Learning & Development for Millennials · Millennials’ use of technology is far more advanced than their baby boomer bosses, and even Gen Xers, as they are the first generation

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Learning & Developmentfor Millennials

L&D MEETS OMG:

L&D Meets OMG: Learning & Development for Millennials

Copyright © 2015

Published by Instructure 6330 South 3000 East, Suite 700 Salt Lake City, UT 84121

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Design by Instructure. Visit our website at www.getbridge.com

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What?A guide to working with and engaging millennials in the workplace through learning and development.

Why?Very soon, millennials will be the dominant generation in the workplace. Their learning and training style drastically differs from their predecessors, so it’s important to understand how they think, work, and feel to better engage them. Learning opportunities and professional development are important parts of employee engagement, especially with millennials.

Who is it for?Learning and development (L&D) and human resources (HR) professionals.

Who is it from?Instructure, Inc. is the software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology company that makes software that makes people smarter. Its modern learning platform, Bridge, enables organizations of every kind to engage with employees by measuring and improving employee learning, in real time. Learn more at www.getbridge.com.

How can Instructure help?We’re here and ready to change the way you do corporate learning and training. Down with the yawn-inspiring, groan-inducing version of corporate training. Up with the engaging, streamlined, and — most importantly — effective version.

We’ve leveraged our expertise in building software that people actually want to use and created a fresh learning and training solution for the corporate world: Bridge. It’s our uber-engaging, slick, easy-to-implement learning management system that will give your employees and company the tools needed for success.

We also happen to have a dedicated team of tech experts, so we can provide Bridge customers with 24/7 technical help should the need arise.

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Move Over Boomers, Millennials Are Taking OverThe Generation (and Technology) Gap Has Never Been Larger .................. 6 Unprepared for Today’s Workplace ....................................................................... 6

Digital Since They Were in DiapersGo Mobile or Go Home ............................................................................................. 7 m-learning is M’m, M’m Good .................................................................................. 8 Poor Design is a Deal Breaker ................................................................................ 9 Keep it Short: On to the Next in a Matter of Minutes ........................................ 9 Obsessed with Social is an Understatement ...................................................... 10

Traits of the Most Powerful and Misunderstood Generation

Short on Attention, Long on Ambition ................................................................... 11 Natural Born Hustlers (In Their Careers, Anyway) ............................................. 12 Motivated by Meaning ............................................................................................... 13 Teamwork Makes the Dream Work........................................................................ 13 Leveraging Tech to Collaborate and Connect.................................................... 14 How Millennials Thrive: Set the Framework, Then Set Them Loose ............ 14 They Want Results and They Want Them Now .................................................. 15

Your Guide to Engaging This Complex GenerationYour Guide .................................................................................................................... 16 About Bridge ................................................................................................................ 17

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Remember when baby boomers were the dominant influencers on everything, from how we worked to what we consumed and how we played? The generation that defined the American workplace with workaholic tendencies and work-to-live attitudes is now taking a back seat to another dominant generation: the millennials.

A breed all their own, these adults born in the 1980s and 1990s are quite different in how they think, work, use technology, and socialize. And for employers, it’s time to embrace their impending influx or spend years trying to recruit and retain young talent through outdated methods that just won’t work.

If you aren’t aware of the powerful impact of millennials, you will be soon enough. By the end of 2015, millennials are expected to overtake baby boomers in the workforce as boomers increasingly reach retirement age.

Move Over, Boomers. Millennials Are Taking Over.

Linking Learning & Employee Engagement

The 80s and 90s gave birth to more than hair bands and grunge— like the largest and most diverse generation ever, millennials.

R G B

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“Big Four” Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is planning for a workforce of nearly 80 percent millennials in 2016. It might take other companies a few more years, but millennials are expected to make up 75 percent of the workforce by the year 2025.

75%

The Generation (& Technology) Gap Has Never Been Larger

Millennials’ use of technology is far more advanced than their baby boomer bosses, and even Gen Xers, as they are the first generation of “digital natives.” For a millennial born in 1988, the first text message was sent when he was four years old, and by the time he graduated high school, social media platforms such as Myspace and YouTube were hitting their stride.

With this sort of tech ubiquity since childhood, do you really think you’re going to capture the attention of a millennial with the same PowerPoint slides you’ve been trotting out at a “Lunch and Learn” for the past decade?

