Learning & Development, Recruiting

How to Personalize Your Onboarding Initiatives for Millennials

Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. And personalized onboarding training is becoming critical to keeping them engaged and retained long term.

onboarding

Source: Graf Vishenka / Shutterstock

If you’re interested in retaining your Millennial employees longer, here are a few ways you can personalize your onboarding training and initiatives.

Use Mobile Applications and Cloud-Based Platforms

Most Millennials are well acquainted with mobile technology and cloud-based applications and expect to use them at work. During onboarding, use mobile and cloud-based technology to conduct gamified onboarding, to share critical resources, and to allow new hires to connect with their future coworkers.

In addition, use mobile technology and cloud-based platforms to collect and track data about what new hires are interested in learning and pursuing while they’re working at your organization so that you can build personalized learning and development (L&D) plans and career maps for them.

Learn how you can set your Millennial new hires up for success when you attend the *FREE* webinar The First 90 Days Will Make or Break Your New Hire on Thursday, January 30, 2020.

Implement Preboarding

Don’t wait until your new hires’ first day to send them information about what they can expect on day 1. Instead, send them routine code-of-conduct policies and new hire paperwork to complete, as well as general organizational information, well before their first day.

Also, introduce them to their new managers or coworkers before their first day on-site, even if only via e-mail, so that they can get acquainted with whom they are working.

Have Teams Take an Interest in New Hires

Encourage managers and coworkers to send welcome messages to new hires and to take them out to lunch as they’re being onboarded. And encourage managers and coworkers to learn more about their personal interests outside of work to form better relationships.

Help New Hires Establish a Sense of Purpose

Millennials want to feel a sense of purpose inside their workplaces and in their everyday lives. According to one study, 75% of Millennials even stated that they would take a pay cut to work for a socially responsible company.

So, during onboarding, help new hires establish their own sense of purpose with and at your organization, as well as find their purpose inside their greater communities.

Empower New Hires

Millennials want to use technology to discover and learn new things and to meet new people and have experiences on their own, and they are quite accustomed to and adept at doing so.

Once Millennials are set up on their new workplace platforms and apps, allow them to use those resources and avenues to find the information they want and need, and empower them to start projects that they find meaningful within the scope of their everyday responsibilities and roles, with their mangers’ guidance and final approval if needed.

Pair New Hires with a Peer Mentor or Coach

Pair new hires with a peer mentor or coach who will show them the ropes at your organization and who will offer one-on-one, personalized insight into things like where to eat for lunch, what resources to use for what, whom to go to with different questions, etc.

Follow the best practices above if you want to better personalize your onboarding initiatives for Millennials.

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