Tips to work with and manage millennial retail store associates.

Millennials dominate the retail workforce, being five times more likely to hold a retail job than any other generation. They are a generation that embraces technology and craves innovation. Change scares some, but not your millennial retail employee. These associates were born between 1980 and 2000 and comprise 20 percent of the population. It is important to learn how to best engage and develop this employee, as they become a dominant influence in the workforce. To retain these important workers, managers need to change their communication and management style.

How to Work with Millennial Employees

• Millennials grew up with digital and mobile devices, making them the perfect employee to adopt mobile applications quickly. This serves as a great bonus when hiring from the millennial demographic. Mobile technologies improve efficiency, something a millennial will value. Utilizing mobility platforms engages the millennial worker on devices they have grown up with, making them more productive and engaged employees.
• Flexibility is key to a millennial employee's happiness. Millennial workers stress the importance of a work/life balance. Give workers control over their shifts by offering mobile schedule management tools and the ability to swap shifts with coworkers. Workers will appreciate the control this gives them, while streamlining the scheduling process for you.
• Utilize millennial expertise. Instead of evenly distributing tasks amongst employees, assign them based on skills. Millennials will work hard at projects and tasks that match with their personalities, traits, and abilities.

Millennials will make up one third of the retail workforce by next year if current trends continue. Having the tools and technologies in place to engage and retain these employees is critical to retailers’ survival in 2014 and beyond. It is impossible to eliminate employee turnover entirely, but with these tips, you will be able to reduce it and keep quality millennial workers on staff.

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