Many companies are facing a power vacuum as entire management teams move toward retirement. Younger employees will be forced into new roles without adequate training and into an environment that doesn't necessarily address their concerns. While too many companies will be forced to deal with lost revenue, on-the-job training, and decreased morale because they fail to plan for this upcoming change, your business can excel by following these five tips for preparing millennials for leadership roles.
Start a Mentorship Program
It's not necessarily the job duties that will challenge millennials as they transition into leadership. Often, it's learning to manage other employees where friction occurs. Pairing younger employees on the track to management roles with current managers can help ease the transition and provide needed experience for younger employees. Create a mentorship program that rewards both employees and helps your company plan for the future success of your millennial employees in management roles.
Change Your Feedback
While baby boomers thrived in a more hands-off environment, millennials are the generation who grew up with instant feedback. They expect weekly, if not daily, reviews of their work performance to monitor job satisfaction and to ensure they are performing their job appropriately. Now is the time to start planning for that need for more feedback within your own management system. Work with HR and upper management to create a process that provides more frequent contact and comments on job performance. Planning for this change ahead of time can help ease the transition between generations and help engage current millennial employees better.
Consider Part-Time Transitions
Many baby boomer employees aren't ready for full-time retirement. Whether it's due to financial stress or personal reasons, many baby boomers would prefer reducing their hours over the course of months or years rather than an immediate separation. This can work for both the business and your millennial staff by allowing baby boomers to take a backseat while still being available for troubleshooting in the workplace. Creating a system for baby boomers to provide insight and experiential advice for millennials who take on leadership roles can help ease the transition and encourage a more productive and cooperative environment.
Provide a Plan
Millennials are often accused of being self-absorbed, but in reality, the millennial generation simply needs to understand their role in the bigger picture to gain inspiration and find meaning in their job. Changing your company mindset to include communicating with employees about the company goals and their role in achieving those goals is essential to creating a meaningful and productive work environment. Start creating and communicating company goals with employees, ensuring that millennial employees understand how they contribute to those goals, to create a better work environment for millennials entering leadership.
Create Clear Expectations
One of the biggest issues that millennial managers face is the generational lack of boundaries. Millennials merge their home and work life, which can create uncomfortable working relationships when that employee is promoted to manager. It's important for businesses to create clear boundaries and expectations for managers and model those boundaries from the top down. Create a social media and fraternization policy that addresses how managers and employees are expected to interact within the confines of the business to make a more cohesive work environment.
The millennial leadership team is coming and it's up to your company to prepare now. By making small changes that encourage communication and ensure proper training, the change in leadership can be seamless. These five tips can help your business create an environment that encourages and supports millennials in leadership roles.
