Many corporate leaders have wrung their hands over the new Millennial generation, complaining they are lazy, not loyal, don't work hard, and are too sensitive. These accusatory descriptions may have some truth embedded in them but it is also true that a good leader can get anyone to work hard for him; it's all about the motivation, and showing that you care about your people.
The military teaches leadership as a necessity. General George S. Patton once said, "If you can't get them to salute as you want them to salute, or wear the clothes you want them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?" This is an extreme example but Patton's points are valid.
A good leader develops an understanding of what his subordinates need and want, and balances that knowledge with the mission of the company. A good leader also develops trust with his people, and develops their talents like a nurturing parent, while at the same time demanding the utmost effort from those under him.
Sam Caucci, the CEO of 1Huddle, a mobile workforce training company knows a lot about training Millennials; it is the basic mission of his company, which utilizes gaming technology to achieve real results with training the front line service workers for major corporations. Caucci believes you must get employees to believe in company values, and show credibility in manifesting those values by corporate leaders.
"Only 22% of employees believe that the organization they work for has a clear direction... Which means that 78% don't know what they are working toward,", declared Caucci recently on his Twitter feed.
Patton also famously said, "Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
At the end of the day, whether we are talking about Millennials, or even elderly employees who have different needs and agendas, it's all about leadership. Hiring competent leaders for your employees makes all the difference in the world.
Take care of your people and they will perform for you. It's just common sense, but many corporate leaders today have not been taught this basic truth.
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I have 3 children. Born in 1990, 1992, and 1994. So-called 'Millennials'.
All had straight 'A's through high school, all earned a full academic scholarship to our local state university, all graduated university with honors. Two now working (one daughter works for a civil engineering firm and designs commercial and industrial buildings, the other daughter works for an architectural firm, and designs interiors for commercial buildings. My son is working on a new Anthrax vaccine.
The building design businesses that my daughters work in is often 'feast-or-famine', or 'hurry-up-and-wait'. They often have to wait.... wait....wait.... for the customer company to provide the information that they need to do their design work, then often it's 'Pedal to the Metal' to get the design work done in the by the contract deadline. It is not unusual for either of them to put in 18-hour days.
Politics came up in a conversation with my older daughter. At one point she got a bit heated.
"I turn on the radio and I hear 'Millennial Snowflake this', and 'Millennial Snowflake that.'..... I'm NOT that way, and NO-ONE that I know is that way. When these people on the radio paint EVERYONE with the same brush, I know that they don't know what they are talking about."
Hmmmm.....
Is it possible that the Media is not giving us an accurate picture of what our young adults are made of? Is the media (not just radio, but ALL of the so-called 'news' media.... have their attention fixed on just one part of the young adults, and miss or ignore MOST of them?
Why would one Millennials to work for one at all? LOL! Talk about inviting problems.