TRAINING MILLENNIALS ONE-ON-ONE
by Robert Wendover
Those of you who have heard me speak on the subject of hiring know that I am forever telling employers to avoid the " Yups ," as in " Are you a hard worker ?" " Yup ." But the yups go beyond hiring . They are also common during training .
People , in general , don ' t like to appear dumb or dense . So when someone tries to teach us something and we don ' t get it , we ' re inclined to say " Yup " anyway when they ask if we understand . The Millennial generation is no different in this regard . In fact , it may be worse with them simply because our training is competing for " share of mind " with everything else going on in their heads . I ' m not casting aspersions . They ' re just wired that way due to their immersion in digital technology and fast-paced media since birth . So how do you connect with these so-called " digital natives " in one-on-one instruction ? Here are few tips that I see working :
Show them the big picture -- Most new employees have never learned what role their job plays in the scheme of things . They can ' t explain how the place makes money . They know that money comes and that people get paid . That ' s about it . Show them how that $ 500 part they handle nets the company $ 25 , before taxes . Explain to them that between your hourly wage and theirs , that one hour ' s worth of training is equal to the profit on two of those $ 500 parts . This may not sink in the first time , or even the fifth . But over time , they will understand that training is valuable and they better pay attention .
Show them how . Do it with them . Watch them do it -- Anyone who has been trained to
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train has been taught this old saw at one time or another . The trouble is , most of us don ' t do it . We start out okay by showing them how . Sometimes we do it with them and sometimes we watch them do it . But we find all kinds of reasons not to follow through -- scheduling , distractions , perhaps just boredom with teaching something so basic . But this follow-through is essential . After all , repetition is the best teacher and these learners need to know that while mastery doesn ' t come immediately , you ' re there to support them .
Use relatable metaphors -- Millennials have their own frame of reference , just like the rest of us . The more you can provide examples , terms , phrases , celebrity names , product names and things to which they relate , the more they will engage . This is also true of lifestyle needs and wants . Years ago , for example , I was trying to explain to someone the cost of a mistake due to carelessness . I could ' ve said $ 400 over and over until I was blue in the face and he would not have gotten it . After all , the company has lots of money , right ? So instead , I knew that the tires on his car were rather bald and I said " This mistake is the equivalent of a new set of tires for your car ." He got it right away .
Challenge their yups -- The next time someone says " Yup " when you ask if they understand , say " I don ' t believe you ." Then make them demonstrate that they do . You can let them off the hook , of course , if it is obvious that they don ' t understand . But you should also inform them that saying yup when they don ' t understand doesn ' t serve anyone . After all , it could be that their instructor didn ' t do an adequate job . If you make it a little memorable the first time , they ' re more likely to speak up from then on when something doesn ' t make sense . Of course , you want to be careful to make sure that they understand that everyone struggles with learning things sometimes . You certainly don ' t want them to feel dumb .
Provide a resource for reinforcement -- One of the advantages of today ' s technology is that you can create instant training tools . Not long ago I conducted a couple of seminars on safety training and Millennials at a utility conference . During each session , I broke the audiences into teams and asked them to create a two-to-three-minute video on a safety topic of their choice . This 20 minute exercise resulted in some straightforward , but amusing video clips designed to engage and reinforce . Any instructor can produce video and audio clips and provide links to resources on the web . So there are five ideas for training Millennials oneon-one . If you have ideas , let me know . I ' d love to share them .
Robert W . Wendover is an award-winning author of ten books who has been researching and writing about workforce trends for more than 30 years and is the principal of Common Sense Enterprises | www . commonsenseenterprises . net
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