The New Millennial Engagement Trend That Is Driving Workplace Productivity – Mentoring
Workplace ProductivityThe New Millennial Engagement Trend That Is Driving Workplace Productivity – Mentoring
One-third of America’s workforce are millennials, making up the largest segment today. Millennials are a tech-dependent, highly motivated generations who believe in collaborative work more than ever. The rise in the number of the millennial workforce and the expectations that come with these millennials are driving essential changes within large corporates. A Staples Advantage Workplace Study, conducted on small businesses with less than 100 employees reported that more than 50% of workers in America and Canada feel overworked and burnt out, yet, 89% of them are motivated to rise to managerial positions and are happy in the organization.One of the most important factors that determine an employee’s productivity in an organization is their engagement. An engaged employee is 38% more productive in the workplace. While there are numerous strategies that organizations are adopting to increase employee engagement, mentoring and feedback is one strategy that stands apart from the rest. Companies who pay attention to this strategic point are more likely to attract and retain the best talents and also see higher productivity within their workforce.Millennials are not looking for a set of archaic rules and regulations to guide them through their everyday tasks. It is a generation that expects mentoring and real-time feedback to grow and succeed. By ensuring a few of these practices are put in action by the management, organizations can drive higher productivity and engagement in their teams.
- Build Trust
Management must create an environment of trust in the organization. Employees must be free to give and receive feedbacks without the intimidation. As millennials’ work hours get stretched and many of them are working flexible hours and from flexible locations, there is a certain degree of overlap between personal and professional life. Mentors and managers need to develop sensitivity towards employees and their personal life.
- Accountability for actions
Some mistakes in the workplace can be fatal to the company and must be avoided at all cost. However, in other cases, mistakes also serve as a platform for employees to learn and improve. Mentors must help employees to understand accountability for their actions and also responsible for fixing errors on their own. Pushing the employees beyond their comfort zone, while not making them feel threatened or guilty of their actions is a great strategy to improve an employee’s performance and improve their learning curve.
- Flexibility
Each employee has their own working style which helps them perform at their best. The management must not be rigid in laying down rigid work rules that make employees uncomfortable or unable to be at their productive best. Allowing a certain extent of freedom when it comes to working style like working out of a coffee shop or remote location when possible, discussing their personal needs at the workplace to keep them active and engaged are great strategies to improve an employee’s productivity.
- Continuous Feedback
Millennials are a generation who expect live feedbacks at work and focus on continuous improvement. Feedbacks must not be delayed till year end or mid-term reviews but must be a regular part of weekly meetings and reviews. Employees are found to have better engagement when they receive quick feedbacks and tips when engaged in daily conversations with their managers. Simple tools like a quick message or dropping by an employee’s desk to give a quick tip, rather than calling them for a formal review leads to employees seeing their managers more as a mentor who is actively participating and contributing to their daily tasks than a manager who is only focussed on getting the task done.Millennials are a workforce driven towards results and not methods. Management must create an environment of trust and flexibility in their organization to increase their employee productivity and drive business growth. Managers must transform into mentors and help their employees grow by being engaged actively on a daily basis, exhibiting a flexible and caring attitude, providing frequent and valuable feedbacks and focus not only on deliverables but also the growth of an employee and the team in conjunction.Reference articles:
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