Problem-Solving Case: Appraising Millennials About three in four Millennials feel "in the dark" about how their performance at work is being perceived, mostly because they don't get frequent enough feedback. Almost as many feel the performance review process itself could use some improvement. More than 8 in 10 have said they would feel more confident if they got more feedback, too. It seems these younger workers (born between 1983 and 2000) agree with what many other employees have come to feel-that a once-yearly routine performance review isn't frequent enough or helpful enough for them to learn and grow. Companies like Deloitte, Adobe, Accenture, and General Electric are among many that have revamped their appraisal systems to include more than once-a-year meetings. Some writers believe Millennials crave regular feedback because they received a great deal of attention from their parents and teachers when they were growing up. Whatever the reason, it does seem that supervisors who regularly reach out to employees, especially younger employees, will reap rewards. Research by the Gallup organization indicates that employees of all generations who feel most engaged at work are those who meet with their supervisor at least once a week. At the same time, however, Millennials have been shown to be somewhat shy about asking for feedback. Only about 15 percent of workers aged 18 to 34 who were surveyed by Gallup agree they need to ask for feedback, and only about 33 percent believe they've actually done so. Research suggests that formal performance feedback for Millennials should be more frequent-perhaps once a month or quarter- Page 494 to help prevent tension and anxiety from building up in anticipation of an all-important once-a-year event. Of course, supervisors will do informal check-ins much more frequently, especially to regularly acknowledge good performance. This can happen in person or via e-mail or the company's social media platform. Formal reviews should also include specific feedback that helps improve work performance, guidance on career development, and additional recognition where merited. CareerBuilder has found that half of all employees believe more employee recognition would help reduce turnover. 1. Consider the steps in the appraisal process. Based on the information in this case, would you adapt any of them to review the performance of Millennials you might supervise? Why and how? 2. What type or types of appraisal-graphic rating scale, paired-comparison, and so on-would you recommend for reviewing Millenni performance? Why? 3. What way of providing feedback and constructive criticism to Millennials do you think would be most effective and why? 4. How would you encourage Millennials to ask you, as their supervisor, for more frequent performance feedback