As baby boomers and Gen-Xrs retire to enjoy their golden years, millennials have taken over the job market. They’re already the largest generation around, at 41 percent of the population, and they became the majority in the workforce in 2015 - which means if your business isn’t rife with millennials yet, it either will be soon, or won’t survive.

You need millennials on your team - they reflect the zeitgeist of the current era, increase your productivity and bring new innovation and ideas to the game. But in order to make the most of your millennial employees, you need to know how to train them adequately. The same way traditional values, career paths and lifestyles have changed from previous generations, so too has their preferred method of education. Millennials are from the era where the internet made everything instantly accessible; they have short attention spans, and a desire for thorough coaching and flexibility in their processes. Here are tips on successfully training your millennial employees. 

Give regular, thorough feedback

Much has been said about whether millennials receive excessive or unfair praise. One can’t deny that the millennial generation is definitely used to constant feedback, whether positive or negative, in the form of evaluations, reviews, scores, performance charts and face-to-face conversations about their skills and difficulties. This means that this generation really wants to experience thorough coaching - they don’t want to be thrown to the wolves or left to figure things out for themselves. Millennials who receive little training often feel unprepared, unsure of their skills and neglected by a business, which makes them more likely to look for another job.

By giving regular feedback and training, you can improve a millennial’s engagement and productivity. You will make them feel like your business is investing time and effort into improving their marketable skills, which makes them more loyal to you, and you will boost employee morale and confidence.

Incorporate technology into training

This generation of workers grew up owning computers and using the internet - the younger half may have never known a world without the world wide web. That means they’re comfortable with technology, and in most cases expect and prefer to use it. In order to adequately train millennials, you need to use modern technological equipment and communicate information in creative ways. Millennials are more likely to report feeling frustrated with old, slow or glitchy technology than older employees, according to Wired, which means investing in new equipment and tech is important to keeping millennials in the workplace happy.

You can also incorporate technology, such as a good VPN, by changing the basic structure of how you train. Take advantage of the gamification trend, which can use gaming platforms, a computer or a smartphone app to provide employees with easy, repetitive skill-building practice and training that helps them cement lessons in their minds. Millennials grew up on video games and respond positively to the achievements, points and trophies of game training.

Make training flexible and individualized

Millennials are likely to feel frustrated if your training doesn’t appear to be relevant to their skills. They want training to be flexible, which means they want the ability to take up a lesson or segment whenever they want, the ability to revisit lessons they’re not comfortable yet and the reassurance that the only things they’ll be asked to do are things that are relevant or helpful to them. Millennials despise generalized training, which feels impersonal and unhelpful to this generation. Instead, look for training that’s customized based on their background, including what skills they have and haven’t developed, and what their immediate job requirements entail.

In addition, millennials prefer flexibility on how they receive training. This means a business looking to employ millennials should consider game training, videos, photo tutorials, one-on-one mentoring and written instructions - they want their pick. The best training will try to incorporate some of all of these aspects.

Training millennials adequately is necessary to ensure the future success of your business. By taking the time to understand and train this generation adequately, you can ensure that your new employees remain productive and innovative, rather than stagnant and frustrated. Do some research and be willing to spend some time, money and effort to figure out what your business can do to adapt to the needs of the millennial workforce.