You’ve read about it, you’ve heard about it, you’ve probably even Googled how to spell it: millennials are taking the workplace by storm. Making up more than 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, understanding what makes the modern millennial worker tick is more important than ever before. More organizations are focusing on investing in training and learning opportunities that suit how millennials learn best.
This new generation of workers (defined as those born between 1981 and 1997) tend to approach learning differently: they’re fast-paced, hands-on, and contextual learners. For organizations providing employees with training and growth opportunities like language training, it’s important to consider which tools, resources, and opportunities will be most effective and efficient for your team. Millennials may seem like an enigma, but we’re determined to demystify this often misunderstood generation. Here’s what you need to know about the language learning styles that suit millennials best.
1. State-of-the-art tech tools.
Millennials are often called the tech generation because they are the only generation to have been born and raised in a tech-centric world. As a result, millennials turn to tech to navigate their adult lives. They prefer tech-based communication, problem-solving, and mobility. In fact, 59 percent of millennials said that state-of-the-art technology is important to them when considering a new job. For your organization, attractive employee benefits like language and culture training should reflect those millennial values: tech-based, mobile, and tailored to the modern learner.
2. Self-directed, personalized learning.
Along with preferring online learning platforms, millennials also want to be in the driver’s seat of their endeavors. Forget blocking time on the company calendar for language learning – instead, empower your millennial employees to customize their learning to meet their specific schedules, needs, and interests. Instead of engaging in long-term, in-depth learning experiences, millennials opt for just-in-time, contextual learning. Give them the tools to solve problems as they come up and consume language learning in bite-sized, relevant chunks. Whether they’re accessing their language learning on-the-go with integrated mobile apps or checking in for a quick chat with a live language tutor, their best learning happens on their schedule, in their own way.
3. On-demand, interactive coaching.
Along with personalized language-learning, millennials also thrive with a little one-to-one instruction. While they’ve often been accused of needing to be coddled, there’s more to it than that: millennials are highly collaborative. They value feedback, evaluation, and interaction. By providing millennials with on-demand coaching for their language learning, you’ll increase their engagement and boost retention. Personalized, flexible one-on-one language instruction like Mango Live uniquely meets the needs of a millennial learner by keeping up with their learning, on their schedule.
4. Relevant, just-in-time information.
How much do you remember from your high school Spanish class? Research shows that many people forget up to 92 percent of what they learn through traditional lectures and courses. Millennials are on to that, and that’s likely why they opt for just-in-time learning methods instead. They want to learn the right knowledge, for the right task, at the right time. If they’re going on a business trip to Spain, they’re less likely to enroll in a community college course and much more likely to find a self-directed, online Spanish course customized for business travel. They also want new information to be presented in context. For language learning, that means they’ll prefer conversation-based learning over memorizing abstract grammar concepts and isolated vocabulary words.
Mango Languages is a powerful business tool for providing language and culture training in more than 70 world languages. With free mobile apps, learning through film, and fully customizable content, Mango meets the unique needs of today’s modern workforce. Interested in what Mango could do for your organization? Schedule a chat today.
Sources:
http://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/how-millennials-learn-in-the-workplace-employee-engagement
https://www.sweetrush.com/tips-for-training-millennials/
http://willthalheimer.typepad.com/files/how-much-do-people-forget-v12-14-2010-2.pdf
https://trainingmag.com/study-shows-corporate-learning-development-more-aligned-business-goals
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/03/undergraduates.aspx
https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2016/06/Designing-Learning-for-Millennials
