Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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About This Guide
WHAT?
A guide to working with and engaging millennials in the workplace through learning and
development.
WHY?
Very soon, millennials will be the dominant generation in the workplace. Their learning
and training style drastically differs from their predecessors, so its important to
understand how they think, work, and feel to better engage them. Learning opportunities
and professional development are important parts of employee engagement, especially
with millennials.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Learning and development (L&D) and human resources (HR) professionals.
WHO IS IT FROM?
Instructure, Inc. is the software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology company that makes
software that makes people smarter. Its modern learning platform, Bridge, enables
organizations of every kind to engage with employees by measuring and improving
employee learning, in real time.
We've leveraged our expertise in building software that people actually want to use and
created a fresh learning and training solution for the corporate world: Bridge. It's our
uber-engaging, slick, easy-to-implement learning management system that will give your
employees and company the tools needed for success.
We also happen to have a dedicated team of tech experts, so we can provide Bridge
customers with 24/7 technical help should the need arise.
Copyright 2015
Published by Instructure
6330 South 3000 East, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84121
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part
of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Design by Instructure.
Motivated by Meaning 12
How Millennials Thrive: Set the Framework, Then Set Them Loose 13
They Want Results and They Want Them Now 14
About Bridge 16
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Move Over,
Boomers.
Millennials Are
Taking Over.
R G B
Remember when baby boomers were the
dominant influencers on everything, from
how we worked to what we consumed and
how we played? The generation that defined
the American workplace with a workaholic
tendencies and work-to-live attitudes is
now taking a back seat to another dominant
generation: the millennials.
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Big Four Accounting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers is
planning for a workforce of nearly 75%
80 percent millennials in 2016. It
might take other companies a few
more years, but millennials are
expected to make up 75 percent of
the workforce by the year 2025.
In this e-book, well show you how millennials differ from the
generations that preceded them and how you can transition
your training and development strategies to engage this
powerful generation taking over our nations workforce.
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Digital Since They
Were in Diapers
At the same age that baby boomers were playing
with Silly Putty and Cracker Jacks, millennials
were already addicted to their iPhones and
56%
of millennials
declaring Facebook passe. This doesnt just
think tech-
mean they can show you how to download
and use the Uber app on your phone. It means
nology helps
theyre instant-gratification junkies when
people use
searching for information.
their time more
efficiently.
If a millennial has a question, theyre more likely
to whip out their phone and Google the answer
than they are to ask the person standing right
next to them. Millennials have a very positive Even more startling for employers who havent
relationship with technology. In fact, 56 percent been keeping up with technological upgrades:
of millennials think technology helps people use 56 percent of lower millennials and 67 percent of
their time more efficiently. upper millennials said state-of-the-art equipment
is vital in their employer selection.
However, in a study by Accenture, more than
20 percent of those surveyed said employer- So how do you grab, and hold, the attention of
provided technologies didnt meet their a short-attention-spanned-instant-gratification-
expectations. technologically-savvy employee?
Go Mobile or Go Home
As you consider company investments in new
applications and programs, particularly your
learning and training platform, consider the vital
need for mobile access. Millennials are almost
literally glued to their phones. According to Pew
Research Center, more than four out of five sleep
with or next to their cell phones.
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m-learning is Mm,
Mm Good
For millennials, work is more than just a In addition to apps, another way to enable mobile
paycheck. Its about enrichment, fulfillment, and access is cloud computing. This technology
the flexibility to achieve the lifestyle they want allows a seamless transition from working on
on their own terms. As evidence, a Millennial a desktop PC in your office to a mobile device
Branding report found 45 percent of millennials as you stand in line at the grocery store to your
will choose workplace flexibility over pay. tablet at home. Data is stored on a remote-
shared server (the infamous cloud), rather
You can meet these desires through mobile than a desktop hard drive, making it accessible
learning. Also called m-learning, this is training instantly via any Internet connection.
and development delivered on mobile devices
phones, tablets, hand held PCs through an For example, while using a cloud-based system,
app, allowing millennials, to access it whenever, if a user exits a course at section two at the end
wherever. Mobile apps typically focus on bite of the workday, he can pick up the course right
sized segments of five minutes or less, appealing where he left off when he signs in from his tablet
to millennials short attention spans (which well at home, since the data automatically backs up to
address more fully below). the cloud.