Unprepared for Today’s WorkplaceA new study by Instructure, the creators of corporate LMS Bridge, asked managers about hiring practices and employee competence. Of those surveyed, 54 percent said entry-level employees (a.k.a. millennials) were only “somewhat prepared” to contribute to a company immediately. Which begs the question: How do you work with millennials to train and engage them once they’re on board?

In this e-book, we’ll show you how millennials differ from the generations that preceded them and how you can transition your training and development strategies to engage this powerful generation taking over our nation’s workforce.

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Go Mobile or Go HomeAs you consider company investments in new applications and programs, particularly your learning and training platform, consider the vital need for mobile access. Millennials are almost literally glued to their phones. According to Pew Research Center, more than four out of five sleep with or next to their cell phones.

As of early 2013, 18 percent of all millennials were mobile-only users according to comScore, meaning they do everything on a smartphone or tablet and likely don’t own a laptop or desktop computer. And millennial or not, mobile usage has taken over as the primary means of accessing the Internet.

At the same age that baby boomers were playing with Silly Putty and Cracker Jacks, millennials were already addicted to their iPhones and declaring Facebook passé. This doesn’t just mean they can show you how to download and use the Uber app on your phone. It means they’re instant-gratification junkies when searching for information.

If a millennial has a question, they’re more likely to whip out their phone and Google the answer than they are to ask the person standing right next to them. Millennials have a very positive relationship with technology. In fact, 56 percent of millennials think technology helps people use their time more efficiently.

However, in a study by Accenture, more than 20 percent of those surveyed said employer-provided technologies didn’t meet their expectations.

56%of millennials think technology helps

people use their time more efficiently.

Even more startling for employers who haven’t been keeping up with technological upgrades: 56 percent of lower millennials and 67 percent of upper millennials said state-of-the-art equipment is vital in their employer selection.

So how do you grab, and hold, the attention of a short-attention-spanned-instant-gratification-technologically-savvy employee?

Digital Since They Were in Diapers

For millennials, work is more than just a paycheck. It’s about enrichment, fulfillment, and the flexibility to achieve the lifestyle they want on their own terms. As evidence, a Millennial Branding report found 45 percent of millennials will choose workplace flexibility over pay.

You can meet these desires through mobile learning. Also called m-learning, this is training and development delivered on mobile devices — phones, tablets, handheld PCs — through an app, allowing millennials to access it whenever, wherever. Mobile apps typically focus on bite-sized segments of five minutes or less, appealing to millennials’ short attention spans (which we’ll address more fully below).

In addition to apps, another way to enable mobile access is cloud computing. This technology allows a seamless transition from working on a desktop PC in your office to a mobile device as you stand in line at the grocery store to your tablet at home. Data is stored on a remote-shared server (the infamous “cloud”), rather than a desktop hard drive, making it accessible instantly via any Internet connection.

For example, while using a cloud-based system, if a user exits a course at section two at the end of the workday, he can pick up the course right where he left off when he signs in from his tablet at home, since the data automatically backs up to the cloud.

m-learning is M’m, M’m Good

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Poor Design is a Deal Breaker Millennials are largely visual learners. This shouldn’t be surprising given they grew up using a computer, watching TV, and playing video games.

Start with design. You’ll grab their attention if you use a slick, modern interface that looks like the other apps and programs they’re used to interacting with on their phones and tablets.

To keep their attention, limit large amounts of text and instead use visual elements — like infographics and videos — to convey the information.

Professional marketers have already figured out that millennials want a slick user experience. Think about it: you want millennials to be consumers of your brand (i.e., your company culture and learning environment), too. So, think like a marketer and make them want to use your product.

Millennials are active learners — driven by curiosity, discovery, and exploration — with short attention spans. They can easily, and quickly, switch their attention between tasks and technology, like laptops, smart phones, and television, an average of 27 times per hour, compared to only 17 times per hour for previous generations.

What can we learn from this statistic? Millennials are constantly connected and you only have a brief period of time to capture their attention.

“If you can’t deliver a training course in short, bite-sized segments, you won’t engage the millennials coming into the workforce,” explained Jeff Weber, vice president of people and places at Instructure.

Best practices for m-learning suggest you develop education segments that are five minutes or less. Think YouTube video, not an hour-long “Lunch and Learn.” Keep in mind, the average human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish.

When breaking your current courses into smaller segments, consider offering different learning methods throughout the course, including video, group discussion, and other interactive activities. This will help keep millennial minds fresh as they regularly switch between different tasks.

