Millennials need engagement. They need to feel involved and they need to feel ownership. Team building is a vital component to achieving all of this. I was reminded of this today while meeting with my business manager, Rob Taylor. Rob mentioned how different his young associates are than the veterans, or Gen X’rs. Millennials have an expectation of finding satisfaction in their work. They view this as a vital part of their overall reward. Providing engagement and enabling your workforce to have an active voice in your organization is part of the compensation package required to retain younger hires. Picking up a paycheck, while obviously important, is not the be-all end-all.
I spoke with another friend last year who was desperate to actively address the problem of attrition with his newer hires. Compensation wasn’t the issue, but engagement was.
Team Building Won’t Save You
A once a year, or bi-annual team building event won’t turn your corporate culture around. But it can be an integral part of your engagement plan for your millennial workforce. Great songs tell stories and your organization has a compelling story. Enabling your workforce to contribute to the creation of your corporate song and your corporate story helps everyone feel ownership. Co-creators feel vested. Co-creators feel like leaders. And leaders are much more likely to stay vested in your organization’s success for the long term.
Engagement is an attitude.
Many of our clients already know the value of having an engaged work force and that’s why they call us. When we work with those clients, the ice is already broken, there’s unity and energy before we even begin our program. But equally as important are the clients we work with who need to instill engagement where it doesn’t exist. When we work with these groups, we see the light bulbs come on as people discuss and discover what makes their jobs and their company unique. We help team members find their engagement by helping them to become the co-tellers of your organizational story and the co-owners of your corporate culture.
You can’t fake this kind of engagement!