The Millennial cohort (those
born after 1985) makes up around 40% of the American workforce. That puts them
in the majority compared to Gen X and the Boomers. Whereas each generation has
their unique characteristics, I believe one that is unique to Millennials is
that they have no patience or tolerance with poor leadership. This got me
thinking out loud that I might want to warn the multi-generational workplace of
that fact!
I have been fortunate enough
to have spent my entire career working with, mentoring, teaching, and leading
Millennials so I am not one of those haters who believe this is an entitled
generation with no motivation or work ethic but there is some work to do. According to Gallup, 55% of Millennials are not
engaged in their work (about 10% less than the national average when accounting
for all generations in the workplace) yet 60% are currently open to new
opportunities which is well above combined cohort average. Now you may think,
“So what?” The “what” is that such job-hoping costs the U.S. economy hundreds
of millions of dollars each year. Not convinced? Just consider the fact that it
costs on average $10,000 to on-board a grocery store clerk. If you have never
done so, you may want to ask your HR department how much it costs your
organization to advertise for, interview, on-board, and train a new team member.
There is one primary thing we
can do, however, to reverse and improve such trends. You guessed it, be a better
leader. Better yet, be an incredible Servant Leader! A few years ago, I had the
pleasure to attend a symposium on Millennials
in the Workplace at the Gallup corporate campus in Omaha, Nebraska. The
research and content presented was the result of a massive workplace cohort
study the Gallup researchers had completed on patterns, preferences, attitudes,
etc. and was incredibly thorough. According to the massive study, the results demonstrated
that the primary factor that explained most of the variance related to
workplace engagement was the quality of leadership received. Further,
the study identified 6 Leadership Behaviors preferred by Millennials which included:
- Providing Purpose in terms of both the business and social value of the enterprise
- Professional Development opportunities to grow and improve skill sets
- Providing a Coaching style of supervision where leaders demonstrate a clear personal and professional interest in their team members
- Provide On-Going Feedback as to their progress and areas for development versus just the normal annual performance evaluation ambush
- Focus on Strengths were team members are allowed to do what they do best
- Encourage Work/Life Integration where social and service opportunities are part of the employment experience
Look at the list again and see
if anything is familiar in terms of my last few blogs. These behaviors are what
intentional Servant Leaders do. Such leaders are still directing efforts in
a very intentional, results driven manner but they are also developing their teams
in very deliberate and fulfilling was as well!
Now you certainly don’t have
to take my word for it. You can just keep supervising others in the traditional
top-down, heavy handed, horrible boss shenanigans way but it will be to your
undoing. You see, unlike past generations that just put up with such toxic
leadership because we thought we had to, I can promise you Millennials will
not. They will challenge you, they will leave you, and they will destroy on
social media if you really tick them
off! Just read some of the more interesting reviews on Glassdoor.com.
To this I say, good for them.
Now I am not advocating chaos in the workplace, but the simple fact is that
Millennials are much more aware of workplace legislation that protects employees
from such abuses and they have no qualms about accessing such support. Even at
a more fundamental level, Millennials know
there is a better way of leading; they simply just want to be lead in that way.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a training sponsored by the Ken
Blanchard Company where they shared some data from one of their workplace studies.
The study revealed that when given the choice, 65% of the respondents would prefer
a better boss to a significant raise. Now if that does not tell us something
about the need to change how we are leading others I do not know what will.
Here is the good news. It is
my belief that when you do make a sincere effort to be that Servant Leader we
all wish we had, not only will Millennial team members stay with you, they will
want to spend time with you, learn from you, and exceed your performance expectations. In my humble experience,
Millennials do not provide their loyalty easily but when they do, it is
incredibly rewarding because you know you will never fully deserve it.
As always if I can help you and
the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would
invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the
training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact. Please do not
hesitate to contact me if I can be of service to you!
Yours in Leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Principal Consultant – Out
Loud Strategies
Independent Coach, Speaker,
and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email
= bill@outloudinc.com
Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com
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John Maxwell Team, please visit
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