Keep it Short: On to the Next in a Matter of Minutes

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Obsessed with Social is an UnderstatementDon’t forget to make the learning experience social. Unlike the generations before them, millennials are inherently drawn to social platforms. The line between their personal and professional lives are blurred — if the line even exists any longer.

On average, millennials share six pieces of content on social media and five on email each day. In short, they don’t feel like they’ve accomplished something until they’ve told everyone about it.

Increasingly, corporate LMS providers are integrating social media technologies to meet millennials’ desires for social engagement. Instead of older-style forum discussions, newer social capabilities are integrated throughout the learning platform. For example, users can comment on or rate courses or post a completion badge upon conclusion of the course.

Other functionalities include communities based on courses or business departments, integration with popular platforms such as LinkedIn or Facebook, or blended learning, which combines face-to-face and online interactions.

Millennials have no shame in allowing their professional and social worlds to collide, with 70 percent having “friended” their managers and coworkers on Facebook.

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We’ve all heard groans when training and development are mentioned. The good news is you’re far less likely to hear them from millennials. According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, millennials rated training and development as the most highly valued employee benefit. In fact, training and development outranked cash bonuses by a whopping 300 percent.

Employees who actually want to be part of your training and development program as a way to better themselves as part of the company — that’s refreshing, right?

“Millennials have a mindset of continuous learning,” says Jeff Weber, vice president of people and places at Instructure. “Once they have a college degree or certification, what can they learn or achieve next? They don’t necessarily need to go earn a master’s degree. Learning for millennials can be as simple as watching a YouTube how-to video.”

Driven to take the workplace by storm in skills, not just numbers, millennials rank leadership, public speaking, self-confidence building, and team management as their most desired training topics.

Short on Attention, Long on Ambition

You’ve heard the clichés — entitled, selfie-obsessed, ramen-eating, underemployed, “Me Me Me Generation,” “Hero Generation,” — well, you get it. Regardless of how they

are labeled, millennials are one of the most talked about, analyzed, and criticized generations.

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Results from MTV’s “Generation Innovation” study found millennials like to take charge of their careers — yes that’s plural. Gone are the days of lifelong careers — millennials are the masters of side or “slash jobs,” career hustlers who don’t identify with just one job. They have a job that pays the bills (accountant) and another one, two, or three they use as a creative outlet (graphic designer, blogger, etc.) that could lead to something else.

Having multiple jobs, even at the same time, can be attributed to this generation coming of age as

the economy soured in 2008 and many people lost their jobs. However, it seems to be more about personal satisfaction. Seventy-eight percent of millennials surveyed by MTV said “even if I have a job it’s important to have a side project that could become a different career.”

And unlike previous generations that sought out career destinations, millennials are job hoppers, expecting to stay in a job for less than three years. Job hopping can lead to greater fulfillment, which is important to this generation.

Natural-Born Hustlers (In Their Careers, Anyway)


If the culture doesn’t fit, they’re out.Eighty-eight percent of millennials considered “positive culture important

or essential to their job” and if they don’t have it at their current employer, they will look elsewhere.

Job 1 Job 2 Job 3 Job 4

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With millennials seemingly set on side jobs and job hopping, it’s important to understand what they want from their full-time employer and their job, or they will likely leave your company as quickly as they joined. Studies have shown millennials are motivated by meaning — and it’s nearly a requirement for their job. Seventy-seven percent of millennials stated their “ability to excel in their job is contingent upon deriving meaning from their work.”

Another attribute that cannot be ignored: millennials’ desire to connect with others. A whopping 88 percent of millennials prefer a collaborative work environment over a competitive one. From the days of Little League to college courses requiring group work, millennials have been taught that teamwork skills are necessary for success, but how do you provide opportunities for collaboration and teamwork online?

How does that translate to learning and development? What if you taught the younger attorneys in your firm how to provide basic wills through a training program and then held an event once a year where first responders in your community could come get their will drafted for free by those associates? Get creative in teaching them skills they can use both on the job and to better the lives of those around them.

Millennials want to use technology to connect with others in ways that allow deeper, more globalized connection, giving them a sense of community and connectedness. When building training resources, use technology to foster employee collaboration — be it through social networking, Skype sessions, chat forums, or video. In a recent Cisco study of millennial executives, 87 percent said they believe video has a significant and positive impact on an organization, and it is also a way to make online courses more visual.

Innovation and creativity consultant Michael Dugan says a common problem he’s seen at larger companies is that employees feel no connection to management or senior leadership. In the past, a member of senior management might kick off an on-site training program. How do you replicate that in the online learning environment?

