Article: The 3S approach to engaging millennials

Employee Engagement

The 3S approach to engaging millennials

In order to engage the millennials, it is critical to have a 3S model – Speed, Satisfaction & Shine
The 3S approach to engaging millennials

The millennia generation, more popularly known as the Gen Y, is the social media savvy generation. They are always in touch with what’s happening around them, informed about the latest updates in the city. They keep the employers on their toes as they will always be looking for change and exploring innovative opportunities. They’re looking strategically at opportunities to invest in a place where they can make a difference, preferably a place that itself makes a difference.

Gen Y-ers in the workplace – they’re projected to compose 75 per cent of the workforce by 2025 – and noted that this is a generation with an entrepreneurial bent, with an estimated 70 per cent of young professionals around the world aspiring to be their own boss.

My approach would be 3S model: Speed + Satisfaction + Shine to engage the millenial employee.

Speed: Pace is critical. Communicate and respond to them fast and bring in speedy changes. Surprise them with pace, they like it that way! Also don’t keep sitting on decisions and communications. The decision making and actions need to be prompt and spontaneous just like the profile updates and check-ins. They expect immediate gratification and applause for their contributions.

Satisfaction: Gen Y is out there for deep satisfaction needs from all engagements in life and jobs. It’s important we know doing what they would be most satisfied with in terms of sense of achievement, leveraging what they have learnt. Make their jobs and days at work deeply satisfying. They can easily be disillusioned with the meaning of success and elders at work must help in defining that for them. The Gen Y is more concerned with engaging in something which is small but fulfilling. A sense of internal satisfaction needs to be achieved to keep them going.

Shine: We are living a social media life driven by social recognition and acknowledgements. It’s critical that they are recognized, appreciated and made a hero out of their efforts. Find ways to give pats and claps at work, celebrate successes with them without going overboard of false hero creation! Giving them the necessary recognition for their contributions is extremely crucial. Along with the 3S approach, a few key pointers to be kept in mind while dealing with the Gen Y at the workplace:

Provide them with purpose

Millennials in particular crave meaning in their jobs. They want to feel connected to their work and to the company’s mission. Commitment to one’s work gives all employees a sense of purpose and companies are learning that an excellent conduit to this feeling is involvement in cause.

Act as a mentor

Gen Y thrives on feedback and positive recognition. Mentorship support can help them feel guided along a path towards their goals. The opinions and recognition of their friends and superiors are important to millennials who seek attention through feedback and praise from people who are important to them.

Give them responsibility

Millennials have a “can-do” attitude and want to feel challenged in the workplace. No to micromanagement; yes to letting them run with an idea. Ambitious and achievement-oriented, the millennial search for meaning and learning extends to their work. They seek out new challenges and have high expectations of their employers. This group is not afraid to question authority and eliminate old and traditional methodologies may longer be relevant in the current dynamic environment.

In a nutshell, to keep the millennial employee engaged on, one must understand the basic mind-set of this generation. Corporate Talent Championship (CTC) has proved to be a successful platform to engage employees beyond boundaries of their regular work.

CTC has empowered employees to achieve work-life balance: Millennials understand the benefits of a balanced life, personal growth and being productive. They tend to like their jobs more than previous generations and stay in jobs that fit their talents and passions, but they won’t stay in jobs just for security. Given an opportunity to showcase their talents at their workplace, employees would develop a sense of belongingness with the organization.

So just keep it Simple!

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Topics: Employee Engagement, #Communication

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