Managing Millennials & Gen-Z
From my own experience I have seen the workforce demographic take a shift in recent years. The last demographic report I did on my team revealed that almost 92% of those in the operations department were either millennials or Gen-Z. The average age for my team members is 30, and the ability for many managers to misclassify this workforce as entitled or spolied is understandable but flawed.
How I found success with the new workforce...
- Company Culture
First and foremost, there is no way to inspire or motivate anyone in customer service without tying in their efforts to the overall vision of the company and its culture. Most often customer service team members and their supporting staff are performing mundane or repetitive tasks. It begs to ask the question: "How does someone who sweeps the floor or cleans a hotel room feel inspired to do their job with pride"? The solution is connecting their efforts to the overall vision and instilling in them the truth that their job function contributes to the success of everyone else and the company.
I will use my current company, Trilogy Excursions, as an example to support my point. Traditional management thinking may be to look at the company as a fleet of boats that provide snorkeling, whale watching, sunset cocktails, or dinner sails. I make it very clear to my team that we are none of the above, we are experience creators and what we sell is memories. The millennial and Gen-Z workforce will rally behind the later offering and will give you 110% effort to be apart of that goal.
- Communication
Millennials and Gen-Z want to see quick, transparent, concise, and clear communication on expectations and operational updates. They want to be in the know of what is going on with the company, the department, and their colleagues. When you have a team onboard vessels there can be a big gap between the leaders of the organization and those interacting daily with customers. We at Trilogy Excursions made a strong effort to utilize technology in implementing new communication channels to bridge the gap between management and crew.
- Development & Growth
This new workforce demographic want to have their career path clearly delineated for them. By setting up clear objectives that need to be met and laying out each team member's expectations, management can find success in developing this workforce to grow. Routine check-ins are necessary, the traditional annual review meet-up is just not enough facetime to ensure this workforce will remain on track.
- Empowerment
Millennials and Gen-Z have a problem with traditional authority and micro-manager practices. Set your team up to be empowered in their role and allow them the opportunity to formulate independent solutions to challenges created. Be clear on the boundaries of what is acceptable, continue to create accountability, but provide this workforce with the tools and resources to tackle goals or objectives on their own.
- Collaboration
More than ever before this new workforce wants to have a culture of inclusivity. We have found success by utilizing team members to create focus groups and committees so that they are included in the planning and decision-making process. Another successful tool has been surveys to gauge engagment and gather feedback from team members who may be spread across multiple trips, harbors, and vessels.
- Recognition
While human need for recognition has always been present in the workforce, the way in which millennials and Gen-Z like to be recognized has shifted. The traditional thinking of handing out a trophy, gold watch, or company certificate has become counter-productive. This new workforce thrives on frequent performance feedback and verbal recognition as well as social media shout outs. Positive reinforcement goes along way and has a greater impact on motivating teams rather than traditional write-ups or coachings. The new era wants to see their managers as supportive and present during the good times not just the bad.