Motivated by Meaning

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

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“There’s even more opportunity in an online environment to get across your company’s messaging — to get everyone to buy in,” said Dugan. “Have a video message within the online learning environment where the CEO or another member of senior leadership can explain why the employee is taking a given course and how it fits into the company’s larger mission.”

Beyond video, two-way video communication (think Skype) or chat forums bring millennials together through technology to brainstorm and collaborate on a particular topic. Those platforms can also be used to provide additional resources during online learning.

If your learning management system doesn’t have integrated social opportunities, create your own. For example, create a private Facebook group for your department where ideas can be shared and discussed.

Despite millennials’ ability to multitask, they still crave structure. Project instructions, assignment guidelines, and training courses should be clearly communicated and delivered. In particular, it’s important to explain why training courses are important to the millennials’ job duties, be it continuing education, learning a new skill, or a course about company policies and procedures.

To begin a training course, consider a table of contents or overview section to provide a clearly defined picture, allowing millennials to quickly recognize and understand what they are about to work on, as well as see areas of possible achievement.

Leveraging Tech to Collaborate and Connect

How Millennials Thrive: Set the Framework, Then Set Them Loose

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They Want Results and They Want Them NowNinety-five percent of millennials are motivated to work harder when they know where their work is going.

Your training courses should also incorporate assessment and feedback throughout, allowing managers to check in and address issues (if there are any) in real time to maximize the learning process. Millennials appreciate opportunities for feedback, whether it’s coaching or praise for a job well done. Additionally, incorporating this feature into a learning and development platform can increase knowledge retention.

Assessments are an important part of learning and development as they validate what the employee learned while also providing feedback via the assessment results. The results provide immediate feedback to the user, telling him whether he achieved the course objectives.

At the end of a course, allow millennials the opportunity to provide feedback directly within

the course via a survey (for an immediate reaction) or by following up with an email the same day. According to a marketing survey by SDL, millennials check their smartphones 43 times a day and emails are most likely viewed the same day, allowing for fresh course feedback.

Feedback should be focused on the course, provide further resources, and if the company has the capacity, set the stage for employee mentoring. According to a survey by Millennial Branding and American Express, 53 percent of millennials said a mentorship relationship would help them become better and more productive workers.

Once the employer has received feedback from the employee, engage another millennial characteristic by having an in-person conversation to discuss the feedback. When discussing career plans and progress, 96 percent of millennials want to talk face-to-face.


Instant gratification is the name of the game.

Give them feedback the same day, if not immediately.

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A recent study from Deloitte revealed more than two-thirds of millennials think it’s management’s job to provide them with accelerated development opportunities in order for them to stay with their current employer. With their job-hopping mentality, that’s a tall order.

Create a course with all of these elements for how millennials learn and live and you’re on the way to engaging the next (and largest) generation in the workplace!

Enable learning anytime, anywhere. Make it easy to learn and grow on the go with cloud-based or mobile e-learning solutions. Allowing employees to access training while sitting in line at the DMV, for example, caters to millennials’ penchant for multi-tasking.

Make segments short and visually appealing. Millennials are social everywhere they go, and are too busy multi-tasking to spend more than a few minutes on one topic.

Don’t be anti-social. Include elements for social sharing or engaging with your platform via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social networks.

A well-organized learning platform that outlines the courses available and how they fit into a larger training or development program for employees on a given track satisfies the needs for structure and self-direction.

A training and development program that tracks successful course completion hits on the achievement-focused nature of millennials and also provides the attention and feedback they crave. You can even take that one step further by opening up your course development to those employees who have skills or expertise to share and teach.

A well-designed training and development program can also build team camaraderie with employees taking courses together and collaborating. If courses are completed individually, employee cohesiveness can be built by providing feedback to one another through the learning platform, either in a comments section or on an internal message board.

Build regular feedback throughout the course through instant gratification, if possible. According to a University of North Carolina study, 88 percent of millennials said they would rather receive feedback in real time, not to mention frequent in-person check-ins on progress.

Your Guide to EngagingThis Complex Generation

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Bridge is a modern, sleek corporate LMS that drives em-ployee learning and training. Bridge measures and im-

proves employee sentiment, alignment, and knowledge to support the goals of your company. In a nutshell, it gets

everyone the tools they need to do a great job.

Help us make this guide even better. If you have any sug-gestions to improve this resource, please contact us at

[email protected].

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Learning & Development for Millennials · Millennials’ use of technology is far more advanced than their baby boomer bosses, and even Gen Xers, as they are the first generation