In the business environment, training opportunities hold significant value for millennials. As enthusiasts of continuous learning, digital natives aspire to continually develop themselves throughout their lives. Here are some tips to motivate millennials to engage in training within the workplace.
Millennials have a strong appetite for learning. They enjoy acquiring new skills and knowledge to advance their career plans. They place particular importance on their prospects for growth. Training serves as an excellent means to foster their loyalty to the company.
While they are often labeled as lazy and capricious, millennials are actually eager for knowledge. They desire integrated and ongoing training throughout their professional lives. Training can even become a determining factor in their choice of employer.
It’s up to the company to find ways to motivate millennials to engage in training by offering courses that align perfectly with their expectations. Here are some suggestions to guide managers in this direction.
Flexibility, Freedom, and Autonomy
Micro-management and excessive supervision are not favored by millennials, as they can make them feel distrusted. To motivate millennials to undergo training, it’s better to suggest training rather than imposing it upon them.
Another characteristic of millennials is that they seek freedom from rigid schedules. They prefer training with adaptable and flexible timings, allowing them to learn at their own pace. This is why online learning is highly recommended and well-suited to the profile of digital natives.
Online Learning
Online learning provides millennials with the flexibility, freedom, and autonomy they desire. Microlearning, which consists of small modules (20 seconds to 5 minutes), is available at any time, from any location, and on any device.
Millennials also enjoy gamified experiences. Gamification is a technique that promotes learning by creating a pleasant work environment. It’s an ideal way to motivate millennials to engage in training.
Interested in learning more about learning formats tailored to millennials? Quickly read this article: 5 Learning Formats Tailored to Generation Y
Group Work
To motivate millennials to undergo training, emphasis can be placed on group work. Millennials enjoy working in small, self-directed teams supervised by a trainer. Workshops facilitate task-sharing, diverse viewpoints, skill development, and team cohesion. Group work is also appreciated by millennials as it helps cultivate soft skills and improves verbal communication.
Visually Appealing Learning Materials
Millennials have grown up with the internet, advertising, television, and images. Visual elements hold significant importance for them. This is why they are drawn to online training or webinars. Digital natives are active on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. They enjoy watching videos on YouTube, platforms that prioritize visual content. They are accustomed to being exposed to visually appealing messages throughout the day. Visually engaging learning materials assist digital natives in focusing their attention on the subject matter.
In Conclusion
To motivate their employees to engage in training within the company, managers should activate certain motivation drivers. Allowing flexibility, freedom, and autonomy during training sessions is a strong motivational factor for employees from Generation Y.
To enhance the motivation of their teams, managers can also offer young employees various online learning formats. Born between 1980 and 2000, digital natives have been raised with video games and the internet. Their preferred learning methods naturally reflect this trend.
Finally, group work represents another motivating element.
