In 2015, more than 70 million “millennials” will be entering, or have already become part of the workforce and marketplace, replacing the “baby boom” generation as a pool of potential workers/consumers. What is your organization currently doing (or should it be doing) to generate millennial employee and customer loyalty? Consider characteristics that are thought by some to differentiate millennials from earlier generations including technology fluency, importance of a work/life balance, demand for instant gratification, and a greater expectation that employment should be personally satisfying.
As millennials continue to manifest, it is evident we must adjust as they are our loyal consumers and employees. I fully support change, which is shown in recent adjustments made internally within the Toyota workforce as high as the board of directors. We are a diversified company operating in five continents. Here at Toyota Motor we are constantly seeking ways to keep our consumers engaged, and with millennials it can be viewed as a challenging task due to the time we all live in especially with the internet. It is not enough to simply have social media for your business, however entities must advertise as a brand featuring share worthy content that motivates millennial consumers to engage (Fromm, Butler & Dickey, 2014). Toyota is continuously working to engage our consumers. In fact, in efforts to keep consumers engaged Toyota uses a mobile advertising unit that can be used for customers in the Toyota dealer’s region and in the market for a car (Barris, 2014). Job satisfaction is also important for any job and is a part of effective appraisal systems therefore we strive to create an enjoyable work environment for our employees. Although millennials expect satisfaction quickly, we understand it is due to their views on life and self. Studies show millennials tend to be more individualistic and self-focused and care much about extrinsic rewards and free time (Murphy, 2012). We must continue to make adjustments, continuing to strengthen our appraisal system and diversifying our workforce to create opportunity for growth. There is a new generation of consumers and employees that will soon dominate the workforce and consumer base the time is now to make our mark in history.
References
Barris, M. (2014, October 1). Toyota exec: No magic formula to engage millennial car buyers. Retrieved May 29, 2015, from http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/18818.html
FROMM, J., BUTLER, C., & DICKEY, C. (2015). How to engage Millennials: Re-imagining the consumer as a partner, not a target audience, to increase engagement. Journal Of Brand Strategy, 4(1), 27-36.
Marcinkus Murphy, W. (2012). Reverse mentoring at work: Fostering cross-generational learning and developing millennial leaders. Human Resource Management, 51(4), 549-573. doi:10.1002/hrm.21489