By 2025, 75% of workers will be millennials. Here’s how to engage them effectively.

The workplace has always been multigenerational. As a CEO and founder, my business thrives because of the talents and experiences of a multi-generational team. But, how can I engage all my employees so they feel empowered to make their best contributions, regardless of their age?

I want to make the workplace work for everybody.

But, workplace demographics are quickly changing, and that means that the workplace needs to work differently, too.

The growing millennial majority

Millennials – people born between 1981–1996 – will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025 (Source). So, while I want to engage all employees, engaging millennial workers is especially important.

Like workforce demographics, however, best business practices also change. What served in the past to develop employees, improve people culture, and increase productivity and profitability doesn’t always work today.

Employee retention rates are clear indicators of how engaged and satisfied employees are in their roles.?

McKinsey found that the reasons people voluntarily leave their jobs doesn’t actually change much across generations. They include inadequate compensation, lack of career development and advancement, and uncaring leadership (Source).

While I can’t provide solutions to provide compensation structures for every business, I have found a solution to tackle the other issues that lead to voluntary attrition.

Mentorship.

Mentorship is the best way to make the workplace work for everyone, especially millennials. Mentorship is also what millennials want.

The majority millennials want mentorship

Workers across all age groups value mentorship. But, generational differences in work preferences and aspirations show that more millennials view mentorship as particularly crucial to their growth than older generations.

Millennials like myself are not only more inclined to seek out mentors than the average worker but are also more likely to have them. 79% of millennials think mentorship is critical to their growth (Source). Still, only 61% of millennials have a mentor (Source).

Millennial employees actively seek guidance from supervisors and mentors, as well as opportunities for learning and development to advance their careers. This may stem from the fact that this generation entered the workforce during a time when mentorship programs were becoming more common in corporate environments.

With growing evidence that mentorship plays a key role in personal development, employees now expect to leverage these relationships to learn new skills, gain expert advice, and expand their professional networks.

Different learning styles

Almost all millennials – 93% – feel learning and development is essential for their careers (Source). But, everyone has different learning styles.

In the past, the easiest solution for many employers to offer L&D opportunities for their workers was through online courses and modules or group trainings. Though, not everyone can learn easily through these methods.

What’s more, pre-made tutorials and trainings don’t always have the latest information. And, they present topics in generic ways, often failing to address a particular worker’s specific knowledge gaps.

Mentorships are tailored to the individual needs of each mentee, providing customized solutions so that each and every employee can upskill exactly how they need to. Mentees can learn from mentors in their own way, at their own pace, and address their own particular knowledge gaps and goals.

By implementing an organizational mentorship program at my own company, I’ve been able to help employees upskill while increasing ROI. I don’t need to invest in subscriptions to online courses, or to pay expensive consultants to provide trainings. Through mentorship, my team taps into existing knowledge capital within the organization.?

And, my employees are encouraged to seek external mentors to create their personal advisory boards. By connecting to a powerful, global network of industry experts, my team has unlimited growth potential. Different values and workstyles

Unlike previous generations, millennials are value-driven rather than consumption driven. Many millennials make value-based career decisions and want to feel empowered to drive change within their organizations, according to a Deloitte survey of 8,373 Millennials in 44 countries (Source).

Mentorship programs create spaces that align employees with company culture, or can start conversations to help redefine it.

Different values in the workplace have also created different workstyles among workers of different generations. But, the average workstyle of millennials doesn’t conform to the stereotype that workers of this generation value passion over performance, and aren’t results-driven (Source).

In fact, millennial workers are more likely than their Gen X and baby boomer colleagues to be risk-averse, instead preferring tried-and-true methods for getting tasks (Source). And, millennials are also more focused on outcomes and results than workers of other generations (Source).

Mentorships help all workers feel more engaged, regardless of their values and workstyles, because they are tailored to meet the needs of each individual mentee. And, millennial employees can easily track goals they set with their mentors, and achieve the tangible results towards their own professional advancement that they crave.

Staying connected, even when remote

Engaging employees today can be even more challenging because our work environments have changed significantly.

My business relies on global talent to meet company wide-goals. In our hybrid work environment, however, typical techniques to engage my employees like in-person workshops or team-building activities just aren’t feasible.

Millennials want to work from home more than any other generation. While 40% of baby boomers and Gen-Xers and 27% of Gen Z want to work from home, 49% of Millennials prefer work-from-home to hybrid or fully in-person work environments (Source). Only 33% of Millennials prefer to work fully on-site.

But, millennials also claim that finding opportunities for mentorship from leaders in their organizations can be more difficult when working remotely, according to the Deloitte Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey (Source).

Mentorship programs keep employees connected, regardless if they’re fully in-person, hybrid, or remote, because they can also thrive digitally.

Whether their mentor is down the street, or across the globe – my employees can connect with the support they need anywhere, anytime, in just a few taps.