Millennials are on Your Dream Team
One area that business owners seem to readily agree on is that managing millennials is a challenge. Shared areas of frustrations include their sense of entitlement, inability to accept feedback, brash communication style and lack of work ethic.
It may be comforting to know that a two-year study confirms all of these as common generational traits. However, the reality is that millennials currently comprise 36% of the workforce today and will grow to 46% by 2020. Their numbers require that business owners and managers accept the key role they will play in your business. It’s time to get your head out of the sand and learn how to lead millennials without frustration. Keep reading for tips from the study of managers that worked effectively with this generation.
The primary resource for this post is the book Managing the Millennials by Espinoza, Ukleja, Rusch (see link at the bottom of the post). Their study of managers effective in leading millennials (versus those that struggled) identified key areas of differences in their leadership approach. The good news is the traits required for success are easy to learn.
The first step to effectively leading millennials is to open your mind to understanding their behavior. Consider the following paraphrased from Managing the Millennials:
- Millennials are the first generation that can access information without an authority figure. They just “google” whatever they need to know.
- For them technology is not a tool for work, it is an integral part of life.
- Millennials respect elders for what they have done but see their role as mentor, career counselor and cheerleader.
- They do not have the same need or know-how to build relationships with their managers or authority figures that you had at the same age.
- Millennials are high performers (with a lot of potential) and high maintenance.
- From an early age they were taught that they were special which leads to them wanting and needing constant feedback.
- Millennials have grown up working on teams so expect to in the workplace.
- They want work/life balance and look for work that is meaningful & challenging.
It may also be helpful to consider millennials’ perception of themselves regarding work (following list is quoted from Managing the Millennials):
- We are not defined by our job
- We want to have a say about when we work
- We want to have a say about how we do our work
- We do not expect you to be our best friend, but when you evaluate or critique us, we want you to do it in a friendly way
- We want you to give us direction and then get out of our way
All month we have focused on recruiting and retaining the best people as a key competitive advantage. Millennials can be high performers on your dream team.
So how do you overcome the generational gap and management frustration?
The people with the most maturity and responsibility will have to adapt first. You are the key to your own success. Spend time reflecting on changes you can make to your current management approach.
Making it a win
The first requirement is to realize that your frustration is based on reality as the research study verified. But this will not change the behavior of the millennials, so you have to accept the facts of the situation and move forward.
Next you will need to suspend bias of your own experience. This includes work ethic, expectations of respect for position and communication styles. Focus on what you can control and adapt your leadership style to them.
Managers most effective in leading millennials shared 3 areas of focus:
- Adapting
- Communicating
- Envisioning
Adapting requires accepting that millennial employees do not have the same experiences, values or frame of reference that you had at their age. Adapting successfully may require changes to some policies and procedures or creation of additional work teams. You will also need patience to set expectations based on where the person is, not where you want them to be.
Communicating means making a connection at a relational level. Stay engaged even when both parties are frustrated. Tension is the first stage of conflict and the best way to reduce tension is to communicate. As the business owner or manager you will need to initiate the communication.
Envisioning means connecting the employee’s personal goals to your business objectives. Help them “connect the dots” to find meaning in the work they do and how it contributes to achieving your company mission.
Have confidence that you and your managers can successfully incorporate millennials into your dream team. Consider this your opportunity to learn and grow by adopting the right mindset.
Research has proven that employees leave managers not organizations. The key to your long-term competitive advantage just may be your ability to initiate positive relationships with millennials.
