WRA 101 Assignment: Ways of Managing Millennials at Workplace

Ways of Managing Millennials at Workplace
In the United States, millenials are a substantial part of the labor force today, and many more are entering annually. However, while their proportion of the labor force would only grow as people of the Baby Boomer generation continue retiring, many organizations still do not know what employees from the millennial generation want or how to manage such employees (Centre for Creative Leadership). Employees of the millennial generation have become the biggest demographic in the place of work. However, leaders in many business organizations have struggled in finding the most appropriate way of connecting with the wave of young employees in their 20s and 30s who work while wearing earbuds and mostly do their typing with their thumbs. A lot of leaders have relied upon stereotypes regarding millenials just to discover that they are not just untrue stereotypes, but the stereotypes are also not useful in managing this generation (Colvin). This research paper analyzes how employers can effectively manage employees from the millennial generation in the place of work by exploring the approaches that different scholars have put forward for managing this demographic of employees. The result shows that managers can adopt a wide range of approaches ranging from providing guidance and leadership, work/life balance, opportunities for feedback, promotion, and development, and giving frequent and positive feedback, to providing digital technologies in the place of work, and internal branding as this helps to engage and retain millennial employees. Internal branding serves to promote employee motivation, gives them a clear direction in their work, and helps to increase their organizational commitment.
As millennial employees enter the place of work, questions have been raised with regard to how managers can effectively motivate them and how their distinctive characteristics could translate to organizational commitment and membership. Some scholars hold the perception that the characteristics of this generation might possibly disrupt interactions within the place of work or complicate such interactions, which might have a negative effect on workmates and organizational processes (Myers and Sadaghiani 226). As a case in point, there are perceptions that from an organizational point of view, these young adults possess unattractive qualities like being disloyal, self-important, and impatient. In order to thrive and use the unique abilities of the millenials fully, many organizations believe that they should change their policies and rules (Myers and Sadaghiani 228). Other than these negative depictions of millenials, there also are a few positive depictions of them from the organizational point of view, for instance that they are more comfortable working with teams than the former generations, can see opportunities and problems from new standpoints, have capabilities with advanced information and communication technologies, and are more accepting of diversity than others. These attributes commonly associated with the millennial employees affect their capability of performing productivity within the organization and developing effective organizational relationships (Myers and Sadaghiani 229).
Millennial workers may express their interest in flexible career paths given that work/life balance is an important priority for them. Heathfield also shares the same sentiments when she noted that the manager needs to provide their millennial employees with a life/work balanced place of work. This is because these young adults are used to cramming their lives with a lot of different activities. They might spend a lot of their time with friends and family, spend time at company sports leagues as fans, walk for multiple causes, and even play on sports teams (Heathfield 10). Although millenials work hard, these employees do not like the 60-hour weeks defined by workers from the Baby Boomer generation. To them, their priorities are family and home. The manager should not ignore this. To the millennial employee, balance and multiple activities are of great importance (Heathfield 11).
There are 3 preferences of millennial employees that might be particularly important for interactions in the place of work and the development of work relationships. Firstly, this generation expects regular feedback and close relationships with their superiors. Secondly, millenial employees expect open communication from their superiors, even concerning issues that are usually reserved for more senior staffs. Thirdly, they like working in teams partly because they consider group-based tasks as being more fun also partly because they like avoiding risks. As a result of the expectations of millennial employees, organizations may need to alter their communication policies. Unlike other workers, millennial employees consider strong relationships with their superiors as being foundational for negotiating their roles at first, and for their lasting contentment within the organization. Generally, the satisfaction of employees with their job is greater whenever their superiors are open in their communication with staffs: making apt disclosures, soliciting input, creating a climate that is supportive, regular evaluation of employee job performance, conveying bad news, and sharing information. Millenials want this sort of communication with their superiors to be more affirming, more positive, and more frequent than has been the communication between managers and staffs of the other generations (Myers and Sadaghiani 334). For example, in today’s world of instant communication back and forth, employees of the millennial generation are not motivated or satisfied by annual or even monthly performance appraisals, rather having a preference for fifteen-minute check-ins every week via in-person meeting, conference call, or chat.
Millennial employees’ need for communication from their superiors, and even from their colleagues at the workplace, which is affirming in content and positive in valence may feel onerous to many seasoned and senior members of the organization. In essence, there need for affirmation comes from the steady encouraging messages that they have gotten from their coaches, educators as well as parents all through their formative years. Millenials also want lots of open communication from their managers and supervisors. As a case in point, they are not likely to accept a company policy that information is communication within the organization only on a need-to-know basis. Millennial employees, notwithstanding their subordinate positions, desire for their superiors to keep them in the loop of information (Myers and Sadaghiani 339).
These employees expect their superiors to freely share information like strategic plans while the top executives are formulating them. This kind of expectation is linked to the fact that this generation is not intimidated by people who are more senior in status or in age considering that they were encouraged as children to make friends with their parents and to befriend their parents’ friends. As adolescents, these people were comfortable conveying their views to grownups, expecting credibility in spite of their lack of experiences and young age. Moreover, their parents have encouraged them to challenge the authority. It is worth mentioning that with the increased communication and knowledge, the millennial employees may become aware of the organization’s strategic information plus other crucial information making them more competent, more informed and hence better partners with their companies. Managers might find that investing workers of this generation with more responsibility as regards wider issues serves to make them feel involved, which is an integral aspect for organizational commitment and attachment. In addition, more involvement might be helpful in keeping them from feeling uninterested and fed up with their job, which is a common cause for their premature turnover. Enhanced interaction might result in closer employee-manager working relationships that might be vital for millennial workers’ lasting relationship with their organization (Myers and Sadaghiani 449).
The other communication-related consideration with millennial employees for workplace interactions is certainly their ease as well as comfort in working in teams. In essence, self-managed and semi-autonomous work teams have become increasingly common in many companies since they lower costs of personnel, increase productivity, and enhance innovation (Myers and Sadaghiani 447). Interacting and working with other team members serves to make their work more pleasurable. This is as a result of project groups and group-based learning all through their school years and also because more than earlier generations, these young adults usually socialize in groups. When their work is done in a team or in a collaborative workgroup, millenials are likely to contribute their best efforts to the company, be fully committed and be involved actively (Espinoza, Ukleja and Rusch 17). Heathfield also noted that managers should make the most of this generation’s comfort level with teams. The manager should encourage their millennial employees to join teams and create a working environment that gives emphasis to teamwork. Millenials like to work in teams and groups.
Millennial is the first generation of people born into homes with more internet and technology. In addition, they were the first ones to grow up surrounded by digital media. As members of the millennial generation enter the labor force in the United States, they want to be capable of communicating with the use of technology, and want to do so in the most modern ways pos...