smart colleagues in their early twenties.
Don’t make the rookie mistake of creating false reasons for praise.
Younger people have contempt for what they perceive as political baloney. Fake it, and they’ll know, and they won’t trust praise when you really mean it.
