Millennials in the Workplace: How to Deal with an Increasingly Mobile and Connected Work Environment

Anand Srinivasan

August 10, 2016


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It’s no surprise to many that millennials have far surpassed Generation X in the workforce, in terms of numbers. One in every three workers is a millennial today, shifting the way that professionals define work ethic, habits, and norms within office culture. Generation Y has also changed the way that Americans define their careers. More than 53 million Americans are now earning income from “non-traditional” 9 to 5 jobs, many of whom are freelancers. These rapid changes have completely altered the way that Americans view professional success and what businesses value in their employees.

Of course, if millennials excel at anything, it’s their extremely skill-oriented and platform-empowered mindset. While at first many corporations saw the integration of tech communications as a threat, it’s now a no-brainer that these tools bring a great deal of value to our professional environments. In this article, we’ll explore how organizations can take advantage of these new trends, and what changes they can implement in their work environments to leverage the influx of millennials in the workforce.

Take Advantage of Social Media

Although many utilize social media as a means to catch up with friends or family, it’s underutilized as a tool to find the most qualified potential employees. Beyond the obvious LinkedIn, it’s very effective to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Pinterest to track down leads who might be the best fit.

If you already have millennials working in-house, you have a major advantage. Since they are digital natives, they’re the perfect employees to help leverage these social and connected environments.

Establish A Connected Workflow

Millennials value working smarter over working harder. Pushing them to do busy work in an inefficient manner will only frustrate them and discourage them from doing quality work. Instead, make things easier if possible. If communication is run more smoothly or certain repetitive tasks could be completed with more efficiency, it improves the office morale and positivity.

In this regard, comprehensive tools that cover everything from task management to invoicing will significantly improve communication, collaboration and workflow among connected employees. An integrated platform like WorkflowMax, for example, will be ideal for organizations that have a mix of freelance and in-house workers. The fully integrated platform provides a seamless process for everything from job management to time tracking to invoicing to lead managing.

Take Advantage of the Sharing Economy

It’s never been easier to share and gather knowledge than it is now. With countless platforms that enable endless insights, companies should be taking advantage of these tools to learn more about their industries, competitors and potential hires. LinkedIn, Yammer and Facebook At Work are all user-friendly, seamless platforms to help you better communicate with current and potential colleagues.

Respect Their Time

One of the greatest issues that millennials have with traditional employment is the 9 to 5 schedule. Sitting in an office for eight hours a day just no longer seems like the best use of time when they could be much more productive on their own schedule. With frivolous office politics, break room chatting and nonstop meetings, it’s no wonder that this generation prefers to create their own hours.

Organizations should try to respond to this feedback with flexibility. With unlimited social platforms, it’s easy to stay in touch with employees throughout the day, no matter where they are in the world. So, maybe one or two days out of the week, employees can work from home or any place of their choice, with the team communicating remotely. Team-oriented platforms with time-tracking features like Toggl, Trello and Asana enable easy, real-time communication that allow team members to stay updated even if they’re not in the same place.

Do Your Homework

As a leader, it’s important to give employees tangible reasons to feel inspired and motivated. Otherwise, when an employee doesn’t respect their peers and mentors, this can instill a sense of frustration and hostility, especially for well-educated workers who might feel they know more about their bosses.

How can leaders beat that? Do your homework. Read tech and social media blogs, listen to informative podcasts and follow relevant influencers in the industry. If you stay on top of the trends and bring the ideas to their team members before they do, it can make a world of difference in working relationships.

Let’s Get Started

We are incredibly fortunate to live in an era that allows for our businesses to flourish with such efficiency. With so many resources at our fingertips, from platforms to tools to knowledgeable Gen-Yers, we should be taking advantage to improve our businesses and work environments.