By 2025, three quarters of the Australian workforce will be made up of the millennial generation. It’s time to rethink your workforce management strategy if you want to attract, engage and develop your millennial employees.  

These tips and insights will help you understand how to lead millennials in the workplace. After all, they are your business’ future.

How to engage and retain these well-connected, multi-tasking, tech savvy, collaborative individuals

Your management style and attitude:

  • Lead by example. Actively embody the traits and values you want your staff to emulate and give them reasons to be loyal.

  • Be genuine, authentic, collaborative, inclusive, aware and decisive.

  • Seek a role model to become your mentor, someone you respect, trust and want to follow, and who can guide your career wisely.

  • Be an exceptional listener.

  • Be an advocate for your team.

  • Share your vision and show optimism for the future.

  • Avoid taking divisive positions.

  • Explore all avenues to allow them to build relationships, have meaningful work, and make a difference.

  • Acknowledge and recognise their achievements and contributions.

  • Communicate openly and transparently and be clear about your expectations.

  • Look for the individual ‘greatness’.

  • Embrace and respect the diversity among generations in your team and show it.

It’s time to rethink your workforce management strategy if you want to attract, engage and develop your millennial employees.

Processes and practices

  • Create a culture where ‘working together’ is non-negotiable. Make it respectful, open and inclusive, where all of the team can share who they are without fear of being judged.

  • Aim for gradual change rather than radical transformation.

  • Be accepting and supportive of flexible work arrangements.

  • Create career paths with a timeframe short enough for them to envision. Reward small successes along the way.

  • Describe the results you’re looking for and then let them work out how to get there.

  • Find ways for them to share responsibilities.

  • Give them an opportunity to grow. Foster new skill sets and develop opportunities for the career development of individual team members.

  • Give them exposure to different parts of the business, and help them build relationships with other employees.

  • Give them benefits and perks that directly impact their lives and the lives of their family members.

  • Give them meaningful projects where they can work in teams and solve problems collaboratively.

  • Show them how they can make a difference.

  • Hold them accountable for mistakes and praise them for success.

  • Integrate technology into the workplace wherever possible and give them the best tools for collaboration and execution.

  • Promote the ethical ways that your company contributes to society. Start this at the recruitment stage.

  • Provide a relaxed, informal workplace and encourage communication outside of work.

  • Provide helpful connections, coaching and mentoring on workplace leadership.

  • Provide training and learning opportunities.

  • Provide tuition reimbursement and employee training to foster millennial leadership.

  • Limit meetings to when there’s a real need.

  • Respect individual autonomy. Allow them to be self-sufficient and independent.

  • Shorten the feedback loop. Do reviews at least quarterly.

  • Communicate by email, instant messages, stand-up meetings or corporate broadcasts.

Some light bulb bright ideas

  • Identify local opportunities that are ‘good causes’ and involve them where possible with work projects.

  • Open up the office to allow for open collaboration, sharing of information and contribution to decision-making.

  • Assign work to teams and have them present the finished product to the entire department. This encourages teamwork and allows everyone to be across projects.

  • Consider compensation, benefits and incentives from the millennials’ perceptive, based on what motivates them.

  • Fuel the high expectations of ambitious millennials with special assignments outside their job descriptions.

  • Consider putting them on a task force to solve a problem or involve them in your company’s social media.