By 2025, Millenials will compromise 75% of the workforce
acc to World Economic Forum. Millenials are joining the workplaces in
large numbers . Today , if you talk to any of the HR Leader, the top
most question on their mind is How to Manage and Engage the Millenials.
Millenials are the people born after 1980. While earlier
generations ie Baby Boomers, Gen X followed the top down corporate
structure, Millenials like to operate in Networks .
Their mindset is all about networking . They have grown up
with new technologies . Social Media is their way of Life. Therefore ,
Gen Y or Millenials expect different employment experience . They are
more comfortable with flat structures vis a vis hierarchies. Command and
control style of management doesn’t work with millennials therefore
Managers will have to learn to give up control. This is a new management
shift that managers will have to deal with caused by rising number of
Millenials in the working population. Millenials grew up in an
environment where they have a say in everything from electing Leaders to
choosing vacation destination for Family.
They want their voices to be heard and have the need to
have their inputs in collective decision making. They are not
comfortable with decisions being taken at the top and thrown at them
which affects their lives directly. The need to lend their share of
voice is greater.
At IBM, the policy to use Uber for transportation was
shaped because a Millenial wrote a blog that UBER is cost effective .
Leaders took note of his blogpost and within 24 hours , policy decision
was accordingly modified and adjusted. You cant ignore millennials .
The employer culture, salary, every aspect of working
environment is openly discussed at Glassdoor by Millenials. If they
don’t like something, they highlight it . Leaders are paying attention
to glassdoor in terms of what is being said about their Brand, culture,
management, leadership.
Millennials thrive on fresh goals and challenges to keep them motivated
They embrace technology just like fish to water. Their
working lives doesn’t have 9 to 6 schedule but are connected 24 by 7 .
In this hyperconnected world, they demand flexibility – the ability to
do work anytime, anywhere. Hence more companies are offering
Telecommuting or flexi work or work from home to their employees.
Millenials have also started occupying Leaderahip positions
at workplaces. So we see, a new breed of startups , and fresh thinking
coming up at big corporates. They bring new perspectives of how work
gets done . They have underlying desire to shape workplace policies, to
make a contribution, to play a role which contributes to society. Their
communication style is open and transparent. They are open to be
mentored , place emphasis on networking to succeed at work and at life.
They demand flexibility and use mobile phone and apps for routine and
specific tasks. In fact , they are the ones who are building these new
apps for making lives easier.
Millenials are different and shaping up the Future of work
and workplaces. It wont be prudent of any Leader to ignore this pool of
Talent, to move the organization forward. Invest in Millenials, develop
their Leadership skills and learn to include them in decision making to
ensure they remain engaged , productive and effective at workplaces.
