Every generation is different, and managers need to be aware of those differences. Millennials are known for having very specific work habits and tend to move from one job to another every few years. They aren’t like the baby boomers, who stayed at one company for as long as possible.
In order to effectively manage people from the millennial generation, some changes need to be made in every workplace, notably with technology. Studies have shown that this is the main factor in keeping a millennial worker happy.
Millennials and Technology
Millennial workers tend to favour modern technology and everything that it has to offer. This means that if you keep your office fully up to date, your millennial workers will feel satisfied and are more likely to stick around. You need to remember that millennials are the digital generation. They grew up with computers and the internet, more so than other age groups. They never owned a record player, and certainly, don’t remember when a one terabyte hard drive took up an entire room. Instead, they started off with CDs, but mostly recall MP3s, and are willing to embrace every new technological change.
Here are some technological innovations that millennials have embraced:
- Text messaging and smart phone apps
- Biometrics
- Video chats and conferencing
- Scorecards and virtual awards
It’s very easy to utilize these things in your workplace.
Using Smart Phones to Manage Employees
Not only are there productivity apps that can create organizational lists, such as WhatsApp, there are ways to track the amount of time that employees work using smart phones. Mobile clocking functionality is becoming crucial in the now diverse workforce in Ireland. With text alert clocking, employees simply send a text message to a preset phone number. That number is connected to your company’s time clock system. When the text is received, that employee is automatically clocked in or out. This is very useful if you have millennial employees who are constantly working outside of the office, such as salespeople.
Set Up Biometric Scanning Systems
Biometrics is one of the newest technologies to hit the average workforce. Although biometric timecard systems have been around for years, they are finally inexpensive enough for just about every business to afford. This is great if you have millennial employees who enjoy every new technological advance. You can set up fingerprint scanners at their work terminals in order to track time worked on certain projects or even use the biometric systems Vs manual systems, as time clocks. A fingerprint scanner can protect particular rooms in the office, keeping unauthorized employees out. There are many different uses for these machines!
Take Advantage of Video Conferencing and Chat Rooms
Programmes like Skype, Google Hangouts, and even Facetime connect employees and clients from virtually anywhere in the world. Implementing them into your workplace as a way to communicate will make your millennial employees happy. They are used to this technology and don’t find themselves feeling they are in a futuristic television show when they chat with people in your other office’s locations.
This is also a great way to have teams of employees work together no matter where they are stationed. If video conferencing won’t work, due to time zone differences, then a centralized chat room can take its place. These chat rooms can be left open so that employees can hop on them and ask their co-workers questions as needed. The conversation can go back and forth, without it having to take place at odd and sometimes inconvenient hours.
Utilise Scorecards and Virtual Awards for Reaching Goals
Millennials are the video game generation. They not only play these games online against real people, but they earn badges and other virtual awards for doing so. This can translate to the workplace in several different ways.
You can set up a performance indicating system that will award small tokens and badges to your employees when they hit certain targets. For example, you can set up sales goals, online training quizzes, and other things. All of these are connected through a computer dashboard programme that runs off of a central database. The employee in question can see which badges they’ve earned for hitting goals, and if the system allows it, they can share that news with their co-workers. Think of it being a combination of a goal-setting system and a tracking system, with a little social networking attached.
By embracing technological advances in the workplace, you’ll be making your millennial generation employees happy. They’ll like working with co-workers located on the other side of the world, especially when they can meet face to face through video conferencing. You can have them use their cell phones to clock their work hours, and even award them small badges and other virtual things for meeting goals. Adapting to the needs of millennials will help your other employees as well, since all of these things affect them as well.
