Millennials in your workplace

What can your practice do to better adapt to a generation that is overtaking the workforce?

By Catherine A. Kelly, MA

With up to four generations working side by side in your practice, it can be difficult to manage people who tend to have distinct work ethics, habits, perceptions of work and who value different things from their employers. This increases the difficulty of attracting, hiring and keeping employees.

Some negative characteristics that accompany Millennials may cause you to fire them (even though they may leave the job long before you have the chance). All joking aside, Millennials are critical to the future of your practice. Millennials make up the largest generation, numbering 80 million, followed by the Baby Boomers at 76 million and Generation X with 50 million. At their height, the Greatest Generation numbered about 55 million.¹

Currently, Millennials make up about 25% of the work force, with Baby Boomers and Generation X each making up approximately 35%. Future models predict that Millennials will make up half of the global workforce by 2020.¹ As they continue to enter the workforce, their career aspirations, attitudes about work and knowledge of new technologies will define the culture of the 21^st century workplace.

Many workplace structures are not designed for Millennials to succeed.² To prepare for this demographic challenge, you and your management team must understand the Millennial generation and develop a strategy to attract and inspire them. Your ability to turn these characteristics into advantages will determine whether your practice thrives or simply survives in the very near future.

Understand Millennials

This generation comes with a unique set of challenges, but also with a unique set of skills. In this technology-driven society, leveraging the talents of technology-savvy Millennials might just be your answer.

Consider Millennials for computer-related roles, such as scribing for doctors or creating templates for ICD-10 requirements, maximizing and meeting your Meaningful Use requirements for EMR. Also, most Millennials are very well connected through the world of social media. By using their expertise for your social marketing strategy, this generation could help you develop a deeper relationship between your practice and your professional referral network.

Attract Millennials

Studies show that Millennials spend less than 20 seconds reviewing a job description and are more likely to apply for positions that offer the ease of online applications.²

Therefore, your website needs to be up to date and have the capacity for any employment candidate to automatically upload his resume. Also, consider changing the “Careers” section on your website. To start, consider renaming it “Join Our Team,” since not all Millennials will apply to your practice for a career — many want a role that provides them with personal fulfillment. Also, Millennials often seek the advice of their friends and family when applying for a job, so create a short, two- to three-minute video for your website that shows the excitement that comes with joining your practice “family.” Talk about the great work you do in caring for the vision of your community, which will appeal to Millennials. This can also include annual mission trips or participation in local or national charity events, which you should also promote on your website.

Defining generations

GREATEST GENERATION (Born before 1946: Ages 70+) • View history as a way to plan the future • Disciplined and detailed oriented • Dislike conflict • Do not like to draw too much attention • Tend toward autocratic leadership • Prefer a hierarchical structure • Believe promotions, raises and recognition should come from tenure

BABY BOOMER GENERATION (Born 1946-1964: Ages 51-69) • Seek collaborative, group decisions • Goal oriented • Relationship building is important • Adaptive to diverse work environment • Productivity measured in hours worked & commitment to team • Believe promotions, raises and recognition should come from productivity

GENERATION X (Born 1965-1980: Ages 35-50) • Work independently but adaptable • Mistrust institutions & their messages • Look for a person for whom they can invest loyalty • Want open communication regardless of position, title or tenure • Desire work/life balance • May reject rules if they don’t make sense • See themselves as marketable commodities

MILLENNIAL GENERATION (Born 1981-2000: Ages 15-34) • Want open, constant communication & positive reinforcement • Desire a role that provides personal fulfillment • Want to effect change & make an impact • Look for opportunities to learn • Crave challenge & productivity over procedures & process • Seek a relaxed work environment & flexibility in work hours & dress code • Impatient – want things now

Source: The Business Training Center, “Millennials: Who They Are and How to Engage Them In the Workplace,” By Sindy Martin, August 2015.

When it comes to benefits, think creatively about what motivates Millennials — it’s not always monetary. For example, you may offer one week off after seven months of continuous employment to participate in a community outreach project. Remember that you are competing against every employer in your community, not just other ophthalmology practices. Research the recruiting efforts of other companies that attract the best and brightest Millennials, such as Google, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and Ernst & Young for more ideas on upgrading your recruitment process.

Manage Millennials

Millennials use technology for almost everything they do. With 24/7 access to technology, Millennials are not tied to an 8 to 5 schedule (In fact, 40% of Millennials stated they preferred technology over face-to-face interaction).¹ However, this presents a challenge since patients are typically in the office from 8 to 5.

Employees are more productive when they have autonomy over time, task and technique of their jobs, so assign Millennials tasks that can be completed outside this time frame, such as accounting, coding and even some marketing and recruiting.² Once trained, consider allowing employees in these positions a flexible work schedule to complete their tasks — possibly even remotely. The key is to tie the employee to the task, not a time structure.

Develop Millennials

Today, vendors are providing less educational support for your practice and staff. This includes the practice development resources, such as consultants and online practice support portals, no longer offered by many large pharmaceutical companies. Now, the burden of educating your staff falls squarely on your shoulders. With access to so much technology, Millennials constantly feed their IQ and crave information that leads to their personal growth and development. However, consider that almost 30% of Millennials want to be developed via strong mentors or coaches and only 5% of Millennials want to be developed via E-Learning.¹

To develop your Millennial employees, consider investing in interactive training activities for your staff or Internet educational games. You might even assign a “coach” or “wingman” to every new employee as a way to help integrate them into your practice and help them feel a sense of belonging. By being proactive, your practice can retain these talented individuals.

Conclusion

You must make changes to attract Millennial employees and maximize their talents. However, as previously mentioned, different generations come with their own habits and preferences, and managing employees of different generations can be a challenge. If reshaping the current work place to align more with Millennials causes tension amongst other generations, strike a balance in your practice by familiarize yourself with the values of all generations.

Today’s workplace requires more open communication than ever before. Be sure to share the reasons behind the changes you implement, and remain open to new ideas from all your employees. This will make for happier staff, which in turn will lead to better patient experiences. OM

REFERENCES

About the Author
	Catherine A. Kelly, MA, has worked with ophthalmic practices for the past 10 years. She specializes in revenue enhancing services and employee development and focuses on ophthalmic business strategies, staff education and value added services. E-mail her at ckellyone14@gmail.com.