It is said that on the inside of every leader lies a sleeping “superhero-like” quality to lead the Millennials.
In this social media era where one won’t wait 3 seconds for a webpage to load before moving on to something else, it’s no wonder Millennials born in the 80s and 90s constantly seek instantaneous gratification. They were born into this digital environment. They’ll post a video on YouTube and anxiously await the viewing numbers to start climbing. They expect photos on Facebook to receive likes immediately, and their tweets to be viewed and re-tweeted most. Well, in their world, things move fast.
It is a challenge for a person in the leadership role, who is from the baby boomer generation to meet up the aspirations of the younger team he leads. He needs to be a superhero to live up to the expectations of his followers.
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So, what is this out-of-the-world quality we are talking about? It’s the ability to save time while continuing to exceed productivity across an entire team. Now, this quality; the dynamic super power, is within your reach. It’s available to the bold leaders who are brave enough to go after it.
Social media has created a pseudo-realistic world; one in which Millennials are able to receive feedback as soon as they post something! This state of instant acknowledgement creates unrealistic expectations when they get to work. There’s no way the real world would be able to keep interactions at the same speed as the social media universe. Or, is there?
Those from the older generation will agree with me, when I say they were happy when leaders were not engaging with them. They know the lack of conversation means everything is going well. But the present generation however, would fall apart if they were not receiving constant feedback from those in leadership positions. They would assume they’re not making the cut. I should say – neither view is right or wrong. They’re just different.
When I talk about instant, consistent feedback many of you might say, “I don’t have time to pat every young chap on the back and say “good job” every day.” That is true to a great extent, though, I don’t believe leaders are limited by time, I think they’re limited by their traditional approach.
Traditional minds would tell us that feedback is only needed for annual or quarterly reviews. Let me warn you! If you continue to give in to this traditional way of thinking the turnover rate of Millennials will make you wish you had chosen otherwise. Nothing will get your new generation employees hustling harder than quick direction and immediate correction. Your feedback doesn’t have to be lengthy or formal but it just has to be on time. Picture it this way: your feedback can happen as quickly as it takes to press the “like” thumbs up on a Facebook post. They will love it!
Instant feedback doesn’t require complex thinking. It can be as simple as: “Hey Ahmed, you did a great job on this assignment. Your attention to detail adds value and our client is happy with you. Keep it up!” You’ve just stroked his ego at the right time. It took mere seconds and those words will motivate him to focus and work even harder. To say those few sentences, you don’t even have to stop walking. You can say it as you’re passing by his desk. Trust me – a little appreciation goes a long way!
Apart from these instant recognition steps, you have to have solid long term plans to retain them. To develop the Gen Y resources, organizations need to understand their deep desire for personal and professional development. In The Hartford’s 2014 Millennial Leadership Survey, Millennials said employers can most demonstrate their investment in them as a future leader by offering training and development (50%), a clear career path (35%), and ongoing coaching and feedback (34%). If you give importance to the above said factors, you can be assured of a robust high-performing young team.
Have you ever thought what your young employees expect of you? Millennials have a very different perspective and expectation of the role and behavior of managers, seeing them more in an encouraging, coaching, and peer capacity, something that is currently at odds with the current generation of managers who see their role as one associated more with power and position. They want a leader who is very supportive, on their side, and has their best interests at heart.
A word of warning to all managers out there! Millennials are ambitious to move up in their careers. More than 45 percent of this generation is expected to be in a management position within two years. It’s high time that you make a small but effective change and adapt to the changes brought into the work atmosphere by the new generation!
As a leader today, you do have a choice. You can throw a tantrum about the young generation’s need for instant, consistent feedback, or you can meet their desire and can be seen as a leader who cares. By adjusting, you’ll be creating a more productive team and you’ll be viewed as their Superhero leader.
The pat on the back matters!