Ideal Millennial Workplace

To get the best from this dynamic generation, you need to make changes to the way you run your workplace.

Younger workers need meaning in their jobs, and want to work for companies that make a positive impact on the world. Whereas their baby boomer parents found meaning through family and within their communities, millennials and Generation Z find their purpose through work.

What millennials want is for you to help them move up the career ladder. They don’t care whether or not you give them a free lunch.

Instead of an old-fashioned boss who controls and commands, younger employees want leaders who understand their strengths, and can help build on them so they get better at their jobs.

No anual performance review, instead, they want much more regular feedback from their managers — which makes sense, given that millennials and Generation Z are used to instant communication through things like texts and tweets. Just remember to focus on their strengths, not their weaknesses. Millennials like to know what they’re doing well so that they can do more of it.

Successful organizations define their brand by defining their purpose

When someone applies to join your company, what do you want them to think about it? Make sure the employee journey matches the impression you want to create — from onboarding to career development, right up to the time they leave.

Once you’ve defined your company brand, take a good look at your policies, and make sure they’re consistent. You want everything to be an accurate reflection of your culture.

A company’s managers are the deciding factor in whether cultural changes take root. That’s because they’re the bridge between the executive leadership team, which creates the culture, and the frontline staff, who implement it on a daily basis. Encourage your managers to behave more like coaches, and less like traditional bosses.

Don’t let subconscious bias become part of your hiring process.

Glare factor: This is when you’re overly influenced by a candidate’s physical appearance, like how she dresses or presents herself.

Experience fallacy: This is when you use your past experiences to make faulty predictions about future situations. For instance, if you recruited your last star employee from a particular company, you may wrongly assume that the next applicant from that company will be just as talented.

Confirmation bias: You form an initial impression of a candidate, and later, even after learning more about him, only remember the things which confirm your first thoughts. So, if you believe he’s a good fit for the job because of the school he went to, then it’s likely you’ll continue to think that, even if later information suggests he’s not right for the role after all.

Overconfidence bias: If you believe you’re especially good at recruiting the right people, you may rely too heavily on your gut instincts, and ignore evidence that you’re picking the wrong person.

Similarity bias: This is when you choose to recruit someone simply because you think she’s a bit like you. This sort of bias often leads to candidates being discriminated against on the basis of their sex, race, or other characteristics.

In recruitment, there are four key things to keep in mind.

When hiring for a position, the first things to look at are your candidates’ previous achievements and workplace experiences. Find out as much as you can about their education and background and how they match up to the demands of the job.

The second thing you should do is evaluate your potential new recruits in relation to five distinct traits: motivation, workstyle, initiation, collaboration, and thought process. Consider whether they are driven to achieve, whether they are organized and efficient in everything they do, and whether they are self-starters who can inspire others to take action. Lastly, ask if they can take on new information quickly and use it to solve problems.

Now you’ve evaluated your candidates’ traits, the third thing to do is to hold multiple interviews for each one. This is because, if you only use one interview and one interviewer, then you’re more at risk of bias. When you hold several, each interviewer comes up with an evaluation of the candidates. When these evaluations are combined, bias is reduced. You end up with a much clearer picture that will help you decide if someone is right for your company.

The fourth, and last, thing to remember is that there’s more to successful hiring than reviewing CVs and holding interviews. Often, you won’t know who the right person is until you’ve actually watched them at work. To bring on-the-the job observations into your recruitment mix, the authors suggest using internships or projects as an alternative entry point to your firm. Gathering feedback from supervisors and coworkers throughout the placement will soon tell you whether or not a candidate is a good long-term fit.

You can improve your communication by learning how to have the right conversations at the right time.

First conversation — role orientation. This is an initial chat for when a subordinate has just stepped into a new role, and which can help you to get a feel for his personality, strengths, and goals. During this talk, set some specific expectations around performance, and explain what success looks like in this job.

Second conversation — quick connect. This is a short conversation — lasting between one and ten minutes — that you and the employee can have over email, on the phone, or even in the hallway. A quick connect lets you touch base, casually discuss any issues, and offer praise and recognition for tasks well done. It also reduces the risk that your employees will feel ignored.

Third conversation — developmental coaching, and it’s invaluable. A developmental coaching chat can take as little as 30 minutes, but can change the course of someone’s entire career. This is because it gives you, as a manager, the chance to offer direction, advice, and support.

You can’t accept any harassment in the workplace. No ifs, no buts, and no excuses.

If you’re going to stamp out any possibility of abuse, you also need to build certain procedures into your organization. A reporting system.

Once you’ve got a system in place, you also need a policy on how to handle these reports.

A new army of gig workers is disrupting the traditional employment model.

Today, employees often work for more than one company, finding their next job — or gig — through online platforms, or temporary contracting agencies.

Is this style of work good for workers? It turns out that, yes, most are happy with it. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that 70 percent of gig workers prefer it, with only 30 percent saying they have no choice.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the effects of the gig economy on employees and businesses alike. But, whatever the pros and cons, what is clear is that managers need to find a way to adjust, in order to help their companies thrive in this new world of employment relationships.

Managers wanting to future proof their companies need to offer their staff meaning and purpose at work, as well as a paycheck. Today’s leaders must also rid their workplaces of sexual harassment, and remove bias from the hiring process. And with the rise of freelance working, it’s time for managers to harness the benefits of the gig economy, without sacrificing employee well-being along the way.