ENGAGING MILLENNIALS

ADAM SMILEY POSWOLSKYSMILEYPOSWOLSKY.COM

@whatsupsmiley

Copyright 2016-2017 by Adam S. Poswolsky. All rights reserved.

HOW TO ATTRACT, RETAIN, AND EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION

Source: Gallup (2013)

70%Source: Gallup, State of the American Workplace Report (2014)

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FIND BELIEVERS

WE ARE NOT THE “ME ME ME” GENERATION

PURSUE MEANING

“Being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself—

be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter.

The more one forgets himself— by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person

to love—the more human he is.”

-Viktor Frankl

reflects who you areand what your interests are, allows you to share your gifts

to help others, provides a community of believers that will support

your dreams,and is financially viable

given your desired lifestyle.

MEANINGFUL WORK

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WHAT MILLENNIALS REALLY WANT

• Sense of meaning

• Coaching and mentoring

• Learning, leadership development

• Flexible work, remote work, work-life balance

Source: Deloitte Millennial Survey (2016)

MILLENNIALS, GEN-X, BOOMERS

• Make a positive impact on org

• Help solve social and environmental challenges

• Work with a diverse group of people

• Work for an org among best in my industry

• Do work I’m passionate about

• Become an expert in my field

Source: IBM: “Myths, exaggerations and uncomfortable truths” (2015)Millennials don’t want a trophy, they want a manager who is ethical, fair, and transparent.

MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT• Digital • Clear• Fluid• Fast

Source: “When Millennials Take Over” by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant (Ideapress Publishing, 2015)

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT• Purpose• Value• Renewal• Focus

Source: The Energy Project (NY Times, Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath, “Why You Hate Work”, 5/20/14).Employees who derive meaning reported 1.7 times higher job satisfaction, and 1.4 times more engaged at work.Employees who have supportive supervisors are 1.3 times as likely to stay with the organization and are 67 percent more engaged.Employees who take a break every 90 minutes report a 30 percent higher level of focus. Only 20 percent said they were able to focus on one task at a time at work, but those who could were 50 percent more engaged.

EMPLOYEES WANT MEANINGFUL WORK

AVG. MILLENNIAL’S JOB = 2-3 years

AVG. JOB TENURE = 5 years

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

20% OF MILLENNIALS HAVE CHANGED JOBS

IN THE PAST YEAR6 in 10 millennials are open to a new job opportunity, turnover costs U.S. $30b annuallySource: Gallup (“Millennials: The Job-Hopping Generation,”2016)

65% OF TODAY’S KIDS WILL END UP IN JOBS THAT HAVEN’T BEEN

INVENTED YETSource: NY Times, “Education Needs a Digital Upgrade,” Virginia Heffernan (8/7/11)

“MAXIMIZE THE RATE OF LEARNING WHILE MINIMIZING

THE RATE OF TIME TO TRY IDEAS.” -TOM CHI, FORMER HEAD OF EXPERIENCE AT GOOGLE X

GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES TO EMPOWER MILLENNIAL TALENT

1. MAKE AN IMPACT

2. PROVIDE SKILLS & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

3. RE-INVENT THEIR CAREER

EMPOWER MILLENNIALS• PURPOSE: Alignment with role, mission, and team

• VALUE: Mentorship, skills exchange, and co-leadership

• AUTONOMY: Encourage career exploration, flexible/remote work

• EXPERIMENT: HR supports A 2-5 year learning journey

See Daniel Pink’s Drive for Purpose/ Mastery /Autonomy reference

HR IS THE NEW LIFE COACH

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EMPOWER MILLENNIALS•ENGAGE: Supervisor=Mentor, values-aligned culture design, team building, design thinking, whole-person talent development

•MEASURE: Real-time feedback and positive reinforcement, forward-looking performance achievement, data-driven and frequent (GLINT, REFLEKTIVE, TRACKSTAR, CULTURE AMP), "Stay” interviews > Exit interviews

•EXPLORE: Offer apprenticeships, “experiment-ships”, unpaid sabbaticals for purpose-projects, connect talent globally

• INCLUDE: Inclusion > hierarchy

•BALANCE: Deliver employee perks tied to quality of life, renewal, focus, creativity, play, health & wellness, mindfulness

CASE STUDY: IBM MILLENNIAL CORPS

• CHALLENGES: 370,000 employees in 170 countries, early talents wants to work on passion projects + wants direct line to decision-makers

• SOLUTION: Create Millennial Corps: 5,000 intrapreneurs who complete surveys on new products, give feedback on new initiatives, beta test and rollout key products (dress designed by IBM Watson, new Apple partnership…)

• RESULT: Millennials feel heard, increased connection + retainment

• GIVE EARLY TALENT A PLATFORM: Reverse mentorship program

• MAKE THE OFFICE A CLASSROOM: Virtual education sessions

• MAKE PERFORMANCE PERSONAL: Move from generic grading system to “checkpoint system” where employee (not company) decides the goals they are being reviewed on

• MAKE THE OFFICE A COMMUNITY: Fast-Forward 2020 event to bring together talent from all over the world

MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT AT IBM

MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT • INVEST IN LEADERS: Intrapreneurship bootcamp for top-performers

• SHARE KNOWLEDGE: Inter-generational conversations

• ENCOURAGE SERVICE: 40-hours PTO as “time to give”

• PERSONALIZE PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENT: Achievement, not reviews

• PERKS TIED TO GROWTH: 6-week paid sabbatical after 3 years, 6 coaching sessions, 10-year exercise window for equity

• BOOMERANG EFFECT: Let your talent leave (and welcome them back!)

CASE STUDY: “AMANDA”DATA VISUALIZATION DESIGNER, JSI

• AUTONOMY: Decentralized proposal structure so she can suggest a new project or client, and then lead that project

• RE-INVENT CAREER: Ability to become a leader and create her own role (went from a “General M&E Associate” to a “Visual Analytics Designer”)

• SKILLS: $4000/year education fund for learning & development

• RESULT: Autonomy and career growth matters. Amanda turned down $25K salary bump from competitior to stay at JSI

MILLENNIAL CUSTOMERS• AUTHENTIC: Be honest, tell a story, show don’t sell

• MISSION-DRIVEN: What do you stand for?

• MAKE IT MEMORABLE: Is it unique? Is it beautiful?

• TRANSFORM: Your product is an experience

• CONNECT: Deliver in-person connection, not hashtags

MILLENNIAL WEALTHIS MEASURED BY

COMMUNITY & EXPERIENCENOT A BANK ACCOUNT

MAKE THE ASK

WE ARE THEPURPOSE

GENERATION

ENGAGING MILLENNIALS

SMILEYPOSWOLSKY.COM

SMILEY@THEQUARTERLIFEBREAKTHROUGH.COM

Copyright 2016-2017 by Adam S. Poswolsky. All rights reserved.

@whatsupsmiley