Millennial workplace expert, Adam Smiley Poswolsky, gave this presentation at the 2017 Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference (PWBC) in San Francisco, California. Learn how to empower and engage the next generation of employees and customers. Learn more: http://smileyposwolsky.com/

1. ENGAGING MILLENNIALS
ADAM SMILEY POSWOLSKY
SMILEYPOSWOLSKY.COM
@whatsupsmiley
Copyright 2016-2017 by Adam S. Poswolsky. All rights reserved.
HOW TO ATTRACT, RETAIN, AND EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION

2. Source: Gallup (2013)
70%Source: Gallup, State of the American Workplace Report (2014)

3. @whatsupsmiley

4. FIND BELIEVERS

6. WE ARE NOT THE
“ME ME ME”
GENERATION

7. PURSUE MEANING

8. “Being human always points, and is directed,
to something or someone, other than oneself—
be it a meaning to fulfill or another human
being to encounter.
The more one forgets himself— by giving
himself to a cause to serve or another person
to love—the more human he is.”
-Viktor Frankl

9. reflects who you are
and what your interests are,
allows you to share your gifts
to help others,
provides a community of believers that will support
your dreams,
and is financially viable
given your desired lifestyle.
MEANINGFUL WORK
@whatsupsmiley

10. @whatsupsmiley

11. WHAT MILLENNIALS REALLY WANT
• Sense of meaning
• Coaching and mentoring
• Learning, leadership development
• Flexible work, remote work, work-life balance
Source: Deloitte Millennial Survey (2016)

12. MILLENNIALS, GEN-X, BOOMERS
• Make a positive impact on org
• Help solve social and environmental challenges
• Work with a diverse group of people
• Work for an org among best in my industry
• Do work I’m passionate about
• Become an expert in my field
Source: IBM: “Myths, exaggerations and uncomfortable truths” (2015)
Millennials don’t want a trophy, they want a manager who is ethical, fair, and transparent.

13. MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT
• Digital
• Clear
• Fluid
• Fast
Source: “When Millennials Take Over” by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant (Ideapress Publishing, 2015)

14. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
• Purpose
• Value
• Renewal
• Focus
Source: The Energy Project (NY Times, Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath, “Why You Hate Work”, 5/20/14).
Employees who derive meaning reported 1.7 times higher job satisfaction, and 1.4 times more engaged at work.
Employees who have supportive supervisors are 1.3 times as likely to stay with the organization and are 67 percent more engaged.
Employees who take a break every 90 minutes report a 30 percent higher level of focus.
Only 20 percent said they were able to focus on one task at a time at work, but those who could were 50 percent more engaged.

15. EMPLOYEES WANT MEANINGFUL WORK

16. AVG. MILLENNIAL’S JOB = 2-3 years
AVG. JOB TENURE = 5 years
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

17. 20% OF MILLENNIALS
HAVE CHANGED JOBS
IN THE PAST YEAR
6 in 10 millennials are open to a new job opportunity, turnover costs U.S. $30b annually
Source: Gallup (“Millennials: The Job-Hopping Generation,”2016)

18. 65% OF TODAY’S KIDS
WILL END UP IN JOBS
THAT HAVEN’T BEEN
INVENTED YET
Source: NY Times, “Education Needs a Digital Upgrade,” Virginia Heffernan (8/7/11)

20. “MAXIMIZE THE RATE OF LEARNING
WHILE MINIMIZING
THE RATE OF TIME TO TRY IDEAS.”
-TOM CHI, FORMER HEAD OF EXPERIENCE AT GOOGLE X

21. GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
TO EMPOWER MILLENNIAL TALENT
1. MAKE AN IMPACT
2. PROVIDE SKILLS & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
3. RE-INVENT THEIR CAREER

22. EMPOWER MILLENNIALS
• PURPOSE: Alignment with role, mission, and team
• VALUE: Mentorship, skills exchange, and co-leadership
• AUTONOMY: Encourage career exploration,
flexible/remote work
• EXPERIMENT: HR supports A 2-5 year learning journey
See Daniel Pink’s Drive for Purpose/ Mastery /Autonomy reference

23. HR IS THE NEW
LIFE COACH
@whatsupsmiley

24. EMPOWER MILLENNIALS
•ENGAGE: Supervisor=Mentor, values-aligned culture design, team building,
design thinking, whole-person talent development
•MEASURE: Real-time feedback and positive reinforcement, forward-looking
performance achievement, data-driven and frequent (GLINT, REFLEKTIVE,
TRACKSTAR, CULTURE AMP), "Stay” interviews > Exit interviews
•EXPLORE: Offer apprenticeships, “experiment-ships”, unpaid sabbaticals for
purpose-projects, connect talent globally
•INCLUDE: Inclusion > hierarchy
•BALANCE: Deliver employee perks tied to quality of life, renewal, focus,
creativity, play, health & wellness, mindfulness

25. CASE STUDY: IBM MILLENNIAL CORPS
• CHALLENGES: 370,000 employees in 170 countries, early talents wants
to work on passion projects + wants direct line to decision-makers
• SOLUTION: Create Millennial Corps: 5,000 intrapreneurs who
complete surveys on new products, give feedback on new
initiatives, beta test and rollout key products (dress designed by IBM
Watson, new Apple partnership…)
• RESULT: Millennials feel heard, increased connection + retainment

26. • GIVE EARLY TALENT A PLATFORM: Reverse mentorship program
• MAKE THE OFFICE A CLASSROOM: Virtual education sessions
• MAKE PERFORMANCE PERSONAL: Move from generic grading system
to “checkpoint system” where employee (not company) decides the
goals they are being reviewed on
• MAKE THE OFFICE A COMMUNITY: Fast-Forward 2020 event to bring
together talent from all over the world
MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT AT IBM

27. MILLENNIAL ENGAGEMENT
• INVEST IN LEADERS: Intrapreneurship bootcamp for top-performers
• SHARE KNOWLEDGE: Inter-generational conversations
• ENCOURAGE SERVICE: 40-hours PTO as “time to give”
• PERSONALIZE PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENT: Achievement, not reviews
• PERKS TIED TO GROWTH: 6-week paid sabbatical after 3 years, 6 coaching
sessions, 10-year exercise window for equity
• BOOMERANG EFFECT: Let your talent leave (and welcome them back!)

28. CASE STUDY: “AMANDA”
DATA VISUALIZATION DESIGNER, JSI
• AUTONOMY: Decentralized proposal structure so she can suggest a new project
or client, and then lead that project
• RE-INVENT CAREER: Ability to become a leader and create her own role (went
from a “General M&E Associate” to a “Visual Analytics Designer”)
• SKILLS: $4000/year education fund for learning & development
• RESULT: Autonomy and career growth matters. Amanda turned down $25K salary
bump from competitior to stay at JSI

29. MILLENNIAL CUSTOMERS
• AUTHENTIC: Be honest, tell a story, show don’t sell
• MISSION-DRIVEN: What do you stand for?
• MAKE IT MEMORABLE: Is it unique? Is it beautiful?
• TRANSFORM: Your product is an experience
• CONNECT: Deliver in-person connection, not hashtags

30. MILLENNIAL WEALTH
IS MEASURED BY
COMMUNITY & EXPERIENCE
NOT A BANK ACCOUNT

31. MAKE THE ASK

32. WE ARE THE
PURPOSE
GENERATION

33. ENGAGING MILLENNIALS
SMILEYPOSWOLSKY.COM
SMILEY@THEQUARTERLIFEBREAKTHROUGH.COM
Copyright 2016-2017 by Adam S. Poswolsky. All rights reserved.
@whatsupsmiley