The 4-Step Strategy to Engaging Millennials in Your Workplace

As my whitepaper on motivating Millennials explains, businesses cannot afford to ignore these key employees. The Millennial generation is set to make up almost 50 percent of the workforce by 2020, and each Millennial who leaves costs as much as $25,000 to replace. To help keep Millennials from leaving, follow this four-step engagement strategy.

1. Plan with purpose

Plan with purpose so that as you engage Millennials, you do not inadvertently ignore other generations such as Baby Boomers. Research what motivates each generation, and incorporate your findings into engagement strategies. Above all, plan with enough flexibility so that each generation is fairly treated. For example, when you offer generous retirement plans, you motivate Baby Boomers, who appreciate that long-term security, and you also engage Millennials with your generosity. Revisit your plan at least once yearly, and keep your goals realistic.

2. Provide help and support

Millennials love instant feedback and immediate results. Providing help and support such as checklists and interim titles in between significant promotions are two ways to engage them. Because this generation also thrives on professional growth, other avenues to providing help and support include asking them to attend trainings, conferences, and continuing education classes.

3. Encourage healthy risk taking

Many of the best ideas come from calculated risks. To this end, having Millennials who love to be challenged is a gift. Create a culture of experimentation and one in which the default answer is “yes.” This atmosphere may take some time to get going, and you can help it along by rewarding risks even when they fail. For instance, you could say something like, “While your idea did not work out as we hoped, the project provided a lot of insights. We’re looking forward to what comes next.”

4. Set Millennials up with mentors
Mentors serve several purposes. They’re a model of sorts for Millennials, and they are one way to give Millennials instant feedback. Mentors also help bridge any generational gaps and help Millennials feel like they are part of a team.