These days I am being asked by the "C's" in organizations to give workshops on how to bring Millennials into big business and I really enjoy the experience of sharing that knowledge. The most frequent question I get is:
"Is it worth trying to "fix" our Millennial "problem" or should we just skip the "pain-in-the-ass generation" and wait for the next one coming up? (They seem easier to deal with)".
Before I answer that question, let me tell you how I know what I know about Millennials:
I spend over 1,000 hours a year one-on-one life coaching troubled teens and young adults who are struggling to succeed, who have given up talking to Boomers about why they are having problems because they feel they are never truly heard.
I help these Millennials find their personal power and get them to excel in whatever field they set their hearts to. What I discover is that once they are no longer focused on the label foisted upon them and start to build up simple small successes... they have greatness within them.
I have no doubt that they will be leaders in their fields one day soon and change a great deal of how business is done. Also, as of 2015, Millennials have overtaken Boomers as the biggest demographic ever!
To learn how and why we should mentor Millennials in the workforce, let's look at an unusual source:
Finding the right people that we seek in the new paradigm:
In an article entitled "Why doesn't anybody copy Apple?" Asymco's Haroce Dediu said the following:
"It's complex, it's subtle, it defies explanation but it's not magic. It's a process that requires a degree of faith and fortitude. It's collecting but ignoring data and trusting judgment when data tells you to move in a different direction. It's a lot of willful rejection of conventional wisdom. It's asymmetric approaches to competition. It's art as much as science. And most of all, it's a lot of mind-numbing polishing while trusting that only by doing great work is survival even possible."
That is also the definition of the Millennials that we meet.
Here are some questions every business should ask themselves today:
1)In a changing world, where desktop computing and marketing will be meeting the same fate as the Pogo stick, Fax machines, and Blackberrys, how can your company evolve while embracing Millennials, the first generation who experience life through social media on handhelds. A new generation who really want to impact their work environment in a profound way but require a whole new way to mentor them.
2)When do you have to shift to a new mindset before this generation becomes the new demographic of change makers in the next seven years?
3)What means can you employ to stay relevant when all of what is perceived of as the client landscape is changing faster than a rabbit at a fox convention.
Here are three simple things you can do to embrace, empower and mentor Millennials:
1) Open, honest and direct communication: Millennials in the workforce want to know how the tasks they are undertaking will make a difference in the overall goals of the place they emotionally invest in. The more clarity they have on an ongoing basis, the easier it will be for them to embrace the reason your company is/will be great.
2) Lead by inspiration: A key incentive for Millennials is happiness; down the list is financial gain. Help them be in an inspiring and enthusiastic work environment and make sure that the work is based on tasks and goals not a time-clock.
3) Opportunities for growth: Millennials want to grow as professionals and as people. Creating opportunities to learn and evolve are vital to attracting, retaining and engaging Millennials. Mentoring programs can help the entire culture grow your business and industry by letting the unconventional meet a new business landscape.
There you have it.
A beginning for a new way to look at one of the greatest generations since the great war. Embrace them! Dialogue with them and whenever possible, avoid commanding them... this is not that generation. This is the generation of asymmetry.
Interested in mentoring Millennials? Check out www.WorldWideYouthMentoring.com
Know a Millennial in need of mentoring? Check out www.RealLifeCoaching.ca