It woud be unusual for young people just out of school and those close to retirement to be grouped together in any aspect of life. But most employers now have up to four generations of employees working in their business at once: They all have very different motivations and priorities and yet they are treated the same way and offered the same benefits and working conditions.

This makes little sense when you consider that most organisations, depending on the nature of their business, recognise the importance of segmenting target audiences for their products and services, spending both time and money investigating what their different consumer demographics want. Yet when it comes to their workforce, they rarely apply the same rationale, defaulting instead to a one-size-fits-all approach to employee motivation that is likely to be as effective as a strategy as it woud be in sales.

Age isn’t everything

There is, of course, more to an individual than their age group. Values, working styles, communication preferences, priorities and attitudes to reward also vary depending on gender, location and profession, not to mention many different personal circumstances that affect how an individual views and responds to motivational strategies.

So as businesses strive to improve the diversity, accessibility and ultimately the success of their organisations they will need to adapt to even more groups and circumstances. In any progressive, dynamic organisation this is by definition an ever-evolving process, but gaining insight into and understanding the typical characteristics of the broader employee groups by generation is a good place to start.

Millennials: no longer the minority

Our recent report on motivating millennials addresses the fact that this growing age group will make up more than half of the UK workforce within a few short years and outlines what you can do to ensure that your I&M strategy is fit for purpose.

1. Unleash the advocates. Millennials want to make things happen and see positive change happen quickly. They can be some of your most powerful advocates and champions for change in your business. Involve them in key projects, engage them in your plans and encourage them to play their part.

2. Show flexibility. This applies to every aspect of the millennial generation’s working lives – hours, location, management, performance, opportunities. It creates an environment of trust, openness and empowerment, which in turn leads to increased performance and loyalty.

3. Understand and support their sensibilities. Millennials have a social conscience – they care about causes, their communities and their own quality of life. They expect their place of work to reflect and welcome those priorities in terms of their approach to health & wellbeing and their promotion of CSR activities.

4. Offer them stability. Until recently, millennials were happy to up sticks every two to three years in an attempt to gain as much experience as possible. Today, their ambitions have been tempered and they are more concerned with security and stability. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that is enough – you don’t want them to stay out of complacency or fear, you want them do stay because they believe they are an asset to your business. Create a sense of belonging among your young workforce so they view their position in your organisation as a long-term professional development opportunity.

5. Provide feedback. Millennials still need validation, despite being a generally self-assured generation of workers. As a group, they are defined by their optimism and enthusiasm – respond to this by being open and positive. Our report shows clearly that millennials appreciate the one-on-one time managers spend with them to provide feedback and support, creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and autonomy.

6. Give reward & recognition. As an age group, millennials respond well to reward and recognition as a motivator in the workplace. Although salaries matter to them, cash incentives are less important, providing a great opportunity for employers to get creative with their reward & recognition strategy. Keep it fun, instant and relevant, and make it social and shareable – if it can complement their lives in and outside of the workplace, their engagement with it will be much better.

Andy Philpott is Marketing and Sales Director at Edenred.

Download the full report here:  https://www.massive-motivation.co.uk/motivating-millennials?utm_source=hrzone&utm_medium=native&utm_campaign=mmmillenials