Each week I’m going to provide a round up of what I consider to be important and interesting articles on the future of work (not authored by me). These will include a variety of sources and topics ranging from workplace practices to robots and automation to leadership and everything in between. There’s a lot of information out there so I’m hoping that these weekly round ups will help make life a bit easier for you by giving you just the good stuff. Let’s get into it!
3 Tips for Creating a Millennial-Friendly Workplace
This article states that by 2020, 46% of the country’s workforce will be composed of Millennials. With that in mind, three tips for creating a setting that will encourage their success are provided. The first suggestion is to cultivate a culture of transparency. This generation grew up with information at their fingertips – via a smartphone – and expects their employers to be open with them.
The second tip is to get rid of organizational hierarchy; research has shown that top-down management does not work well with Millennials. Allowing workers to view a path for advancement within the organization may encourage them to remain, as well as promote more opportunities for creativity.
The final tip is to embrace innovative team building. The use of traditional team building activities may not be met with much enthusiasm but this article provides some suggestions that might fit the needs of both the organization and Millennials.
Check out the article for a great teambuilding activity that may engage all ages!
To Make Your Employees Happier, Lose This HR Policy
Recent research indicates that annual employee reviews are not living up to their intended purpose. Though meant to be a benefit, according to a survey of 1500 Adobe employees, 80% of them would rather receive immediate feedback in contrast to a yearly meeting.
The annual reviews are time consuming to put together and when it comes down to it, Millennials say they have little impact on their work. Additionally, 60% would switch to an organization without these types of reviews; believing that without annual reviews, there would be more flexibility, happiness and collaboration in the workplace.
Current organizations that have moved away from using annual reviews are Adobe, General Electric, Accenture and the software start-up, RetailNext.
Internal Customer Service Best Practices: Ten Principles For A Stronger Company Culture
Positive internal customer service practices can be beneficial in building the culture desired. This article provides ten great ideas to work better together, ensuring a strong company climate.
Some suggestions include being mindful of the language and tone employees use with each other. For instance, “Please” and “Thank you” go along way even in daily conversation. As with external customer service, internal exchanges have three stages as well. There is a beginning, middle and end – so remember to include not only the middle (the service) but the beginning (“Good morning”) and end (“Have a good day!”).
Another principle suggested is to encourage a culture of growth – where people are free to move ahead in the organization. With this, or any other type of positive occurrence, celebrate. What is celebrated is repeated, so make it a point to honor positive events and ensure future successes.
For more tips on ensuring positive internal customer service, check out the article!
My new book, The Employee Experience Advantage (Wiley, March 2017) analyzes over 250 global organizations to understand how to create a place where people genuinely want to show up to work. Subscribe to the newsletter here
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