How to Prepare Your Workforce for Millennials

The number of millennials in the workplace has grown significantly in recent years. According to the Pew Research Center, “Millennials are expected to overtake boomers in population in 2019 as their numbers swell to 73 million and boomers decline to 72 million.” This generation has a different work style, goals and skills, which you should keep in mind when assimilating them into your team. Here are some tips for preparing your workforce for millennials.

Provide Flexibility

The idea of the conventional nine-to-five job seems antiquated to many younger workers. A common thread between millennials is an emphasis on providing real value to their employer rather than just working 40 hours a week. That’s why it’s nice to offer as much flexibility as possible with your scheduling and general working arrangements.

This might mean allowing employees to vary their arrival or departure time, work fewer hours or have telecommuting options. While there will likely be limitations to how flexible you can be, this can be huge for recruiting and retaining high level talent.

Offer Continual Feedback

Another part of the workplace that seems outdated to the millennial generation is the standard performance review. Instead, most prefer to keep an open line of communication and receive consistent, ongoing feedback. This format makes it so they know what they’re doing right and what needs improving so they can continually better themselves.

Provide Development Opportunities

You’ll find that very few millennials are satisfied with a job that has zero advancement opportunities. This makes them feel like they’re stagnating and stunting their career progress. While it’s not possible to promote every single person, it’s nice to give younger workers a chance to develop and sharpen their skills.

Embrace Mobile Technology

A 2016 Syntonic report found, “87 percent of companies rely on their employees using personal devices to access business apps, and six out of 10 companies had a bring your own device (BYOD)-friendly policy in place.” And it should come as no surprise that most millennials are quite fond of mobile devices and technology in general.

A final way to prepare your workforce is to adopt mobile technology if you haven’t done so already. This naturally accentuates their skill set and can make your workplace more productive.

With millennials comprising such a large percentage of the workforce, now is the time for your company to adapt. Following these strategies will help you create an environment where both generations are able to work together and thrive.

Could your recruiting use some improvement? Get in touch with Encadria Staffing Solutions today.

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