10/15/2018
Leadership and Millennial Generation
For those of you born between 1980 – 2000 you have a 🤓number of key differences from the ones that came before you. For one, you seek meaning and purpose and you are more likely to job hop until you are certain your passion fits in.
You now make up one of the largest shares of the Canadian workforce and companies need to wake up to align with your values and rethink about how they develop and train you in a way to mentor you into leadership positions.
By gaining a clear understanding of how millennials view leadership, businesses can significantly enhance their ability to attract, develop and retain top performers and, in turn, improve their bottom line.
Companies need to appoint the right people, but they also need to make sure they are continually investing in and developing the right ones.
Knowing what makes millennials different in terms of leadership can help build future success.
Half of the motivating force for millennials is to inspire and empower other people without tiers of overhead management.
But are they good at leading and, perhaps more importantly, what does an effective leader look like to them? Millennials most important skills for effective leadership are communication and being able to build relationships, qualities for which the majority feel they already possess.. Millennials want their leadership style to be transformational and inspirational; they want to excite other people and make them feel like they have a purpose. Democratic was another highly sought after leadership style, meaning they want employees to contribute in making important decisions.
"The Boomers” have been autocratic leaders "Millennials want to create a more collaborative environment where they exchange ideas with peers and accomplish a mission instead of a corporate culture that is too stiff with too many policies and procedures."
Empowerment – not money – motivates Millennials to lead.
To appeal to millennials, it is important for existing leadership to ensure the organization has practices in place that prioritizes training and development. In their recruitment strategies, it is crucial that businesses demonstrate potential hires will have room to grow, learn and advance – millennials do not feel like their leadership skills are being fully developed. Businesses that do not make leadership development a priority are at a competitive disadvantage and may be severely harming their retention rates.
Making sure the management model of a company allows millennials to lead in the way most effective for them will help businesses attract and retain top performers.