Over 55% of Millennials in the workforce are not engaged at work, and more than half of them say they are currently looking for a job.

This information probably won’t surprise the many business leaders who have experienced the challenges in motivating employees from different generations.   This same group of leaders have probably also noticed that foosball tables and espresso machines have very little impact after the novelty wears off.

Gallup recently published a very comprehensive report on this group of 73 million individuals born in the U.S. from 1980-1996.  The report includes new information, many dramatic statistics, and some extremely valuable insights on how Millennials really want to work and live.

If you own a business and have employees born after 1980, it is probably no secret to you that the leadership style and strategies you’ve adopted to motivate, engage, retain, and maximize productivity from your more seasoned employees is far less effective when it comes to inspiring your under-40s.   

The reason for this dilemma is that Millennials are different—profoundly different.   Although these differences may present a leadership challenge, they present an even larger leadership opportunity.   While extensive research shows that the MOTIVATORS of Millennials differ greatly from the generations that preceded them, it also shows that their POTENTIAL to produce results is greater.

This fact should lead every business owner to the question:  “How can we motivate and engage this group of high-potential employees?”

The primary answer lies in changing your company culture, which obviously starts at the top.   If we are going to implement a change in culture and leadership, we must begin by understanding what motivates Millennials at work.    Gallup has identified many differences, but they refer to these as the Big Six:

1.     Millennials don’t just want a paycheck.   They want a purpose.

2.     Millennials are not seeking job satisfaction.   They are seeking development.

3.     Millennials do not want bosses.  They want coaches.

4.     Millennials aren’t interested in annual reviews.   They want ongoing conversations.

5.     Millennials don’t want to fix weaknesses.  They’d prefer to develop strengths.

6.     “It’s not just my job, it’s my life”

So if you’ve been frustrated because of your inability to effectively manage your young workforce, or if you have simply resisted a culture change in lieu of bantering “what is wrong with them, they just don’t get it!”, I would suggest you may be overdue for a major paradigm shift.   After all, if Millennials don’t currently comprise the majority of your workforce, they will very soon.    

While there are a variety of strategic and tactical approaches you can take to begin to transform and improve the productivity of your millennial-rich company, the simplest and most effective place to begin is by transforming your existing culture into a Coaching Culture.  This type of culture effectively addresses all six of the Motivators revealed in the Gallup study.

Like most super-high impact initiatives, transitioning to Coaching Culture is simple, but not easy.   It does not happen overnight, but can be initiated with a simple declaration, and implemented by adopting a proven set of leadership practices and habits, a basic coaching protocol, and some millennial-centric tracking and feedback systems.   These may all be considerably different from your current practices, but if you lead by example, you’ll be astonished how openly your youthful workforce will accept and adopt them.   And a happy, motivated workforce equals greater productivity and results.

Since statistics show that more than half of your millennial workforce is likely dis-engaged and seeking new job opportunities today, and since this workforce is going to be around for at least three more decades, this is probably not a good time to take a wait-and-see attitude toward adopting a Coaching Culture.  So I hope you’ll consider doing so and wish you all the best.

If you have other suggestions or any questions at all, I’d love to hear from you.

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2019.   All Rights Reserved.