How To Engage Millennials In Your Corporate Culture

You’ve probably heard that company culture is tied to bottom-line results, but how seriously do we take this?  According to a new GlassDoor study, the data absolutely bears this out, and shows that company culture is something all companies need to pay attention to and improve more intentionally.  “Based on our multi-year analyses, we find a meaningful economic link between intangible company assets such as employee satisfaction and broader stock market performance among publicly held companies,” said Glassdoor Chief Economist Dr. Andrew Chamberlain. The Glassdoor study reports that public companies named to Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” list in 2009 have outperformed the S&P 500 by 115.6 percent through 2014, and a similar portfolio named to Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For,” outperformed the S&P 500 by 84.2 percent.  These are staggering numbers.

The key question corporate leaders need to ask is how to build a corporate community that truly inspires and engages our multigenerational workforce, and that means not just courting millennials, but integrating their skills to rejuvenate the entire workforce. According to a recent IBM study, despite many myths, millennials have similar desires to previous generations including job security and stability.  They aren’t more likely than other generations to jump-ship when they first hear of an opportunity at a friend’s new start-up; But your company’s junior employees do value collaboration and are the most connected generation.  So how do we create a company culture that taps into the skills of the new digital natives and engages all of us in the long-run?

The answer is not a better espresso machine, a weekly office happy hour or a one-time corporate-sponsored concert.  It’s not even about better flexibility programs. The key is building sustainable structures to accelerate the connectedness within your company.  We need to create working environments that support day-to-day collaboration and allow junior employees to use their connectedness to enrich their work and share new ideas to solve customer or client challenges.  There are digital tools now that make it easier than ever to achieve this goal and make improvements last over the long-term.

Look at TeamedWith, an app that calls itself the first professional team networking tool.  TeamedWith allows people to get noticed in a way that is productive and fair.  According to the IBM study, it’s a myth that  “millennials want constant acclaim and think everyone on the team should get a trophy. When asked to describe their perfect boss, Millennials say they want a manager who’s ethical, fair and transparent more than one who recognizes their accomplishments.”  TeamedWith promotes that fairness by allowing employees to keep track of and showcase their accomplishments.

Slack, a team communication tool, creates a better collaborative environment, consolidating information among a team so everyone has access.  There are multiple channels for files, images, projects, messages and everything is instantly searchable.  “Over 125,000 people use the app every day, among them 13,000 teams at companies as large as eBay, Sony, Yelp, and NBCUniversal.”  This lessens the time spent on organizational necessities, reduces email overload and allows workers to focus more on what really excites and motivates them: expressing ideas that will impact the business.

Other new developments like Culture Amp revolutionize the way that companies are able to collect, analyze and use employee feedback.  Rather than an internal HR department running a one-time survey or hiring expensive outside consultants which might take months to analyze data, Culture Amp offers an online platform so HR departments can prepare surveys that get at the heart of issues most important to employees and then quickly provides actionable insights. The important thing is not a one-time crowdsourcing competition but ongoing communication that allows employees to meaningfully express themselves and enables executives to respond quickly and test new ideas. Uber, Pandora , Airbnb and Warby Parker have already signed up for Culture Amp.  Some companies do monthly Culture Amp surveys to help with quarterly objectives while others use it every few weeks to keep a detailed look on how employees are doing over time.

Another way to build a positive company culture, is to encourage employees to seek mentorship and expand their professional networks. With new digital tools, like Betterup, companies don’t have to invest the time and money solely on matchmaking junior employees with more senior mentors internally.  Betterup provides inexpensive executive coaching to anyone and everyone.  The app combines research from behavioral scientists, psychologists, health experts, Navy SEALs, Olympic medalists, and executives.  According to its description, “millennials are the most stressed generation and are not receiving the support they want. Over 75% of Millennials wish their manager was more of a coach. They are seeking coaching that’s evidence-based, affordable, and optimized for their busy, on-the-go lifestyle.”

Looking at all of the new tools available to employees in any organization, companies have a huge opportunity to boost company culture and employee satisfaction. With low cost, and sometimes no cost, to the business, your junior employees can take control of their careers, meet people within their fields and seek mentorship early, which can only benefit your company in the long-run.  With team-focused apps, you will engage your Millennial employees and more senior employees and foster a collaborative environment that ultimately is tied to rising stock prices.