Although they are considered the most high maintenance generation, Millennials have the personal and professional characteristics to make them highly valuable to organizations. In this perspective article, understand how their upbringing impacted their views and work styles, and learn what it takes to engage them and to maximize their potential.

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Millennials:
Engaging Them & Maximizing Their Potential
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Effec%vely managing diverse workforce genera%ons can be challenging with each genera%on having its own unique views and work styles.
But these dynamics give companies the opportunity to build stronger teams and enhance workflow by strategically leveraging their internal
strengths. By doing so, companies can enhance employee engagement and con%nue to a@ract and retain highly talented professionals.
S%ll early in their entrance to the workplace, Millennials make up the genera%on of people born in the 1980s and early 1990s who are now
between 18 – 29 years old. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, there are 48 ‐ 50 million of these individuals. While all genera%ons are
different because of their upbringing and significant events that occurred during their childhoods, Millennials are similar in some ways to
other genera%ons and are unique in others. With their many posi%ve personal and professional characteris%cs, Millennials have the poten%al
to become a powerful genera%on.
How Millennials Were Raised:
Millennials are also known as “Genera%on Y”, the “overscheduled genera%on” and “trophy kids”. While “Genera%on Y” simply comes from
the fact that they succeed “X”, the “overscheduled genera%on” and “trophy kids” have more significant meanings. According to Chuck
Underwood, founder of The Genera%onal Impera%ve, Millennials were raised spending their days going from their parents to their teachers to
coaches or tutors and back to their parents. They tended to be overscheduled, have much less unsupervised %me than their parents and
mul%ple role models. As a result, they have a significant amount of respect and reverence for older people. The term “trophy kids” expresses
that Millennials were raised in a %me when all children received trophies at compe%%ons so that all were considered “winners” and
commended for their efforts.
Lavishly praised and having the belief that the world revolved around them, Millennials have a strong sense of en%tlement. It is said that they
are the most high maintenance workforce in the history of the world. Beyond that, they have probably seen more substan%al life‐changing
events early in their lives (global events and social changes) than preceding genera%ons. The most significant of those would be the
integra%on of technology into daily life and its impact and presence in their world.
Pe r s o na l Ch arac t e ri st i c s:
Assertive
Confident
Self‐reliant
Independent
Technology‐driven
Achievement – oriented
High morals and more spiritual than their predecessors
More open to new ideas and experimentation than previous generations
View technology as a natural part of their personal and professional lives
Aspire to globalism and consider themselves members of the global community
Well educated and strongly vested in sustainability and environmental concerns
Tendency to postpone serious commitments like career, marriage and parenthood

2. Pr o f e ssi o n al T r ai t s:
Extremely creative
Excellent problem solvers
Optimistic and enthusiastic
Desire to quickly excel in their careers
Thrive in a collaborative team environment
Focus on quick solutions by utilizing technology
Believe that work can be done anytime and anywhere
Work to achieve professional satisfaction and personal freedom
Enjoy working independently but with supervision and direction
Are job‐hoppers – if a better opportunity comes along, they will take it
Prefer to communicate in real time (texting, cell phones, instant messaging)
Respect for authority figures who demonstrate competence and advanced skills
Have unrealistic expectations of entry level positions and beginning their career
No attachment to typical career paths or common work patterns of prior generations
Recruiting Millennials
Millennials are the first genera%on who can be successfully recruited through social media. Growing up with the Internet, they gravitate
towards companies that proac%vely u%lize technology to a@ract and engage with their employees. They are familiar with Facebook, Twi@er
and a host of other social media venues. In fact, organiza%ons that have Facebook pages and Twi@er accounts have an advantage with
Millennials. Millennials refer to company web sites and Facebook pages to learn more about an organiza%on, its reputa%on, its employees
and anything else they desire to know. So what are the top three things that Millennials want to know about a prospec%ve employer?
✓ Is the company globally responsible?
✓ Is the company innova%ve?
✓ Is the company progressive?
If an organiza%on is not at least one of these things, it mostly likely does not have a chance in a@rac%ng Millennials.
Engaging Millennials
Due to their upbringing, Millennials can come across as being arrogant and overly confident. Gehng beyond this ini%al persona is cri%cal and
knowing how to harness their op%mis%c views and enthusiasm is important for engaging and mo%va%ng 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:
➡ Make them feel empowered.
➡ Offer them responsibility early in their roles.
➡ Provide structure and constant a@en%on from superiors.
➡ Give them consistent feedback in real %me (do not wait for performance reviews).
➡ Describe the ra%onale for their work and the value it provides to the organiza%on.
➡ Incorporate socializa%on of employees by planning lunches or aier‐work ac%vi%es as Millennials enjoy social interac%on and it will
foster their rela%onships with their peers.
➡ Reward them crea%vely with what really mo%vates them. For example, instead of focusing on cash bonuses, consider flex%me,
vaca%on days or the ability to work remotely. Millennials are a@racted to the prospect of customizing their benefits.

3. Enhancing Millennials’ Productivity and Value
Millennials can offer immense value to organiza%ons because of their crea%vity, innova%on and self‐determina%on. Companies must
remember that employees of this genera%on want more from their careers and they want to excel quickly. That is why it is impera%ve that
firms implement ways to help Millennials to be more produc%ve and valuable thus allowing them to progress more rapidly within their
organiza%ons.
To increase their produc0vity and performance:
➡ Assign Millennials special rota0onal assignments. These tasks will keep them challenged and give them a sense that they are gaining
a variety of experiences.
➡ Discuss performance benchmarks and metrics. Like employees of Genera%on X, Millennials prefer to know what is specifically
expected of them and what they have to do to succeed in their roles.
➡ U0lize their crea0vity. Challenge them to develop new ways of streamlining processes and/or saving money.
➡ Provide them with clear instruc0ons, concrete goals and deadlines. Millennials work best with having shorter, smaller deadlines
instead of one long‐term deadline. There are two reasons for this ‐ they enjoy accomplishing tasks in small steps and they tend to
procras%nate with longer deadlines.
➡ Give them a mentor. According to PwC, 98% of Millennials said they believe working with strong coaches and mentors is an
important part of their development.
➡ Allow them to work in teams. Regardless of whether or not you put them on a team, they will seek one out because they do not like
to make decisions on their own and they prefer to gather feedback first. Companies should take this as an opportunity to partner
them with a talented Genera%on X employee who can have a posi%ve affect on them.
➡ Teach them how to interact and communicate professionally in the workplace. Many Millennials would rather text or email than
meet face‐to‐face and it is beneficial to break this habit early on. They have a tendency to use shortened words and sentences
(tex%ng language). Therefore, many Millennials have difficul%es wri%ng using correct punctua%on and grammar. Consider ways to
improve their wri%ng skills.
Sources: The Genera%onal Impera%ve, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Author: Sami L. Barry, Strategic Business Development, Helbling & Associates To subscribe to Helbling’s quarterly
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