Top 5 trends in 2016 for engaging & motivating the millennials

Deutsche Telekom Business Services is a start-up shared service center, founded in 2013 in Bucharest and who’s

employees are mostly millennials (>83%). Being part of Deutsche Telekom Group we are always connected with

the new trends in the market and we listen to our employee’s needs, in order to grow their motivation.

Based on a study made by Steelcase Global Report and Ipsos in 2016, we analyzed what increases the engagement

of the employees and we compared it with our way of doing business. The result showed that we offer very good

working conditions together with a high level of work-life balance.

The research

The employees that are satisfied with the workplace are not only more productive, but they also generate new ideas

and innovation. However, the same study reveals that only 13% of the global workers are highly engaged and

highly satisfied with their work environment.

Source: Steelcase Inc., (2016). Engagement and the Global Workplace.

The top 5 elements that influence the employee engagement are:

1. Workplace satisfaction

2. Control over their experiences at work

- access to privacy when they need it; - empowered on where and how to work; - freely expressing their ideas.

3. Technology adapted to their way of working

- fixed technology for the employees that are using their desk most of the working time; - mobile technology for people that need the flexibility.

4. Modern vs traditional workstyle

- open spaces that also provide intimacy; - closed spaces for higher hierarchy employees.

5. Cultural context

- the most highly engaged employees tend to hail from emerging economies & the least engaged often come from countries in well-established markets.

Our way of doing things

As a start-up company, our culture is being build up with fast speed while our employee satisfaction and

engagement is key for us. With the insights from the internal surveys we tailored a benefits package which

increased the satisfaction level and made each employee a brand ambassador. This is how we tackled things in

order to appeal to millennials:

1. The workplace satisfaction is generated also by:

- the location of our premises ( central, easily reachable by people due to the subway station in front of it);

- events in the office which create bonds between our employees; - amazing parties as after hard work comes big fun.

2. Control over their experiences at work - our open working spaces allows them to switch easily from team

work to individual work in the meeting rooms. Also the relaxing area, especially created for reading or relaxing

during the lunch break comes as a suitable option for when one needs to unwind.

3. Technology adapted to their way of working - being part of the Deutsche Telekom Group enables us to offer

the newest technology for work. This way our colleagues, pending on their job profile, can be both flexible,

working on the laptops and using the mobile phones, or desk based using desktops and fixed landlines.

4. Modern workstyle - our offices are welcoming and provide intimacy at the same time, even though we use

the open space design. These types of offices encourage team work, make people more sociable and

supports initiative.

5. Cultural context – we provide a multicultural environment, where on a daily basis you can hear 16 different

languages spoken on our premises and our lunch breaks are really about sharing experiences from different

European countries. It’s enriching and the network one develops here are some of the most cherished

advantages of working in DTBS according to the internal surveys

These measures, among others, helped us to reduce the attrition rate under the market average and also increased

significantly our employees’ satisfaction.

Working with millennials can be challenging, but when you really listen to them some great insights come out. And

when you have a young, dynamic team which is motivated the company growth comes natural.