The Next-Gen workers will shape the world of work for the years to come. Born after 1981 they already comprise the majority of the global workforce and engaging them is critical to the future of your business.
- Next-Gen workers are tech-savvy but they lack certain social skills.
- Organisations need to make an effort into attracting and retaining Next-Gen.
- Consider the part millennials will play in the organisation’s future talent needs.
Millennials (Generation Y) and post-millennials (Generation Z) grew up connected to WiFi, a smartphone and accessing information instantly, messaging more than talking, and caring about social and environmental issues. The negative aspect is that they lack certain social skills.
As a difference to previous generations, they know that the concept of “traditional employment”, where your employer is your job and career, is obsolete. As a consequence, they won’t work relentlessly unless they feel good about the work they do. Also, they are attracted to companies with strong learning and development plans. The latter is particularly important because they know the future of work is constantly reshaping, and they must learn new skills during their entire professional career.
It’s key for managers to learn how to talk to the Next-Gen and to make an effort on quickly establishing good rapport. Managers should have regular conversations with them, properly explain the company’s mission, values and goals, to create a sense of belonging to the organisation.
Assuming Net-Gen workers will find their way through daily tasks is not the best approach, they feel more comfortable working with clear instructions, concrete targets and a flexible work schedule. They need managers open to coach them; they are looking forward to being mentored, receiving clear and regular performance feedback.
Next-Gen employees expect the workplace to be a learning environment. It’s the company’s responsibility to understand and teach them the social skills they are missing such as conversation, dialogue, cooperation, and the importance of hard work. It’s also the company’s responsibility to create personalised training and development plans for them.
Overall, organisations must understand their needs. Ignoring that Next-Gen workers are a group with different characteristics, will demotivate them and they will end up leaving the organisation. Not being able to integrate and work with millennials will eventually deteriorate the organisation’s performance.
It’s a very interesting challenge because there is nothing better than having an employee working on what they truly love. Organisations must fulfil Next-Gen’s strong desire to be highly engaged in what they do, harness their sense of mission, and their continuous search for growth. Organisations must show there is a plan for them, to demonstrate the company’s commitment to furthering the development of its staff.
Conclusion
Instead of asking millennials to adapt to your business, it’s a good opportunity to recognise the key role the next generation will play in your plans, build a strategic people’s plan and understand your future talent needs. Just have in mind that in 5–10 years the job market will look very different — just as it was different 5 or 10 years ago.
