“My Millennial employee is lazy, my gen-y intern is rude…blah blah blah,” I’ve heard it all! And since I doubt that every Millennial is lazy and rude, this behavior may be a result of poor management. So, if you are managing a Millennial, whether as an intern or employee, and you aren’t getting the results you are hoping for, ask yourself these questions:
1. Does my Millennial employee have enough work to do? – This is the most important thing you can ask yourself! Millennials get bored easily, actually we get bored reallyyy easy! And if a Millennial don’t have enough work to do her/she is going to find some way to stay entertained. So do us all a favor, and give us work to do.
2. Have I let my Millennial employee be a part of the decision making process for our projects?- Now I know what you are thinking, “Why does my Millennial deserve to be a part of the decision making process when they are just my assistant/coordinator, etc?” But the truth is that Millennials are smart, so ask for our feedback and you are likely to see things you may have missed before by involving us in the decision making process.
3. Have I asked my Millennial employee for advice or feedback on his/her work? – Millennials want to feel valued, so if you never ask us about or give us feedback on the work we are doing, why are we doing it? Ask your Millennial about their work and they will fill you in on everything, and maybe even help you with your own work.
Open communication is the key to managing Millennials, so next time you think your employee is being rude or lazy make sure you’ve asked yourself these questions.
What do you think Millennial managers could do better?
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All so true Blake. I suspect the same could be said for most generations though. Here are some other thoughts (most of which could also go for any generation):
- provide opportunities for team work
- keep meetings efficient
- provide structured orientations plus opportunities for professional development
- let them show you how to fix that powerpoint thingy or that neat thingamabob on the interweb doohicky
Thanks for your comment Trina! I totally agree that providing opportunities for team work is one of the best ways to engage Millennial employees.
Great suggestions,
Another one that is really important is to let them know exactly what your expectations are. How long are they expected to be in the office every day? How much work needs to be done? What should the priorities be?
It seems to a lot of Gen X and Boomers that these questions are easy to answer: 9 Hours, As much as possible, and Whatever is most important. The trouble is not, as I’ve been told several times, that Millennials can’t think for themselves, make decisions, or are trying to be lazy. It’s that our priorities may be different than yours. You’re the boss, let us know what your priorities and expectations are, clearly and sincerely, and we’ll meet them. If we can’t we’ll let you know and we’ll go find a different job.
It comes back to that communication point. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told that something was to be done, and let to figure out how to do it, then told that my method wasn’t right because it’s not how my manager would have done it, regardless of the efficacy of the results. What my manager really meant by “Get this done.” was “Do this in this exact way.”
Thanks for the tips, Blake