Motivating Millennials & Gen Z - Engaging the New Generation

Ask John

By John Duever

[Editor's note: Millennials, also known as Gen Y, are born somewhere between 1980-1996 (currently between 28-44 years old). Gen Z includes those born from 1997 - 2012 (currently between 12- 27 years old). Combined, Gen Z and Millennials make up approximately 73% of the U.S. workforce in 2024.]

Mary M asked: How do you motivate Millennials in today's workplace?

Great question, Mary, thank you.

When I think about the answer to this question I find myself remembering two polarizing responses that I see. The first response is “Millennials and Gen Z are useless and I’d never hire them again!” The second response is “I am having great luck with my younger staff and love them.” Personally and at my company, Vinyl Images in St. Louis, MO, we are part of that latter group and I will explain how we got there.

Stay with me here as I explain the back story that changed it all for me, you may not see the relevance right away but it will come full circle later in the article, I promise.

I have been with my wife for 21 years, we were high school sweethearts and we still worship the ground that each other walks on. About 3 years into our marriage we hit a little rough patch in our relationship. She sat me down in our kitchen and asked me two questions that ended up changing the trajectory of my life, my business, our relationship and how I lead my team. The questions were:

1. “Do you know the definition of empathy?” and

2. “Do you have any idea what a love language is?”

My response was “Of course I do, what’s your point?” She saw right through my bullshit. She went on to explain to me that the definition of empathy was the ability to see something or an experience through another’s eyes and the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes in order to perceive a situation differently than you would as yourself. I was 32 years old and didn’t know or understand the definition of empathy, and not only that, I had never put empathy as a trait that was needed to be a good leader. She then explained to me the 5 Love Languages:

• Words of affirmation

• Quality time

• Physical touch

• Acts of service

• Receiving gifts

This conversation changed my life. My personal love languages are words of affirmation and personal touch, in layman’s terms, and like most men I know, I want to be told I’m doing well, complimented and to feel personal touch. However, my wife’s love language is “Acts of Service”. What makes her happy is me being present at home and helping her with the endless list of items she needs to accomplish in a given day. When I started to speak her actual love language (act of service) instead of slapping her on the butt and telling her how hot she was (words of affirmation and physical touch), she began to speak my love language more and more and after 3 kids and 21 years together we are happier than we’ve ever been.

Let's bring this back around now that I have explained the backstory. As a leader, a powerful, respected and fierce leader that you are Mary, it is important to always keep the word empathy top of mind. When you hire a Millennials or Gen Z, you have to keep in mind that they did not grow up like us and the world has raised them very differently than it raised us. We need to be empathetic to their views and needs. This does not mean that we need to agree with or fully support their ideology or views, but being an ear for them and understanding that they need us to understand that they perceive situations differently than us is very important.

At the end of the day, your perception is your reality, and a Millennials or Gen Z’s perception is their reality. I cannot count how many times I have been there for members of my crew or https://insight.ng/lifestyle/expressing-love-languages learned a piece of advice about things that were really affecting them, which affected the business, that would roll right off my shoulders without another thought. It is not that they are weak, it is that some just aren’t hardened to a difficult life and what we perceive as not a big deal, could be a very big deal to them. Put yourself in their shoes and take a look at the situation then talk to them about what’s going on and how you suggest they fix or solve the issue. This has been extremely helpful for me with a large team of successful Millennials / Gen Zs and ties into this next part.

Reading about love languages and learning love languages opened my eyes to personality types. I thought if someone wants to receive love a certain way then they probably value things that I may not find value in or they want to be talked to a certain way. Everyone is different and you need to begin to speak their “language” to find out what they need to feel fulfilled.

I equate my experience with personality types within my team to be as important as love language is in my marriage, and I treat it as so. I take time to learn about my team, talk to them about things not involving work and try to get to know them so I can better learn their personality types and cater to their needs on an individual basis. Could this be considered coddling or maybe babysitting to an extent, sure, but it is 100% worthwhile time spent to build a team of killers. The more I get to know my team and their needs, the more my company grows. It is very necessary for me to invest this time in my team if I want to continue to scale the business.

As I and the managers at Vinyl Images, learn about our teams we get to know what makes them tick and we find out what they are motivated by through conversation. We find out what motivates them by asking directly and having conversations on the subject. Be empathetic to their needs, cater to them (within reason) and communicate why and how their motivation can be met by excelling in the workplace. Direct communication on all fronts of a team member’s life, performance, communication, the good the bad and the ugly will end in the person trusting you and wanting to work harder for you. When they work harder for you, you should give them what they need in order to help them stay motivated and thus the world turns.

An example, I am motivated by time off from work so I can be with my wife and sons and do what I want to do as well as be financially successful. Well, time off and money could be at the bottom of someone’s value list, so supplying them with a bonus or time off could mean nothing to them. You need to find out what they are motivated by by asking them directly and catering to those needs. They could be the next Gordon Ramsey outside of your company, so buying them a new set of cooking pans would mean more to them than a $1000 bonus or a week's paid vacation. You never know what they need unless you ask so have the conversations, take them to lunch, have them tag along on a bid and get to know them.

Another example, I have been a successful athlete my whole life and the coaches that motivated me the most were the ones that literally beat me and screamed in my face to get me moving. I used to be “that leader” to my team and ruined a lot of great team members because of that. After I began to understand that not everyone is motivated the same way as me and I switched my angle of communication to the needs of the individual my company grew and miraculously I didn’t have nearly as much turnover with my team.

Now I do want to be very clear that we hire slow and fire fast at this point in our business. There truly are lazy people in the world and they think that they will be the next Mr. Beast if they put 12 videos on YouTube. We cut these people fast and my team has learned what to look for in the interview process to avoid these people. I have found the ratio of great young employees to those that end up not working out in my company to be about 25% to 75% – there are a lot of diamonds out there.

Figure out their personality types and what they are motivated by, directly communicate with them how they need to be communicated with, train them and give them every tool they need to be successful. Show them the roadmap and vision of how you are going to help them reach their wildest dreams and you will find the best Millennials and Gen Zs to fit into your team in a manner that is mutually beneficial for all.

John Duever

John@wrapiq.com

Co-Owner/Operator, Vinyl Images Founder/CEO, WrapIQ

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