Inspiring and leading the millennial workforce

Managing and motivating the millennial generation remains a challenging task for many of today’s senior leadership. Defined as self-obsessed, demanding and famously non-committal, this group does not respond well to the traditional structures found in hierarchical organsations.

A key demographic group between the ages of 18 and 35, millennials constitute nearly 30% of South Africa’s population are notorious for having a limited attention span and fickle allegiance.

While the group is famously known as the self-centered, now generation, they are also open-minded, passionate about causes and collaboration and want engagement.

Brand architect Alan Hilburg, President and CEO of HilburgAssociates, widely recognised as problem-solver in brand survival, told a recent Forum at the Gordon Institute of Business science (GIBS): “You don’t manage millennials – you lead or inspire them. They see the world through different eyes. Nothing you’ve learned will prepare you for leading millennials.”

For this generation, career success is more than simply financial performance, but rather the freedom to live their lives the way they want to, he explained.

Hilburg’s recommendations for organisations and managers attempting to lead millennials and capture their loyalty include: 

Rebrand how you lead

Hilburg emphasised the need to build a relationship of trust in order to lead millennials. He said contextual leaders who listen and acknowledge feedback will be more accepted by members of the generation, opposed to contentual who only interested in the qualitative and rational.

“Values are incredibly important for millennials and the core organisational values they deem essential include creativity, curiosity, honesty, simplicity, respect, transparency, integrity, humour and humility,” Hilburg continued.

Tswelo Kodisang, Group Executive of Human Resources at Tiger Brands said: “The days of command and control are over. Leaders can’t just be content-focused. There is a fundamental evolution to manage less and lead more.”

“Millennials want leadership, they want to be challenged and they want authenticity,” he continued. 

Provide structure

Hilburg said millennials, who as children were heaped with praise and had doting parents who continuously propped up their self worth, have always had structure and boundaries in their lives. “They received constant reassurance growing up. Use this parental influence to your advantage.”

Providing structure means making it clear that reports have deadlines, jobs have hours, goals are clear and metrics for success are clearer. “Multitasking is easy for millennials, so keep them busy,” Hiburg said.

In order to motivate this group, he said it is important managers take the time to explain the ‘why’ of a task as it provides context and motivation. 

Provide leadership and feedback daily

When giving feedback, speak about growth management and in terms of opportunities for growth, on a daily basis or as frequently as possible, Hilburg said. He explained giving criticism in an affirmative way is important to ensure these employees will continue to listen and not become offended.

“Facilitate your feedback in such a way as to focus on the content of what the person is doing and don’t be imposing or threatening,” Kodisang said. “Millennials want to grow, they have a growth mindset. Your responsibility is to create opportunities for this growth to take place and to craft your feedback to facilitate growth,” he said. 

Build trust over reputation

While reputation is a shallow construct more focused on an historic analysis of past behavior, “nothing is more important to millennials than trust,” Hilburg said.

Millennials want to feel as if they have a higher purpose and are a part of something bigger than themselves, he explained. Managers can do this by focusing not on teamwork, but rather on individual contributors to the team. These are then channeled to a common purpose, which is the success of the team and the organisation.

The concept of trust also applies to flexible work arrangements, which the millennial generation finds appealing. “The focus is on outcomes and the difference you can bring,” Kodisang said. While sometimes presence is required to interact with colleagues and collaborate, don’t be fixated with input. Rather, “be very fixated with output and impact,” he said.

Kodisang said millennials are purposeful and want what they do to make a difference. “They want to know how you are tackling the big problems. Organisations that build a business model that goes beyond profit will be the most successful,” he concluded.

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