The ultimate guide to Millennials for the hospitality industry

What do Millennials want?

To paint a clearer picture of today’s millennials, we’ve created three imaginary personas. These fictional personas showcase the diversity of this generation, and highlight the varying motives of people in this age group.

Recent college graduate and high achiever.

The youngest of our study group is Emily, a single 23 year old who lives by herself. Emily just graduated with honors from her local state college with a BA in Administration. She has always been focused and driven, and now she is on the lookout for a perfect opportunity she can capitalize on. Her main desire from an employer is transparency. Emily said about managers, “I prefer managers who allow employees to be autonomous and manage their work with minimal oversight. Trust, ultimately, is a key element between management and their employees for me to feel comfortable. Also, collaboration is essential because people bring unique perspectives to the table. That’s why I think it’s still important to maintain that independence and individuality within a team environment.” Emily makes a strong case for collaboration with individuals who are encouraged by trusting managers. A Millennial like her could bring a lot of energy to a team, as well as encourage teamwork and professional growth.

Young professional with new responsibilities.

Twenty-seven year old Mason is the only male in our study group. He has been married for two years, and has been coasting through life, enjoying his marriage and his job without much thought to growth. Now, though, he is actively seeking a company with a policy of growth because of his wife’s pregnancy. Congratulations, Mason! Mason said, “The key to my professional growth, I think, is regular one-on-one check-ins with a direct supervisor. A supervisor who is also a mentor allows structure for reflection and accountability on the job. Knowing each week that I’ll be checking in with a supervisor allows me to keep track of my short term goals and continue to relate them to the bigger picture. It also sets up opportunities to feel proud of accomplishments.” The example of Mason shows us that older Millennials are settling down just like the generations before them. Mason cares about personal and professional growth. He is thinking about the future of his family, and the future of his company. At the same time, he is actively seeking engagement and cooperation in the workplace between himself and his supervisors.

On-the-go mother seeking control over career.

Our oldest Millennial in the study group is Natalia, who just turned 30. Natalia is a single mother of twin boys. She has a lot of support from her parents, but she still highly values parental leave for those moments when only mother will do. Flexibility is another consideration in Natalia’s decisions, as she needs to be able to make her own hours at times, especially with the summer fast approaching. Natalia is in control over her life, and she wants control over her career, as well. Natalia recently said, “As a mother, flexibility is insanely important to me. I don’t really care what the hours are called — vacation, sick time, whatever — as long as I can get my work done and won’t feel guilty about ducking out if my son all of a sudden has to go to the pediatrician.” The flexibility that Natalia seeks wouldn’t hinder her ability to be productive. In fact, it seems like she is an “always on the go” type of person who prefers the ability to work at any time.

Why don’t Millennials want ping pong tables at work?

You may have noticed that none of our examples included Millennials who wanted ping-pong tables and beer-friendly Fridays. Even the open office layout isn’t there. The omission of those stereotyped benefits is no mistake — Millennials care about real benefits. Let’s look at examples of this with our Millennial characters, Natalia, Mason, and Emily. Natalia wanted benefits like the ability to set her own schedule, which is typical of the generation. They care about freedom, and flexibility with work hours is a major perk to many Millennials. Emily, the youngest of the group, has said,

“Having free time to refresh and refocus is more important than just having a lot of money. Also, a person needs time to do more than work. If I’m not happy, the money doesn’t matter at all.”

That sentiment might sound like all Emily wants to do is have fun and chase dreams. While there is a certain element of a dreamer in a lot of Millennials, Emily is very focused and driven. She is a high achiever who sets goals. Mason is a sports lover, but he doesn’t like to mix business and pleasure. A foosball table at work would be a distraction to him. He would rather have benefits like quarterly bonuses, parental leave, and clear signs of upward mobility. At the end of the day, Millennials are a lot like every other young generation before them. Certainly, they do things in different ways and have different motivations, but they are still like the rest of us at their core. They desire real, concrete benefits; they seek upward mobility and control over their careers; they want to work hard, and be able to work whenever they want. Understanding Millennials can help you attract them, retain them, and engage them as clients and customers.

Train, manage, and retain.

You’ve recruited several new employees, and now they must be trained and integrated into the new work environment. Standards must be discussed, introductions must be made, and they must be retained for the hire to be successful. This process may sound like a grueling undertaking, but it doesn’t have to turn out to be so. Millennials are people just like you and all of your other employees, and their unique motivations and desires are founded on real events and trends. These insights can make training, managing, and retaining Millennial employees feel easy.

How to train Millennial employees.

Training your Millennial employees might seem like a hurdle, so we’ve put together this list of tips for you:

• Be transparent with information. This means telling the “why” and not just the “how” when teaching new techniques or procedures. Trust that your Millennial employees want to learn, and they’ll trust you enough to be engaged.
• Use shorter content. A study commissioned by Lloyds TSB Insurance found that the average young person’s attention span is only five minutes. If you have videos, keep them under three minutes. If you have written instructions, streamline them for the most direct explanations.
• Go social, go mobile. Use modern technology like social media and YouTube to post videos and start discussions. This will engage more of the Millennial crowd that traditional group training sessions and classroom-style movie watching.

