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Millennials

GUEST BLOG: Creating an environment that motivates millennials

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By Nazma Quarban, Chief Revenue Officer, Cognism

By 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be made up of millennials; a shift that businesses need to prepare for in order to attract and retain workers.

Forget about the misconceptions, millennial employees can be just as hardworking, spirited and loyal as any other generation; it’s all about how you motivate them. 

As the race is on to captivate their attention, many companies are asking the same question: how can you harness the skill and determination of millennials and create a culture that inspires them to succeed? Cognism’s Chief Revenue Officer, Nazma Quarban, looks at how companies can foster a culture where millennials can thrive and talent is retained. 

  1. Become a mentor

Traditionally, the manager-employee relationship has been centred around achieving the objectives of the business or department. However, managing purely based on performance won’t work with millennials; in order to see the whole picture, companies need to move their focus to development. 

From fostering an open-door policy to setting up regular one to one meetings to discuss both personal and work-related issues, managers should always put personal growth first. Casual conversations can lead to feelings of trust and by becoming a mentor that acknowledges the employee’s strengths, employees become empowered to make their own decisions. It is only then that they will truly learn for themselves.

2. Pave the way for a future 

91% of millennials consider the opportunity for rapid career progression as one of the most important aspects of a job. Ultimately, they want to know that if they work hard, they will reap the rewards. So, making sure encouragement and benefits such as salary and remuneration are in place is key to increased productivity and performance. 

If space is created for people to step up, they will do so. Putting a progression plan in place from the start is the best way to make a millennial employee feel that you, as an employer, prioritise their career growth and advancement. And job titles really do matter; for motivated millennials, a job title reflects their status and success. Giving them a taste of authority will give them a sense of purpose which could help drive company success. 

3. Cultivate a culture 

Millennials want an environment that lets them thrive, but how can companies make this happen? With many millennials fresh out of university, replicating the university environment in the workplace through socialising and collaboration is a great way to engage them.

Creating a business unit which doesn’t feel isolated from other departments and doesn’t have any members of the management team locked behind glass doors, is the first step. Once this roadblock is removed, the workplace feels immediately more inclusive. Solving the problem of diversity through regular collaboration will help build a supportive environment that millennials want to be a part of.

4. Celebrate success

Millennials respond well to a celebratory culture; this shouldn’t just be limited to business success, but inclusive of both team and individual success too. Celebrating milestones such as a great customer review, when a contract is signed, or even their triumphs outside work will give millennials the positive reinforcement to keep achieving. 

One way this works is through company socials and entertainment. Assigning a dedicated budget to host regular activities at work will help blur the line between work and play. Whether it’s team lunches, beer and pizza evenings or even an annual trip away, when people enjoy what they do and who they do it with, they will feel like they have a sense of purpose. 

5. Champion transparency 

Millennials expect transparency and are willing to be transparent in return. Being open and honest in both communications and conduct will go a long way in winning the hearts of millennials. Opening up these conversations and creating an inclusive environment will make them feel a level of value and respect whereby they can impact actual change. 

Giving them the opportunity to innovate and pursue their personal interests in the professional setting is one way companies can keep things fresh and provide them with the opportunity to get involved in the way the business is run. After all, you never know what hidden talents might transform your business. 

Conclusion 

Business owners need to realise that it’s no longer about what millennials can bring to the company, but what the company can bring to millennials. Working with millennials needn’t be an obstacle. If organisations invest in them as people and not employees, they will create a happier team, which is inevitably more effective and motivated and set up to succeed every time. Engage with millennials in the right way and there are no limits to what can be achieved. 

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Millennials are redefining customer service

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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By Merchants

As the biggest generation and consumer group in the world today, millennials are now the most important influencers in the world of customer service.

Having grown up with technology at their fingertips, millennials now value efficiency above everything else. Receiving goods/services on time and receiving answers to queries or concerns quickly is one thing, but millennials demand it all be done with their personal preferences in mind as well. Efficiency is being redefined–written in collaboration with Merchants, here’s how.

