Why Millennials Want Frequent Feedback
We see it everywhere: Millennials demand regular feedback in order to thrive. It is generally regarded as a childish, narcissistic trait of this young generation. It’s as if instead of working autonomously and being innovative, they’re constantly requiring guidance every step of the way.
The truth behind their affection for feedback, however, is actually very positive: Millennials don’t yet believe that they know it all. Consequently, smart companies can leverage the generation’s search for guidance to their advantage. Not only leading to increased engagement but also better performance through their development.
In this post, we will explore how you can leverage Millennials’ need for feedback into a better, more productive work environment.
Why Millennials Seek Feedback
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Millennials don’t require regular feedback because they are helpless and needy.
The reality is a lot more interesting. Their demand stems from two things. Firstly, it’s their goals: Millennials have a strong drive to have an impact in an organization and contribute in a major way. They would like to shape the world around them.
Secondly, they are intensely aware that they must improve to accomplish this goal. And to do so, they need specific and frequent feedback. Millennials have learned this their entire life by their parents at home, by every teacher in school and all their coaches in sports.
As a consequence, they see their managers and senior coworkers as an extension of the authority figures that helped guide them up this point. It’s only logical that they seek their valuable insights and suggestions on how to become more effective and impactful. That’s an admirable trait, dramatically different from being needy and childish.
Feedback is the most attractive benefit
In an extensive study by PWC, “training and development” was the number 1 benefit valued by Millennials. Ahead of things such as financial benefits, vacation, flexible working hours and definitely ping pong tables.
This concept is what smart leaders can leverage into a powerful tool. Continuous feedback helps Millennials not only feel more engaged and satisfied, but it shapes them into more valuable assets to the company.
Use this knowledge. It’s what Goldman Sachs is doing.
The Current State of Feedback Leaves Much to Be Desired
Feedback within the workplace needs a lot of improvement. According to a recent survey, 75% of all employees reported that they didn’t know where they stood with regards to their performance during the year. Another study showed that for Millennials specifically, 74% frequently feel “in the dark” about how their managers and peers think they’re performing at work.
Let that sink in. How do we expect employees to improve if they don’t know where they stand to begin with?
A critical part of the reason for the above is that we often use the annual performance review as an excuse to not give feedback throughout the year. However, this lack of communication simply leads to 62% of Millennials feeling blindsided by these reviews and 40 percent said that the feedback given was too vague. As a consequence, Millennials are the least engaged generation in today’s workforce. For them, waiting a year is like an entire lifetime. And rightly so.
Why Should My Company Change?
You might be thinking that this doesn’t apply to your business, but the fact is this: By 2020, Millennials will make up half of the entire workforce. Currently, only 29 percent feel any engagement in their work, which is striking.
If we can’t get Millennials engaged in their jobs, productivity, profitability and innovation will suffer immensely. Millennials have no qualms about “job-hopping”, which can cost your business a lot. In fact, Gallup estimates that Millennial turnover already costs the economy a staggering $30.5 billion annually. Without improvement, these figures will continue to rise.
Thankfully, it’s not too late to reverse this trend.
How to Solve The Engagement Problem
First, your organization needs to hear, see and understand something: Millennials do not want annual reviews. They want ongoing conversations.
Traditional yearly reviews just don’t work anymore, and many big corporations are beginning to understand that. This is why industry giants like Adobe, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and General Electric have scrapped the annual review model in favor of continuous, real-time feedback.
Gallup found that Millennials are significantly more engaged when their managers provide frequent and consistent communication and feedback. 44 percent report feeling engaged when their manager regularly meets with them, while the number drops to 20 percent when they don’t get regular face time with superiors.
After this single change, Adobe reported a 30 percent decrease in employee turnover, which translates to millions saved each year. Deloitte found the same to be true when they switched their performance management model.
In fact, Deloitte told the Harvard Business Review,
“So far we have found in our testing a direct and measurable correlation between the frequency of these conversations and the engagement of team members. Very frequent check-ins (we might say radically frequent check-ins) are a team leader’s killer app.”
PWC said it best:
“The companies that are most successful at managing Millennials are those that understand the importance of setting clear targets and providing regular and structured feedback.”
Will you be one of them?
If you’re interested in learning more about how your company can fully leverage the power of real-time feedback in practice, feel free to contact us. We’re offering a cloud-based application enabling ongoing, real-time feedback and frequent conversations between managers and employees. The result is a culture that engages, empowers and aligns your talents to deliver on your organization’s top priorities.
