• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

2

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

3

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

1

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

2

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

3

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
CommentaryLeadership

Why Your Younger Employees Aren’t as Motivated as They Could Be

By
Natalie Wadsworth
Natalie Wadsworth
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Natalie Wadsworth
Natalie Wadsworth
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 27, 2017, 1:00 AM ET
Young man lying on glass table using laptop computer, side view
Photograph by Loungepark—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question, “How can you help millennials feel like they’re part of the company?” is written by Natalie Wadsworth, vice president of people at Sailthru.

Even the most seasoned professionals can struggle to find their footing in a new role. So perhaps it’s not surprising that millennials often find career transitions especially difficult. Employees who have had the time to identify their passion have the wind at their backs. They’re able to operate with a kind of confidence that younger staffers have yet to learn.

Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to help younger employees integrate more quickly into their teams. Importantly, none of them have to do with free candy or snacks (although we have those too). Instead, it’s about sharing information about the business, giving them real ownership of their work, and trusting them to make an impact. In short: treating them like adults.

Be radically transparent

I’m a big believer in giving employees the data that reflects a holistic picture of the business and its underlying mechanics. We go deep. We discuss margins, churn, cash management, sales pipeline, and conversion, for example. We have these conversations over and over again so people understand the meanings of different numbers and their context, and feel comfortable asking questions.

If you give people real information and data—and the freedom to think beyond their day-to-day function—they’re given the tools needed for greater empowerment and accountability. We’ve found that the byproducts of that empowerment are striking; we see greater employee participation and engagement, and begin to identify emerging leaders within teams.

Help them see the impact of their work

We share so much data in part because we want employees to see how their own work contributes to our progress. That’s why we ask everyone to tie their own personal goals to the corporate goals in a meaningful way using the OKR (objectives and key results) framework.

OKRs help make employee impact to business goals tangible. As an example, say you’re a marketing coordinator who assists with a number of projects on a marketing team. With OKRs, all of your projects are mapped from an individual contribution or deliverable to a departmental goal in marketing, with that departmental goal mapping back to an overarching corporate goal. This cascading goals system also incorporates regular status check-ins and final result reporting. At the end of the OKR time period, every individual has a clear understanding of their broader business impact.

Move top performers across roles

We try to be open-minded about the roles our young employees take on. If a high-performing individual wants to try a different function, we try to make that happen. We just moved an implementation engineer into full-stack engineering, for instance. We’ve also had people who were in customer success transfer onto our product team; they ended up being solid fits.

 

Because of our size and where we are as a business, we can be opportunistic. Being flexible in this way has yielded a lot of positive business results and enabled us to retain some great talent.

Help employees develop their skills

While some skills can be easily picked up on the job, others are best learned in a more formal setting with peers and higher-level management. We have a leadership development program for new managers, but also have learning and development sessions in which any employee can enroll. Employees who want to learn more about, say, feedback, effective one-on-ones, influencing others, or conflict management can just sign up.

The employees get more out of these classes than just skills. They spend two days with their colleagues in a highly interactive setting. The exercises may require them to roleplay, call out things they’re not good at, or tell stories. That helps build trust and nurture relationships within the millennial community. And beyond that, it shows that experiences and challenges across all layers of an organization—from entry-level to C-suite—are more shared than you might think.

About the Author
By Natalie Wadsworth
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Commentary

Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
Commentaryarms, weapons, and defense
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
By Chris OberoiJune 24, 2026
8 hours ago
steve
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
Steve Case: America was built by entrepreneurs. Here’s how we keep that edge for the next 250 years
By Steve CaseJune 24, 2026
17 hours ago
t
CommentaryWhite House
Trump mistakes the bully pulpit for bullying leadership — history’s villains were never heroes
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven TianJune 24, 2026
17 hours ago
mg
CommentaryHealth
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
By Michael GerlingJune 24, 2026
18 hours ago
sb
Commentaryclimate change
The climate policy triangle: why leaders can no longer choose between growth, security and sustainability
By Sebastian BuckupJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
brett
CommentaryManagement
Middle managers aren’t going extinct—they’re evolving into something more powerful
By Brett HurtJune 23, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
22 hours ago
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
2 days ago
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
22 hours ago
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Retail
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
14 hours ago
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
Asia
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
16 hours ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.