Millennials want a personalised service. They want to receive communication from a business directly, but they don’t want to speak to a contact centre agent over the phone. They want communication platforms that provide quick answers, but they want the answers to be definitive. They require customer service that progresses in tandem with modern technology, but that also gives the attention to detail known from customer service in the past. This might seem like a tough task, but with business process management, businesses can offer this kind of efficient service.

This is why millennials often prefer discussing their personal requests or needs over social media. It offers a quick and simple way to receive answers that are ready and waiting, yet still offers the option of speaking to an agent. According to Salesforce, 20% of millenials don’t receive communication from businesses via text message, which means that not all businesses are capitalising on this current trend. Whether it’s via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or a traditional text message, it’s better to stay in touch with the largest consumer group via platforms that they prefer.

Providing Effective Customer Service For Millennials is not an impossible task if businesses are backed with the right knowledge, and have a contact centre team trained to provide a top-notch service across multiple platforms; your business will be on its way to providing customer service that keeps millennials coming back.

Guest Blog, Steve Ball: The 8 things millennials really want from customer service

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Struggling to understand what makes your millennial customers tick? Here’s what they really want from your contact centre.

It can sometimes be difficult to understand what constitutes a great customer experience for the millennial generation. We know about their lofty expectations, their habitual use of technology and their willingness to vote with their feet if a brand disappoints them. But what really drives them, and what do they really want from customer service?

A lot of brands still seem to lack the answers to these questions. According to Aspect research from last month, some 42 per cent of millennials would rather clean a toilet than reach out to a contact centre – an increase of ten percentage points on 2015’s figure.

Millennials are clearly unhappy with the current state of customer service, and it won’t be long before this translates into lost business for brands that fail to accommodate their expectations.

So what is it that millennials really want from customer service? At Aspect, we’ve come up with a list of requirements – the “now consumer” expectations – that we think shed light on the matter. These are as follows:

1. Know me

Millennials want their interactions with brands to be not just convenient, but personal. This could be as simple as not having to repeat themselves when switching from one channel to another, such as a web chat conversation to a phone call, or being able to pick up on an incomplete transaction at a later date via whatever method makes sense at the time.

2. Make it mobile

A simple one: millennials expect customer service to be accessible via mobile. According to Ofcom, nine in ten Britons between the ages of 16 and 24 own smartphones, and 61 per cent describe themselves as “hooked” on their handsets. Mobile has become a more common means of getting online than the laptop, making it an important touchpoint for brand interactions.

3. Let me do it

Millennials have an appetite for self-service, too. According to our 2015 research, almost three in four consumers (73 per cent) believe they should have the ability to solve most product and service issues on their own. Reaching out to an agent should be a last resort.

4. Make it social

Millennials are fluent in social media, and expect brands to be the same. They also like to use Facebook, Twitter et al to vent when something doesn’t go their way. It’s vital that brands are able to assist and guide customers via these channels, and to do so at the time it matters most.

5. Fit into my life

One of the consequences of the rise in mobile, self-service and social media-based customer service is that millennials no longer want to suffer lengthy call queues or phone a contact centre at a particular time of day to solve a simple problem. Convenience is key – if a solution can’t be accessed at any time via any channel that counts against the brand’s customer experience.

6. Save me time

Speed is equally important. Millennials don’t want to repeat themselves or sit through a long-winded process on the phone that would be quicker to complete with a self-service or co-browsing solution.

7. Make me smarter

Millennials like their brand interactions to be empowering. Rather than just solve simple problems, a contact centre should be able to furnish customers with information that will improve their experience of the brand’s services in the long run. In turn, these customers will be able to use their newfound knowledge to support and empower their peers.

8. Help me discover

Along the same lines, a contact centre should be able to create value for customers outside of their immediate wants and needs. So, for example, it could deliver personalised advice and recommendations to an individual based on its knowledge of their purchases, queries and pain-points. This step, along with the one above, will turn millennials into committed brand advocates who discuss their positive experiences with peers and in social media.

 

Learn about customer experience solutions from Aspect