Most workplaces today constitute a majority of millennials, and we have realized that it can be a challenge to manage them. It's not because they don't agree to a concept before a proper analysis but because they are pros. They like to be transparent and communicative about what happens around them. They are driven, goal-oriented, and constantly on the move. The pandemic posed many challenges for mentors to walk with millennials ensuring job satisfaction and dealing with transformation. But confident mentoring through challenging times is only evident in how they retain millennials.
Millennials belong to that golden category where people seek to be. They are digital worms and can easily crawl up the hierarchy ladder through passion. They update themselves with the latest information and keep an eye for the best jobs in the market. That's why retaining them and mentoring through social distancing is nothing less than a back-breaking job. Nevertheless, it is essential to look at their perspectives and appreciate their curiosity for the cultural variety they bring in. The following tips will help ensure confident mentoring through challenging times and retaining millennials.
Mentoring At Its Best
Mentoring has given us innumerable benefits. And the time is only right to hold onto talent and guide millennials to see the best in the situation, help them innovate and learn. In fact, this article will show what efficient mentorship looks like and how it positively impacts the millennials. Mentoring is a super-intensive procedure to help individuals connect with the firm's goals, align theirs, and inflict a sense of responsibility to see the greater good. Mentoring is also required the most in such times to enhance the firm's confidence in its employees. We will look at a few areas where mentoring would need a stronger hold.
Structured Learning
Millennials have every resource at their disposition, so the concern is how they must use them. With so many learning mediums and result analysis changes, the entire learning process may look disrupted. So, how can they develop skills? Mentors need to come to their rescue and support them as they adapt to the process, build skills, and gain the upper hand over competitors. By employing reverse mentoring techniques, managers can ensure the learning process is two-way. Strategic career courses, training and counseling are some of the approaches to channelize the process. By guaranteeing a mutually supportive work environment, firms can easily create a more robust culture at the workplace.
Mental Health
Most millennials experience high stress levels because of work pressure and increased anxiety levels for achieving targets. Adding on to the woes is the effect of the pandemic where they are constantly looking for better opportunities. They realize the true value of mentorship at such times when mentors help them cope with the changes and micromanage their stress levels. Small teams dedicated to raising awareness about mental health can work to initiate customized programs to benefit millennials. These include taking baby steps toward goals, better coping with failure techniques, and regular mental wellness exercises. These will help millennials fight depression as well as learn faster and develop their skills.
Build Emotional Quotient
Millennials have seen the biggest of transformations in their times. From technology backwardness to expertise in the evolving forms of technology, they have learned to adapt the most. However, it came at a cost. Most of them are confused about a critical self element-i.e emotional intelligence. The faster outcomes have deprived them of knowing and understanding themselves. They seek validation in everything they do. Hence, mentoring can help restore the lacking confidence and also instill much-needed soft skills in them. With time, millennials will feel motivated and will be able to empathize better, network sharply, and handle situations better.
Retaining Millennials
As already discussed, retaining millennials is a demanding procedure because of their innate uniqueness. However, we can employ specific strategies while mentoring them.
Know Your Responsibility
Keep in mind that it will take time to train millennials and align them with the firm's objectives. Understand that you will have to become a coach, mentor, leader and friend to the younger generation of recruits. When you get to their level, you won't be disappointed to see how fast they learn and rise to the occasion. Initiate some effective mentorship programs and use them for the benefit of the millennials.
Show Them You Care
Millennials always insist on transparency within the workplace. So share everything that comes under their description. The timelines of targets, their goals, expectations and opportunities should be crystal clear. It may not be a falways be favorable time always, but by being honest, you will always have their back. Also, they will reciprocate by being open to you at all times.
Constructive Criticism
Regular feedback and a positive take on things will give millennials a feeling of excellent work culture. You must learn to appreciate them for small accomplishments. Similarly, show them the proper process to do a job if they mess up without blaming them. As a mentor, you must equip yourself with the mental tools to accept employees as they are and inspire them to change from within. If you can do that, you are almost on the way to producing future leaders.
Analyze
It is obvious that mistakes will occur but learn to get the millennials' perspective. Analyze every situation logically and be in their shoes before judging them. Not only will you respond better, but also you will have Plan B ready for such circumstances. Think about how they do and help them gain experience by laying out examples and demonstrations.
Rightful Training
Guide them in the right way by sharing every possible detail you can. Do not impose outdated standards on them. Train them to enhance their decision-making procedure and do not over expect. As you do that, take a bit of their audacity and embrace the opportunity to learn from them.
Collaboration For The Greater Good
Millennials always search for a purpose behind their work. They wish to make a positive difference in the community and love absolute creativity. Mentors can ensure better collaboration by providing leadership mentoring, a better work-life balance, and enhanced mentorship programs. Confident mentoring through challenging times won't be a grueling procedure but a smooth and enlightening process. Not only that, it will lead to creating excellent work relationships which will ensure counting on each other for years together.
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