By Jonathan Rogers

Born between 1982 and 2000, there are about 32 million Millennials in the US workforce, and more keep coming. Ignore them at your peril!

By knowing these key traits you will begin to understand this generation and have more successful relationships with this young—but influential—group. Small adjustments can have a big impact!

Millennials:

1. Work to live
2. Expect attention
3. Need Meaning
4. Communicate constantly
5. Love to network
6. Are socially responsible
7. Postpone adulthood
8. Love technology
9. Are very diverse

MANAGING MILLENIALS - Values to respond to:

Work To Live - Work is a means to an end, not an end in itself.  Life is to be lived for fun and experience, and work and money enable them to live out all their diverse and multiple interests.  So flexibility is the key.

Expect Attention - Raised by the most doting and attentive parents for many generations they expect attention. What they crave is nurturing through engagement – in other words a coaching relationship. 

Need Meaning - This is huge.  Millennials want to know the “why” before the “what”.  So give them the meaning and purpose behind their work.

PARTNERING WITH MILLENIALS - Traits to leverage:

Communicate Constantly - The availability of smart phones and computers has enabled Millennials to stay in touch with a wide circle of people constantly and instantly. Their preferred communication is very informal but frequent.

Love to Network - Relationships are important and networking is an intentional means to build and maintain them. They leverage technology to blur the lines between life and work, and you should do the same.

Are Socially Responsible - Known to be the most civic-minded generation since the Builders (born between 1925-45), Millennials are deeply concerned with social issues. This comes from a greater global awareness with access to information through the internet, and an increasingly ‘tolerant’ mindset. Engage them in your charitable efforts, better yet get involved in theirs!  

MARKETING TO MILLENIALS - Characteristics to consider:

Postpone Adulthood - The trend for them to stay living in their parents’ home, coupled with the housing recession, mean a kind of delayed ‘rite of passage’ for Millennials. So targeting older Millennials will be more fruitful.

Love Technology - Since “technology is an extension of my body” as one is quoted as saying, this represents a huge opportunity. They want to discover brands and offerings themselves, not be pushed into them. The use of social media to leverage this trend will be essential.

Are Very Diverse - This is true racially, socially and culturally, and unlike previous generations they are very comfortable with their diversity - they revel in it and celebrate it!

SUMMARY

More than any other generation, Millennials need to have meaning in their work. A recent study showed 66% of students believed it was essential or very important to help others in need, 83% volunteered in some way at least occasionally – an all time high. 

So be consistently clear in communicating your core purpose, reinforcing it by connecting how what they do brings unique contribution. And you’ll have engaged, dedicated, hard-working Millennials adding value daily to the business, that want to stick around to make it happen.

For more information and resources on how to manage, partner with and market to Millennials, please visit: Generation WHY?

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