https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Leadership


How to Reach Millennials at Work

  • Written by WeathersfieldTM
  • January 20, 2017
To be effective in your communication with your millennial employees, it’s ideal to incorporate a variety of technological and interpersonal strategies.

The millennial generation has revolutionized communication in the workplace. To be effective in your communication with your millennial employees, it’s ideal to incorporate a variety of technological and interpersonal strategies as millennials value both face-to-face conversation and technological innovation.

By now, most people know that millennials don’t do voicemail, with one famously comparing it to the telegram. Long emails are also frowned upon while text and internal social media platforms are clear winners.

For employers seeking to be effective with this increasingly sizable workforce, here’s how to best engage your millennial workers with strategic communication:

Frequent face-to-face time

An important aspect of effectively engaging your millennial staff is to offer frequent personal feedback. Once or twice a year performance evaluations aren’t enough to keep this generation that was weaned on immediate gratification motivated. While many employers may believe that Generation Y can thrive solely on technology, they would be mistaken.

In fact, millennials place a high value on face-to-face interaction with 55 percent of them saying that interpersonal communication is more important than technological communication in the workplace. So make sure you incorporate frequent face time with your millennial employees as part of your communication strategy.

Videoconferencing

If you can’t be in the same room, then a videoconference that provides virtual face-time is the next best thing. Both one-on-one meetings and general staff meetings can be conducted via videoconference which is especially important if you’re working with a remote team.

Millennials are more likely than older generations to engage in some form of remote work, with an impressive 85 percent of those polled by FlexJobs responding that they would prefer 100 percent of their work to be remote. To keep in touch with them and maintain their engagement, virtual face-time with videoconference can help establish better relationships and clearer communication.

Text messaging

Millennials text a lot: They send an average of 181 texts per day. They use text messaging to communicate with friends and family, they respond well to text as a marketing platform as well as to employers who recruit them using SMS. Today, devices are woven into the fabric of work and communication with little to no barrier between a personal and professional device.

Texting a millennial is not only acceptable, it’s preferable. If you were planning to call, leave a voicemail or send an email, remember that the chances of engaging your millennial employees is much higher if you reach out to them via text. 

Internal social media (ISM)

These platforms offer virtual workplaces that combine productivity features with social networking features. They allow employees to collaborate on projects in a highly interactive way by allowing them to share, edit and comment as well as create new tasks and incorporate to-do lists.

ISM is particularly important to millennials, 77 percent of them felt that “sub-optimal application performance” prevented them from achieving their potential at work. Another 93 percent of whom affirm that modern and optimized programs are among the most important features in the workplace.

Lindsey Pollack, millennial workforce expert, urges employers who enlist these tools in their internal communications strategies to offer trainings on how to use them. One common mistake is assuming that millennials will be able to understand how to use a tool because they’re more technologically adept than other generations: a good training is a must.

Cut the long emails short

A study published in Public Relations Journal about the differences in communication styles between millennials and baby boomers showed that millennials are unlikely to read long emails. One of the study’s participants reported that

“Mass emailing of push communications, they won’t stand for it. They’ll just delete it and ignore it. So it has to be moved to mobile, it’s got to be moved to short messaging, as opposed to long emails.”

By adapting the information you would normally include in an email to a shortened text, a videoconference or a staff meeting, you have a much higher chance of communicating effectively with your millennial staff.

Visual voicemail

Don’t bother to leave voicemails. Millennials are particularly averse to listening to voicemails and most of them will never even listen to them. Other forms of communication like social media and texting are more likely to get a response. One millennial interviewed by NPR explained that

“I guess I usually just assume that it’s probably not that important if you didn’t text me and you didn’t send me a message on Facebook.”

Leaving a visual voicemail or even a voice recording through text is much more likely to get a response than leaving a voicemail on their phone number.

These channels should help you to build fast and clear communication with your Generation Y employees and, therefore, boost overall productivity.

About the Author

Alexa Lemzy is the customer support manager and blog editor at TextMagic. She is passionate about mobile technologies, communication within business teams, and customer service. You can reach her on Twitter.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Leadership

Related


  • Pax8 Kicks Off European Expansion with Launch of Pax8 UK
    Cloud distributor Pax8 leverages its recent Wirehive acquisition to launch Pax8 UK.
  • Woman Thumbs Up
    HPE, Synnex Channel Execs Look Forward to Former Intel CTO Returning as CEO
    One Intel partner calls Gelsinger an industry veteran and visionary.
  • Executive replacement
    VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger Replacing Bob Swan as Intel CEO
    Intel's new CEO began his career with and spent 30 years with the company.
  • Two people in a data center
    The Benefits of Co-Managed IT for Enterprises in the New Normal
    The need to conduct business from anywhere has made enterprises more technology-reliant. Enter co-managed IT.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • VMware Lawsuit: Nutanix CEO Showed 'Poor Judgment,' 'Conflict of Interest'
  • Alteryx Chooses Palo Alto Networks Vet to Lead Go-to-Market Plan
  • MSP 501 Profile: Monroy IT Services with a Minority's Perspective on the Channel
  • MSP 501 Profile: Middleground Technologies Reaps Cloud Benefits

Galleries

View all

New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon

January 11, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

The Importance of Being Security-Centric

January 22, 2021

Cyberattacks: Threat Hunters Conquer Unpredictability with 3 Measures

January 21, 2021

The Right Data Migration Tool Helps Schools Move to Cloud During COVID Crisis

January 19, 2021

Webinars

View all

Who’s Behind the Mask? Hacker Personas Explained

January 26, 2021

Your Network Perimeter Has Changed

February 18, 2021

How Managed Hosting Providers Thrive with the Alternative Cloud

February 24, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency

January 14, 2021

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools

January 14, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@exabeam, @VulcanCyber, @ntti3, @Vectra_AI, @Lookout and @valtixinc give high marks to @POTUS' federal… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

Judge sides with @AWScloud against #Parler; @SADAsystems gets AI-centric board member; @EnsonoIT, @navisite get… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

2021 may be the year of the #security-centric #MSP @BarracudaMSP #remoteworking #ITsecurity #dataprotection #RMM… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

Adding #AIOps and #AI-driven WANs will help IT administrators move forward, says @MistSystems.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

Microsoft taps @tybryson as corporate VP @msuspartner group @julwhite heading to SAP, @anderson to @Qualtrics.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

#MSPs can inject predictability into #threathunting @Sophos #cybersecurity #ransomware dlvr.it/Rr4ffV https://t.co/Bztc2Yxwvc

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@RiskBased report shows decrease in #databreaches, jump in exposed records in 2020. dlvr.it/Rr4fcW https://t.co/PYiDMiJFbt

January 22, 2021
ChannelFutures

Legal experts say @VMware's #lawsuit against @nutanix's new CEO holds little weight. dlvr.it/Rr48FJ https://t.co/oLxPhgvgAt

January 21, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X