Workforce Management Featured Article
Millennial Workers Welcome Regular Guidance and Opportunities
There comes a point when all companies, regardless of size, need to change to accommodate a new generation of workers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, those in the so-called “Millennial generation” have now passed the Baby Boomer generation as the most populous age demographic in the U.S. For contact centers, who have traditionally employed a large percentage of young people, this probably isn’t news. What may be news to them, however, is that Millennials need a different approach to older generations when it comes to management. These are young people who have grown up with digital devices in their hands, do not remember a time when they couldn’t buy something off the Internet, and are accustomed to having a wide choice of communications media. They typically also have short attention spans, and many of them were raised by “helicopter parents” who scheduled and oversaw their every move.
Rob Wormley, writing for Shift Club, recently noted that while the young employees entering the workforce of today are often tech-savvy and quick to learn, they still need someone with experience to lean on when navigating a new role: they want a boss who will mentor their career path, and an employer that will teach them new skills for the future.
“These desires do seem to entail a lot of work on the employer’s behalf, but there are options that have a different take on the mentoring relationship,” wrote Wormley. “These unique models make mentoring a more interactive experience.”
In the contact center, consider pairing new, younger workers with more experienced workers for a mentoring relationship. It may bear more fruit than expected: while the older employee can communicate expectations and responsibilities, the younger workers may help older workers get into a more omnichannel and tech-savvy frame of mind.
“As a young employee shares what he/she knows, they feel like their skills and knowledge are valuable,” wrote Wormley. “At the same time, managers can share their perspectives and be a stronger mentor thanks to a relationship-based foundation.”
There is also evidence that, unlike previous generations, Millennials aren’t heavily motivated by money. While of course every worker should be paid competitively and fairly, today’s younger workers also stress the importance of opportunity, fairness, a work-life balance and flexibility.
Finally, Millennials are used to getting a lot of feedback from their work. While the ability to work autonomously will vary from person to person, in general, younger workers want to know how they’re progressing, so regular constructive reviews that help them feel they’re staying on track and making a difference are a great idea. (Actually, they are a great idea for all workers, not just younger ones.)
“Providing effective feedback is an art,” wrote Wormley. “There’s not much direction you can glean from a comment like, ‘Hey, nice work.’ It’s too gray, and while the sentiment is nice, it’s not very helpful or constructive. One way to approach constructive feedback is to use the SMART model.”
SMART stands for Specific (providing as much detail on the reasons for criticism or praise as possible, Measurable (or an objective criteria for performance), Achievable (don’t set pie-in-the-sky tasks or goals), Relevant (remain focused on the employee and his or her job) and Time-bound (be very specific when describing time-frames for achievements).
While no two employees are alike, and management will never have a primer that works for all employees, the foundation is essentially the same. To run a great contact center, you need great contact center workers. If you’re going to make great contact center workers out of young people today, don’t make assumptions about their performance: be specific, be a leader and be kind.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi