How to Manage a Team of Millennials - Research Paper Example

How to manage a team of Millennials

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Ideas about the Millennials, baby boomers and generation X3

Importance of managing the Millennials5

Importance of an effective team6

Leading a group of Millennials8

Developing the Millennials12

Managing the Millennials15

Managing the old generation employees and new generation employees16

Conclusion17

Reference List19

• Introduction

The success of an organisation primarily depends on the effectiveness of its workforces. According to Hershatter and Epstein (2010), the quality of the staff is more important than its quantity. On the other hand, managing the employees in a proper way is also a crucial aspect that contributes to the success of a company. However, for managing the employees, the employers are required to understand the perception of the staff. It can be assumed that with the changes in time, the insights of the employees across the organisations have changed drastically. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, by the end of 2017, the Millennials or Generation Y will be the largest workforce (PWC, 2015). As a large of number of student graduating, thus it can be assumed that the recent years can be peak employment years. Hence, it can be inferred that within the couple of years that the Millennials will surpass the older generation employees in terms of number. However, with the increased number of Millennials in the companies, the human resource (HR) managers have started to restructure the organisational policies due to the fact that these new generation employee’s posses a different outlook than the previous one. This paper intends to provide a thorough overview on the perception and demand of the Millennials to their employers. In addition, the paper also focuses on how the employers can manage a group of new generation employees in their organisation.

• Ideas about the Millennials, baby boomers and generation X

The generation of people who are born in the digital world of internet and social media, can be termed as Millennials. Wesner and Miller (2008) mentioned that technology has been included in the daily lives of the Millennials. Moreover, based on the previous researches, it can be inferred that Millennials in the USA are considered as the most diversified generation in terms of ethnically and radically. These Millennials are often termed as the Generation Y.

On the other hand, a baby boomer is considered as a person who was born between 1946 and 1964. Nearly, 20% of the USA people consist of the baby boomer (Thompson and Gregory, 2012). Hence, baby boomer contributes significantly on the countries’ economical growth.

Generation X represents those individuals who have born between the early 1960 and 1980. Generation X comprise many subcultures and eras. In order to assess the perception of the new generation employees in the organisation, it is important to understand the major characteristics of the Millennials.

The characterises of Millennials

Growth: It has been found that the average tenure of the Millennial is about 2 years (Glass, 2007). In contrast, for the Generation X and baby boomers, the period is approximately 5 years and 7 years respectively. However, 2 years of time can be considered quite insignificant in a professional career. In most of the cases, the Millennials do not like to stick to a particular job if they do not encounter any growth in their career. In this regards, Kaifi, et al. (2012), mentioned that the Millennials obtain a strong entrepreneurial mindset. Thus, the new generation employees often look for the opportunities that can help them to learn the entrepreneurial skills. Moreover, with the help of digital resources, the Millennials can offer the innovative solution to a critical organisational problem.

Mentors: The Millennials are more comfortable with the mentors rather than the boss (Nowak, Thach and Olsen, 2006). Millennials prefer to access the leadership. Based on the research, it has been observed that most of the Millennials have left their jobs due to the problem of boss. Although, the Millennials want a flexible work environment, continuous feedback and encouragement plays a vital role to motivate them.

• Importance of managing the Millennials

As mentioned earlier, the millennial generation that has born between 1980 and 2000, have started to join in the organisation, in a large number. Therefore, it can be inferred that these new generation people will shape the world of work for the coming years. In this regards, Yi, Ribbens and Morgan (2010) mentioned that for the future of the business, attracting the best of the millennial workforces has become crucial. The 21st century workplace can be defined through attitude, career aspirations and knowledge of advanced technologies of the Millennials.

Managing the Millennials is important from the perspective of the employers because they are not only different than the workforces of the previous generation but also quite significant in terms of the total number. By 2020, the Millennials will form 50% of the global workforces (Smith and Clark, 2010). Due to the different perception, attracting and retaining the new generation workforces in the organisation can be treated as a big challenge for the HR managers. It is an inevitable fact that the Millennials will be a powerful generation for the future and high skilled new generation people will be a high demand for the employers. The way of working of the Generation Y people can impose a stiff challenge for the management of the organisations.

Meriac, Woehr and Banister (2010) mentioned that the varied behaviour and attributes of the Millennials can be considered as a most alarming fact for the managers. However, Stevens (2010) argued that lack of responsibilities of the new generation people can affect the productivity of the companies. However, the extensive usage of technology has clearly differentiated the new comers from the others. Most of the Millennials have access of internet or smartphones which indicates that they have successfully embraced the digital world. As a result of that, the Millennials enter into the workplace with a better grasp of the strategic business tools compared to that of their previous generation people. The conventional rigid corporate structure creates causes uncomfortable to the Millennials. In other words, it can be stated that for handling the new generation staff, a different management style and corporate culture has become an integral part of the organisation. The companies like Google Inc. or Apple Inc. is successful in the recent years due to their capability of managing the generation Y employees. These firms have not targeted the Millennials; rather the Millennials have been attracted to join in these organisations due to their culture, management style and strategy to retention and recruitment.