7
Poor Design is a
Deal Breaker
Millennials are largely visual learners. This
shouldnt be surprising given they grew up using
a computer, watching TV, and playing video
games.
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Obsessed with Social is an
Understatement
Dont forget to make the learning experience
social. Unlike the generations before them,
millennials are inherently drawn to social
platforms. The line between their personal and
professional lives are blurred if the lines even
exist any longer. 70
%
Millennials have no shame
in allowing their professional
and social worlds to collide,
with 70 percent having
friended their managers
and coworkers on Facebook.
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Traits of the Most Powerful and
Misunderstood Generation
Youve heard the clichs entitled, selfie-obsessed, ramen-eating,
underemployed, Me Me Me Generation, Hero Generation, well,
you get it. Regardless of how they are labeled, millennials are one of
the most talked about, analyzed, and criticized generations.
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Traits of the Most Powerful and
Misunderstood Generation
Job 1J ob 2J ob 3J ob 4
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Traits of the Most Powerful and
Misunderstood Generation
Motivated by Meaning
With millennials seemingly set on side jobs and How does that translate to learning and
job hopping, its important to understand what development? What if you taught the younger
they want from their full-time employer and attorneys in your firm how to provide basic wills
their job, or they will likely leave your company through a training program and then held an
as quickly as they joined. Studies have shown event once a year where first responders in your
millennials are motivated by meaning and its community could come get their will drafted
nearly a requirement for their job. Seventy-seven for free by those associates? Get creative in
percent of millennials stated their ability to excel teaching them skills they can use both on the job
in their job is contingent upon deriving meaning and to better the lives of those around them.
from their work.
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Traits of the Most Powerful and
Misunderstood Generation
Leveraging Tech to
Collaborate and Connect
Theres even more opportunity in an online
environment to get across your companys
messaging to get everyone to buy in, said
Dugan. Have a video message within the online
learning environment where the CEO or another
member of senior leadership can explain why the
employee is taking a given course and how it fits
into the companys larger mission.
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Traits of the Most Powerful and
Misunderstood Generation
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Your Guide to Engaging this
Complex Generation
A recent study from Deloitte revealed more than two-thirds of millennials think its managements
job to provide them with accelerated development opportunities in order for them to stay with
their current employer. With their job-hopping mentality, thats a tall order.
Enable learning anytime, anywhere. Make it easy to learn and grow on the go with
cloud-based or mobile e-learning solutions. Allowing employees to access training
while sitting in line at the DMV, for example, caters to millennials penchant for
multi-tasking.
Make segments short and visually appealing. Millennials are social everywhere they
go, and are too busy multi-tasking to spend more than a few minutes on one topic.
Dont be anti-social. Include elements for social sharing or engaging with your
platform via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social networks.
A well-organized learning platform that outlines the courses available and how they
fit into a larger training or development program for employees on a given track
satisfies the need for structure and self-direction.
A training and development program that tracks successful course completion hits
on the achievement-focused nature of millennials and also provides the attention
and feedback they crave. You can even take that one stop further by opening up
your course development to those employees who have skills or expertise to share
and teach.
Create a course with all of these elements for how millennials learn and live and youre on the way
to engaging the next (and largest) generation in the workplace!
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About Bridge
Bridge is a modern, sleek corporate LMS that
drives employee learning and training. Bridge
measures and improves employee sentiment,
alignment, and knowledge to support the goals
of your company. In a nutshell, it gets everyone
the tools they need to do a great job.
Thank you!
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