As Millennials continue to progress in the workplace, there has been a significant shift in what business leaders need to prioritise in order to reduce staff turnover.
Millennials are typically motivated by different goals compared to their older counterparts. While former generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X) normally cite financial gain as one of the reasons to stay at a company, younger employees are driven by career growth and increased responsibility. In fact, according to a study by Bridge, 90% of Millennials want to grow their careers with their current companies.
With this being said, to ensure that the most talented employees at a company want to remain at the business for the foreseeable future, there are several ways in which leaders can structure their Millennials training to ensure that these employees feel valued. We’ve listed three ways to achieve this below:
Adopting experiential learning methods in Millennials training
In Millennials training and workplace training programmes in general, experiential learning methods serve to engage and motivate employees to perform better by enabling them to learn in an active manner. By allowing Millennial employees to participate in, and ultimately shape situations that will benefit their personal development, they are more likely to be satisfied with their roles. Similarly, experiential methods serve to integrate new employees into a business with ease by enabling them to work alongside more experienced members of staff.
Experiential learning also allows for greater reflection on one’s own performance. A traditional workplace training programme will give employees the information they need, but will not allow them to make critical decisions and reflect on where they could have performed better to improve in the future.
A structured, bespoke experiential programme will allow managers to connect with their workforce and help them to progress. As 79% of employees cite lack of appreciation as one of the reasons for quitting their job, adopting experiential methods to personalise the overall training experience can be vital in reducing staff turnover.
Leadership development for Millennials
Offering employees clear opportunities to progress at the company as well as opening a transparent form of communication can go a long way in retaining talent long term. As 91% of Millennials regard the potential for career progression a top priority when choosing a new job, implementing leadership development from the beginning can be extremely beneficial.
To successfully integrate leadership development into Millennials training, current managers can give younger employees the responsibility to make crucial decisions related to the business, decisions that would typically be made by senior members of staff, in a risk-free environment.
Later on, Millennials will be able to reflect on their performance and learn how best to handle several situations.
As well as benefiting Millennials, leadership development training can serve as an opportunity for managers to ascertain which employees appear to be suited to future leadership positions and, perhaps more importantly, those which don’t.
Commercial skills in Millennials training
Presenting a clear focus on commercial skills as part of Millennials training will give employees a broader knowledge of how the business works, as well as how the broader industry is developing, thus improving their commercial acumen, which will work to engage employees further.
As Millennials are typically motivated by increased responsibility and progression, keeping them in the loop of how the business is operating as a whole will create a more inclusive work environment for all. For more information on the importance of commercial skills in the workplace, read our blog here.
A business in any professional industry will surely suffer if it fails to structure training programmes to suit the most talented young employees. For Millennials especially, who have their entire careers ahead of them, providing the right guidance early on can be the difference between success and failure on an organisational scale.