Performance Management for Millennials

I'm on record saying that much of what is written about how different millennials are than we baby boomers and Gen Xers is a bunch of baloney (click here for more).  I believe it is the workplace that is evolving, not the people. Millennials simply have different stimuli than we had. But their responses to those stimuli are the same as ours would have been. Plus, I don't like stereotypes of any kind, including stereotypes based on the year someone was born. Not every millennial meets those stereotypes any more than any individual meets the stereotypes associated with their race, color, gender, etc.

But we have learned some things from millennials that we can apply in the workplace. Some of the more important come from video games. While not every millennial is a gamer, a higher percentage of them game than previous generations did. So one might ask, why are those games so addictive and so much fun?

When I ask my college students why they enjoy gaming, the answers are pretty obvious.  The games engage multiple senses, they are challenging, and they provide immediate feedback about performance. 

Two stereotypes about millennials that I have found to be unfair are: 1) they want the corner office but don't want to have to work for it and 2) they are so fragile they can't handle constructive feedback. In my experience, millennial gamers don't mind their character getting blown up in level 7. Their egos aren't crushed when they fail to advance. It just makes them determined to master that level more quickly in order to move up to level 8, even if it takes multiple attempts. But they will get frustrated if mastering level 7 is perceived to be unattainable or if the standard for advancement is unknown or keeps changing. 

In other words, it was the parents who wanted every kid to get a trophy and for organizations to stop keeping score in youth sports, not the millennials themselves. They are as competitive as we were. 

What many organizations can do much better is learning to explain what it takes to earn that corner office. Some version of you must be a level 15 to get that office; you're a level 4 right now - but here's what it takes to complete levels 5, 6, 7, 8 ... is the piece that is missing. Sometimes boomers just want millennials to be patient and wait their turn. But it's a myth that we were so patient when we were in our 20s. I clearly remember undervaluing experience when I didn't have any (like many millennials do now). But perhaps I overvalue experience now that I have a bunch.  

When organizations have cultures based on if you don't hear from me, assume you're doing a good job, those organizations are not going to appeal to millennials (or Gen Xers or boomers either for that matter). Workers of all ages never were happy and are no longer going to tolerate organizations that give lukewarm feedback once per year when those workers have the option of going to another organization that has learned to build systems that provide immediate or at least more frequent (and relevant) performance feedback and have more clearly defined the roadmap options to help them achieve their career objectives.