• Importance of an effective team

The importance of a valuable team from the point of view of any organisation has been discussed as under:

Increased effectiveness: A team works to achieve a common goal or a set of objectives. As a result of that, the entire process becomes more effective. Andert (2011) added that in a team, the team members share the responsibilities. Thus, the work is completed faster and it allows the management to complete more projects within a given time frame. Therefore, it can be assumed that an effective team enables the company to improve the revenues.

Generation of ideas: With the help of team discussions, new ideas can be generated. According to Hershatter and Epstein (2010), during the consultation with the team members, a scope of creativity enhances. Moreover, in an effective team environment, the team members can suggest the new ideas in a better way. Team helps the people from diversified background to come together and create an optimal solution to a particular problem.

Offer a learning experience: As mentioned earlier that in a team, the people from varied domain accumulate and offer suggestions, it provides a great scope of learning for the team members. Professional development can be considered as one of the most important benefits of an effective team (Andert, 2011).The individual skills or knowledge can be enhanced by the other members of a team. Hence, it helps the concerned employees to improve attitude and job satisfaction.

Improved communication: The team activities demands a lot of verbal and written communication skills. Therefore, the communication skills of the individuals improved with the team activities. On the other hand, within a team, the team members communicate the requirement of the project to the others. Therefore, it results in the faster progress of the project.

Sharing workload: The team members work towards a common goal (Glass, 2007). Thus, the entire work load is being shared among the team members. The team members complement to each others. Therefore, the quality of the project is improved and the stress factor on the individual staff is reduced.

• Leading a group of Millennials

The exceptional nature of the Millennials has directed the employers to follow a different strategic approach of managing them. It has been observed that the Millennials look more than just a good job or designation (Thompson and Gregory, 2012). Rather, the new generation staff desires to be associated with a company that adds values to their personal career. Value addition has been given more importance by the Millennials than the monetary benefits.

Figure 1: Factors that attract the Millennials

(Source: PWC, 2015)

More than money: Millennials are attracted to the organisations that offer more than just money. However, it does not reveal that monetary benefits are not important for the Millennials. The figure also represents that 44% of the new employees have suggested that competitive wage is crucial for working in an organisation. In addition, the ambition and optimism of the generation is also important. While accepting a particular job, the Millennials are more practical compared to that of baby boomers or Generation X people. In addition, starting salary, location and the brand image of the corporations are also considered as important factors that motivate the Millennial staff to select an organisation.

The employers can lead a group of Millennials by incorporating the following strategies:

Training and personal development: From the report of consulting firms it has been found that the Millennials workers consider training and development initiatives more important than the cash bonuses (PWC, 2015). Therefore, to encourage these new generation employees, the employers are required to invest capital in the trainings and development based activities.

Treating as partners: The leaders are required to treat a group of Millennials as partners. Stevens (2010) cited that the Millennials do not prefer the power shown by their higher authority. Celebrating and appreciating the talent of the new generation employees is one of the best options to influence them. Rather than trickling-down empowerment, the Millennials want recognition through partnership.

Focusing on team: The importance of organisational brands has become less significant to the Millennials (Nowak, Thach and Olsen, 2006). Irrespective of the brand name, the new generation employees associate more with the team of co-workers. Hence, giving more focus on the team affiliation can be considered as a way to motivate and retain the Millennials.

Creating entrepreneurial scopes: The employees of Generation Y prefer to take the new challenges. Therefore, instead of offering the monotonous or conventional projects, the managers can provide challenging projects to them. It may help the Millennials to utilise their creativity. In this context, Glass (2007) mentioned that an opportunity to develop the entrepreneurial skill motivates the new generation employees significantly.

Creating loyalty: Millennials understand that during the period of economic slowdown, they may lose the job. On the other hand, the Millennials can also change the job for better opportunity. Hence, the employers are required to consider the growth of career of the Millennials. For example, providing the Millennials a scope to learn new skills can help the employers to create a loyal factor among the employees and improve the performance of the team.

Leading uniquely: Nowak, Thach and Olsen (2006) mentioned that the employers cannot create a particular standard for the Millennials. It is important from the employers’ perspectives to treat each of the new generation employees separately. Setting a particular standard may affect the morale of the Millennials.

Understanding new generation: One of the most important aspects for the leaders or HR managers of the concerned organisation is to understand the differences of generations in an effective way (Glass, 2007). In order to evaluate the differences between the older workers and new generation workers, the leaders are required to use metrics and benchmarking. In this case, the results of the employee engagement can be segregated into age group.

