Millennials: Are Their Training Needs Really So Unique?

As a learning and organisational development leader, I am regularly asked what opportunities I provide for the companies’ talent. More so in recent years, I’m asked what I do specifically different for Millennials. My answer….. absolutely nothing!

Despite the harshest of critics branding them the ′snowflake′ generation, Millennials are hardworking and hungry to learn new things at work. In fact, they value opportunity to continuously learn in the workplace more that they value a free lunch, a private pension or medical insurance.

With Baby Boomers approaching retirement and not enough of Generation X to fill all their shoes after they retire, Millennials will have their fair share of positions to fill on their own. This will certainly require some sort of training.

But do Millennials need their own unique training? Initially, you may think so. But do they? Really? Personally, I don’t believe so.

What Do Millennials Want From Training?
Some common training needs for Millennials include:

• A personalized learning experience
• Training to always be relevant to what they have to achieve
• 5 bite-sized chunks of information over one huge one
• Access workplace learning on any device, any time

But I ask, as our workplace environments become more fast-paced, pressured and a greater need for information on demand, isn’t this what every employee wants from training?

Do Millennials Really Need Their Own Unique Training?
As a Millennial myself, working within HR and L&D for over 10 years, I have had the pleasure of working with both Baby Boomers and Generation X. During this time, I haven’t encountered anyone, regardless of their age who would want something different from workplace training than what Millennials want or need.
I don’t believe the issue is that Millennials have different expectations for their workplace learning. I do believe the continued use of tired training content and methods, despite technology continuously driving businesses to advance at a substantial rate, is the real problem.

So, what’s the solution? It is not to create training specifically for Millennials, but for companies to assess their current learning environments, update all training programs and strive to build a learning experience to meet today’s learning needs of ALL employees, regardless of which generation they fall into.

Learning technologies enthusiast, speaker and philanthropist, Sarah Saunders brings over 10 years of insider knowledge to the table. As a 2016 ‘Inspiration in HR’ finalist, Sarah knows what it takes to build a culture and climate for learning.

Many of Sarah’s diverse clients include Google, Houses of Parliament and British Petroleum (BP), to name only a few, have all engaged Sarah to lead their national and global learning technology deployments.
Sarah is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Chartered Management Institute and The Learning and Performance Institute.