Tactics for managing Millennials.

Tactic #1
Advertising was prominent in the lives of Millennials when they were growing up, and so they have developed a desire for authenticity and honesty. This carries over into the workplace, and in the ideal of a good manager. Related to the ill effects of advertising during their early years, Millennials also look for high levels of transparency. This might be something new to Baby Boomer managers, and the workplace can suffer from the difference in what is expected and what is delivered. One way to incorporate this tactic is by having a very clear employee handbook.

Tactic #2
A manager should work towards open decision making and should make their processes accessible to their employees. Another move towards transparency is using social collaboration and planning tools to share processes, such as procedures during a power outage or an incidental short staffing. The insight into the functions and inner workings of their workplace will create trust between the Millennial worker and the manager.

Tactic #3
Traditional work hours are the bane of the Millennial — partially due to a lust for instant gratification and partly due to the instantaneous nature of social media. Almost any question can be answered by speaking it into your phone, and Millennials grew up in this kind of era. They expect flexible work hours so that they can communicate with co-workers at any time, just like they do everyone else.

Tactic #4
A viewpoint that is shared by most Millennials is the need for a sense of purpose in work. They want to feel like they are part of something greater, working towards a greater good and a larger goal. This struggle for satisfaction goes so far that Millennial workers are just as focused on people and purpose as they are profit.

Tactic #5
To capitalize on these shared attributes, try scheduling groups together consistently to build the camaraderie that Millennials look for. They will create bonds together and solve problems together that may work out better than you could have hoped for. Also, hold meetings about service and business goals that include the staff; meetings about takeaway, business direction and goals, and customer expectations will help Millennials get that sense of purpose they crave.

Millennial employee retention is valuable.

The hospitality industry has one of the highest turnover rates of any job. Consider the damage done by turnover, and you’ll see why it’s important to focus on employee retention. First, the guests are affected by the turnover. Understaffing impedes service, and delays can be common in a situation where every employee is fresh out of training or there aren’t enough employees to cover shifts. Also, the employees themselves suffer from the high turnover — working several long shifts during a week because of understaffing puts undue stress on the tenured employees. Those tenured employees are the ones who solve problems, understand policy and process, and connect with regular guests. They are dedicated, and are willing to put back into the company they admire. The importance of employee retention can’t be understated. But how do you attract the employees that you want to retain? For starters, Millennials want to trust their employer. They want to feel connected to an honest company that doesn’t try to sell them an ideal or an image. Millennials grew up in the age of technology and advertising — they’ve had enough of being marketed to. You can build the trust of your Millennial employees by making good on promises you make. Don’t use gimmicks or fine print or other ploys. A commonplace occurrence is a gym offering limited deals that can change on a whim. This kind of arbitrary rule making and breaking won’t attract Millennials, and those that stray will be sure to let the gym know how they feel on social media and online review sites. Other Millennials will view that gym as untrustworthy, which could hurt future hiring processes and employee retention. Don’t underestimate the importance of mentorship, either. Millennial employees place high value on the relationship they have with their immediate supervisor, as well as the senior management. They want to feel respected by management, and to share mutual trust.

Short training videos that can be viewed with a mobile device provide hourly employees with a remote work option. If you’re holding frequent meetings, try moving some of them to the web with online meeting tools. And use Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to engage not only your Millennial employees but also you Millennial customers. Perhaps you don’t have the budget to provide more in-depth work-from-home options — that’s alright. Communicate that with your Millennial staff, since they seek transparency and mutual trust.

The benefits of flexible schedules.

Flexible schedules and the option to work remotely is an enticing bonus for many Millennials. Many Millennials feel a need for instant gratification, which can be partially sated by working whenever they want, and not working when they don’t want to. If you can be open to the idea of a flexible schedule, where success is measured by the quality of work and completion rather than hours spent on the job, you are likely to attract and retain Millennial employees. In the hospitality industry flexible scheduling and remote work can be a little tricky, though. Hotel rooms can’t be cleaned remotely, laundry can’t be loaded and switched and folded from home, and that Ramos Gin Fizz isn’t going to shake itself while the bartender is sitting on the couch. Employees have to be there to get the job done, and they have to be there for a certain amount of time. Take this as far as you feel comfortable — if you, as the manager or owner, aren’t sure that your employees can get the job done when setting their own schedules or when working remotely, you don’t have to allow it.

The hidden power of Millennials.

Did you know that 90 percent of customers trust peer recommendations, while only 30 percent trust advertisements? Let’s think about that in terms of Millennials: Those millions of Millennials are a force that you can employ beyond putting them on the payroll. A single Millennial with a popular YouTube channel can have millions of subscribers. That audience cannot be ignored, especially when you can easily use that Millennial as a brand advocate to spread the word about your products and services.