Incorporating millennials will require changes at the office

If you haven’t already hired a millennial, chances are you will soon, and if like us, the majority of your office or company is filled with baby boomers who will soon be transitioning out, you need to be aware of some of the differences you may encounter between the two groups.

Some of the obvious differences are just between having older workers and younger workers.  Thought processes for younger workers are often different from those of older workers. Younger workers seem to be able to “think outside of the box” more readily, because they haven’t been in “the box” as long.

One of the things we have noted is that millennials need more social interaction. They are not as satisfied sitting in a cubicle all day without some type of regular interaction with fellow employees. So, be prepared for regular breaks to talk and chat. You can make this more productive by scheduling short breaks for employees to talk about specific tasks or projects.  In other words, work on the offense, not the defense.

More teambuilding is also imperative.  Millennials are all about being relevant and making a difference and making it now. Corporate social responsibility is high on their list of priorities.  Planting trees, volunteering at local shelters, building a Habitat house are types of activities that can bringing employees together outside of the office and allow for more personal interaction while making a difference outside of your own company. It also reflects positively on your business.

If you cannot afford to take time away from work or have employees that are not able to perform such tasks, then you can shoot for smaller goals. Assign rotating team-building activities to one or two employees at a time, and let them decide what “in-house” team building they wish to do.  It can be as simple as celebrating one of the “national food days” and bringing in that food for a short break or conducting an employee scavenger hunt. You can limit this to once a month for 30 minutes or an hour, but it may be enough to keep employees looking forward to the next event.

Mentoring is also important with millennials. Let them know what your expectations are and how you would like them to accomplish these goals, but give them the leeway to find their own paths if those are more productive.

Understand that unlike baby boomers, millennials are much more apt to be transient. Whereas many of us work in the same company or organization for decades, they may not have that as their same goal. It will be up to you to make your company a place that they will want to stay.

They are a wonderful, bright group of young folks and we need to find ways to better incorporate them into our businesses.

For more information on this or other topics, contact us at contact@evansville.bbb.org or 812-473-0202.

Cathy Eichele, a contributing writer, has been president and CEO of the Tri-State Better Business Bureau since 1991.