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Six Ways to Engage Millennials Shared at The NATSO Show
Millennials are a crucial part of the workforce, making up about 38 percent, and the key to attracting and retaining this generation depends heavily on employee engagement.
“If you can engage them, they are more likely to stay with your organization and be committed to your organization,” said Nate Dvorak, a consultant at Gallup at The NATSO Show 2016. “Their openness to new job opportunities reduces by 30 percent if they’re fully engaged workers.”
Encouraging employee engagement benefits the entire organization. “As you increase the level of engagement in a specific work team, their productivity increases as well,” Dvorak said, adding that engaged employees have 37 percent lower absenteeism, 25 percent lower turnover, 60 percent fewer quality defects, 12 percent higher customer metrics, 18 percent higher productivity and 16 percent higher profitability over the lowest engaged employees.
Dvorak has found several key ways employers can engage millennials in the workforce. He shared his thoughts based on feedback from 25 million employees over the past five years during The NATSO Show 2016.
Focus on What They Do Best: Dvorak said the top driver of retention of millennials is giving them opportunity to do what they do best each day. “They want to support a mission, and the purpose of the organization makes their job feel important,” he said. “Millennials crave learning and development. They want challenges. They want to be invested and valued as contributors, and they want to see career path.”
He added that more millennials are asking for job crafting to give them more responsibility for what they are good at.
Give Them Growth Opportunities: Helping millennials develop their career also boost engagement. “Millennials more than any other generation are asking their employers to get to know them right away and manage them towards their strengths,” Dvorak said. “That helps employers and employees themselves understand what they are better at and connect the employees to a purpose.”
Millennials tend to want feedback and their performance on a monthly or weekly basis.
Encourage Friendships: Dvorak said people who say they have a best friend at work are les likely to have safety incidents.
Show Them the Big Picture: Millennials want to know that the work they are doing is having a bigger impact beyond themselves. They also want to share their work experiences and the mission of their organization with others. “The millennial generation wants to have the opportunity to share a great experience. They want the opportunities to talk about their experiences,” Dvorak said.
Offer Recognition: Millennials that have been given some form of memorable recognition are much more likely to be engaged. ”If you can take time to recognize and employee either privately or publicly, it means a tremendous amount to them,” Dvorak said.
/// The NATSO Show 2017 will be held January 21 - 24 in Savannah, Georgia. Learn more about the NATSO Show here.
Photo Credit: Chuck Fazio/NATSO
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