Approaching the right deal: The managers are required to explain the job dealings in a clear way to the Millennials. Hershatter and Epstein (2010) cited that the leaders need to develop a proper reward strategy that can motivate the people of the new generation. Customising the benefits from both employers and employees can be treated as a challenging task for the managers of any organisation.

Feedback: Providing continuous feedback can be considered as one of the most important aspects that can motivate the new generation staff. However, instead of waiting for the annual appraisals like the previous generation employees, more regular feedback are required for the employees of the new generation. Providing honest feedback in the real time can attract the Millennials (Smith and Clark, 2010). In the feedback, the Millennials want the highlights on positive contributions or the competencies.

Flexibility: For motivating the Millennials, it is crucial to provide flexibilities. Hershatter and Epstein (2010) mentioned that the Millennials perform well under the clear instructions and concrete targets. Providing a flexible work schedule helps the Millennials to work freely. Moreover, the leaders are not required to interfere too much about the tactics followed by the new generation staff to solve the particular problem.

Faster growth: The previous generation employees have the idea of career advancement on the basis of seniority or duration of service. In contrast, the Millennials prefer performance based progress. In order to meet the expectation of the Millennials, the employers are required to create more ranks or grades.

• Developing the Millennials

According to Meriac, Woehr and Banister (2010), the younger employees can be defined by the optimism and energy. A survey conducted by the consulting firm PWC, clearly indicates that the Millennials consider that everything can be achievable with the help of right focus and scope of learning (PWC, 2015). In addition, the survey result has also revealed that most of the new generation employees believe that they can progress in their career along with the advancement of the company. However, in reality, it may not be possible for everyone to achieve the desired position and it can create enough disappointment to the Millennials. Therefore, the employers are required to be careful enough about the development of the younger staff.

Most of the Millennials have the specific needs and prospect in terms of learning and career development. The new generation staff responds properly with the mentoring of older generation employees. In this regards, Glass (2007) mentioned that the Millennials prefer to perceive their boss as a coach who can support them in personal growth. However, the Millennials mostly like to learn through practical experience rather than following the conventional paths. Expectation of the praise for well performance can also be treated as a common aspect of the Millennials. It has also been observed that the companies that understand the relevance of setting clear targets and offering constructive feedbacks to the young staff have been able to attain the business objectives.

The gap of gender: Although, the Millennials expect the equality and diversity from the organisations; it can be found that in reality, most of the organisations are unsuccessful in meeting this expectation. The survey of PWC has revealed that only 55% of the surveyed staff has responded that they do not feel that the scopes are equal for all the employees (PWC, 2015). Particularly, the female Millennials are concerned about the gender biasness. In contrast, most of the male Millennials believe that equal opportunities have been given to by the organisations. The female Millennials believe that during the time of internal promotion, the male employees have been preferred by the employers. The survey has indicated that Spanish employers have been considered as the most biased to the males. On the other hand, in Brazil, the employers teat their employees equally. However, the male Millennials have better self-confidence to achieve the success compared to that of the female Millennials.

Learning process: One of the most important aspects for developing the Millennials is to provide them the opportunities to learn new things in the workplaces. The Millennials spend a significant amount of time in learning the new experiences and skill sets. Therefore, an excellent training and development program can be considered as a strategy to attract the Millennials. The most worthy opportunity that can drive the new generation employees is to work with the strong coaches and the mentors. The survey of PWC has found that 35% of the Millennials believe that the most important benefits that can be obtained from an organisation are to learn from the mentor (PWC, 2015). In most of the cases, the Millennials absorb the information while interacting with the senior management. In this context, Andert (2011) mentioned that mentoring program is the most effective one to relieve tensions between the younger and older generation.

However, the employers are required to be concerned about the process and structure of the training and develop program. As, the Millennials are more accustomed with the digital world, digital learning styles and delivery methods can be considered as the most effective one. In this case, the employers can adapt the online learning modules, webinars or interactive gaming sessions. Glass (2007) mentioned that the Millennials mainly prefer to the collaborative and accustomed learning pattern. A one sided lecture type of training session may not attract the Millennials. The employers can mix the classroom instructions, coaching, group learning and self-directed study as a process of training and development program for the Millennials. Additionally, the HR leaders have also found that the Millennials often require training on fundamental workplace behaviour and culture.

Global exposure: Over the recent years, the international exposure has been considered as one of the most crucial element for the successful career of the Millennials. Thompson and Gregory (2012) also supported that Millennials have a strong craving for working in the foreign countries. Most of the new generation employees prefer to work outside their country during the same stage of their work. In response to that, most of the global employers have started to take the necessary steps. The employers have focused on the international assignments or projects to provide the opportunities to the Millennials to work across the borders. Moreover, this strategy has also provided a flexible career path to the new generation employees.

In order to provide the global exposure to the Millennials, the most challenging questions faced by the employers is the preferred location of the employees (Smith and Clark, 2010). Developed economies such as US, UK and Australia have been treated as the most preferred destinations for work by the Millennials (Smith and Clark, 2010).

• Managing the Millennials

Although, most of the organisations in the 21st century believes that strict working hours and rigid framework are necessary to improve the performance in the industrial age; according to many researchers the Millennials are more productive when the flexibility have been provided to them. Most importantly, the employers desire to work in such a way that best suits them (Kaifi, et al. 2012). The connection between the home and office has become very sound with the advanced technology. However, a significant number of new generation employees still prefer to work in the office rather than working alone. Conventional working practices and old fashioned management style seem to reduce the productivity of the Millennials. In addition, the rigid hierarchies in the companies also affect the performance of the generation Y people. The Millennials are more focused on the quality of working rather than considering the duration of time spent in the offices.

A fully digital, creative and comfortable working environment can attract the Millennials. It has been found that the Millennials want to put hard labour. However, they may not prefer to sit in a cubicle all around day and work. The organisations that offer engaging, flexible and influencing atmosphere and provides a balance between the work and life can attract the new generation employees the most. According to Nowak, Thach and Olsen (2006), additional flexibility provided to the staff may seem to be a luxury, but it is important to retain the new generation employees. In addition, this type of working environment helps the organisations to improve the productivity. Supporting the fact, Kaifi, et al. (2012) mentioned that the engaged staff intend to provide the better output compared to that of the other workers.

• Managing the old generation employees and new generation employees

Tension of intergenerational: Due to the diversified workforce, managing the conflicts between the older and new generation staff together can be considered as a difficult task for the managers. Meriac, Woehr and Banister (2010) viewed that managing the baby boomers, generation X and generation Y simultaneously is a challenging job. Moreover, in some of the cases, these employees from the different background work in same team. Hence, due to the different characteristics of each of these groups, the team leader may find it quite difficult to manage them. A lot of discussion has been conducted to deal with the highly experienced baby boomers approaching to the retirement and the tech savvy collaborative Millennials. However, in most of the situations, the problems arise due to the failure of understanding the characteristics of these different generations.

Some of the researchers have suggested that a large quantity of aversion comes from the older generation employees of a team. The new generation employees are often been criticised due to the lack of motivation. However, the Millennials are also praised due to their ability of smart working. Hence, the employers are required to become aware of the tendency of biasness from the experienced old generation employees. In addition, the employers are required to evaluate the Millennials on the basis of outcome rather than their approach of achieving it. Stevens (2010) mentioned that most of the Millennials have been found to be comfortable in working alongside with the other generation.

The survey conducted by PWC has also revealed that 76% of the Millennials have responded that they are comfortable to work with both the older and new generation employees (PWC, 2015). On the other hand, the rest of the employees believe that the older generation employees cannot mix with the new generation staff. Thus, brining the generations together can be considered as a tough task for the HR managers. Employers primarily face two types of risk while dealing with the multi-generational team. Firstly, the Millennials want to move quickly from the organisations, if they find that their needs have not been met. In contrast, in most of the cases, the old generation staff confines the scopes for the Millennials by delaying the retirement period. If the ambitions of the new generation employees have been hampered, they do not hesitate to switch over to the other company. Secondly, in some cases, the Millennials have to manage their senior generation employees and that can hurt the ego of the older employees. Andert (2011) mentioned that for managing a multi-generational team, strong leadership, effective management style and a transparent appraisal system are required. The performance appraisal system needs to reflect the process how good performances have been rewarded by the employers.

• Conclusion

The paper has been initiated with the purpose to highlight on the factors that can help the managers of the different organisations to deal with the young generation employees. By analysing the characteristics of baby boomers, generation X and generation Y or Millennials employees, it has been found that there are significant differences among these groups. However, the report of the reputed consulting firms has revealed that in the upcoming years, a major workforce of the global organisations will be the Millennials. Therefore, the employers are required to develop strategies for managing the team of Millennials in the organisations. The study has revealed that the Millennials are more comfortable with the flexible working environment rather than a conventional rigid work structure. In addition, the discussion has also indicated that the young employees prefer to learn new things while working in the organisation. Thus, the employers are required to offer proper training to them on the new technical skills. Rather than the conventional dictatorship by the boss, the Millennials prefer supports and guidance from the mentors. Timely feedback about the performance also influences the new generation employees. It has also been found that the global exposure motivates the Millennials greatly to work in a particular organisation.

• Reference List

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Meriac, J.P., Woehr, D.J. and Banister, C., 2010. Generational differences in work ethic: An examination of measurement equivalence across three cohorts. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp.315-324.

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