If there is one truism in the business world it is that there are no truisms; change will happen whether you wish it to or not, the only question is how you and/or your company react to those changes. Trying to impose a value system on younger employees that once worked for older employees may or may not work, but if it does not, trying to force the issue will only create problems.
This is as true for Millennials as it has been since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Complaints about Millennials and their value in the work place of the 21st Century are common, you do not have to listen or look hard to find them.
"They're not ready for responsibility."
"They have a terrible work ethic."
"They only think of themselves."
Are these complaints fair? Are they accurate? The correct answer is: it should not matter. If it does, then you or your company are recruiting the wrong people.
Like every preceding generation the Millennials have their general collective traits, but even with those shared generalities there are tremendous variations in individual performance. In other words, like every generation before them, the 80/20 Rule also applies to the Millennials. If the complaints mentioned above are germane to your company, then your company is going after the 80% of the prospective employees who will do 20% of your company's work, ergo, the least talented and motivated. In all likelihood the company will spend more time and money training them, while receiving less productivity in return, than if they had simply put forth the extra effort to find more talent on the front end.
That Profit Left On the Table can be avoided, however, by recruiting only the 20% who will do 80% of the work. This will require new ways of thinking about employees and appealing directly to what studies tell us Millennials want; in other words, it will require Innovation, which is at the top of every list of concerns the top Millennials want from their employer. Innovation means 'change', and change is sometimes scary in the business world, but as I said in a previous article we are in the age of 'Adapt or Die', so for the company to be successful in the 21st Century business environment, innovation is essential.
That means more than merely designing a compensation package that adheres to an industry standard. If your company pays what other companies in its industry pay, then why should the top talent work for your company instead of the competition? The best answer is that your company should have an innovative culture that is designed to attract the best and brightest of the Millennials, a culture that is constantly being revised and upgraded to stay one step ahead of the competition.
And if this seems like a difficult task, once again innovation should come into play. Find someone who specializes in just such a field and learn from them; Millennials are capable of tremendous accomplishments, if they recognize the value in their company culture.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Engaging the Millennials - Part Two
By 2020 there will be 80 million of them and they will comprise 40% of the work force, and many companies have no idea who they are, what they want or how best to find them, hire them and motivate them to maximum production. Yet the maxim 'Adapt or Die' has never been more true; companies must adapt themselves to the realities of the workplace as it relates to the wants and needs of these new employees, the Millennials.
Engaging the Millennials, getting them to commit whole-heartedly to the culture, mission and vision of their employer, is absolutely crucial to the future success of any company, non-profit or association that pays people to work for them. But to engage the Millennials it is necessary first to understand what is important to them. Companies that try to impose restrictions that make no sense to the Millennial mind will find themselves constantly searching for new talent to replace that which just left to go work where the culture fit their priorities.
In other words, the better the talent of the employee, the more mobility they have in the job market. This is a prime example of PLOT, Profits Left On the Table, that can make a critical difference to a company's bottom line. Constantly spending money searching out, interviewing, hiring and training new talent is simply flushing profits down the drain, not to mention the negative effect such a never-ending process can have on the company culture.
Recently, a consultant called on a 40 year old company (let's call it Company X) that had once dominated its market, but which in recent years had been losing ground to competitors. The company was in a very specialized and competitive industry where expertise came at a premium, and the vast majority of Company X's newer employees were Millennials, who were naturally drawn to the industry (it concerned electronics). From his research the consultant already knew much about the company and its industry, then went about discovering details of Company X's operations.
The company CEO listened to the consultant, answered his questions, and was generally open about all aspects of his business. The most serious issue facing the CEO, who was also the owner and founder of Company X, was a turnover rate that exceeded 50% the previous year, and sub-contractors who gave Company X's competitors priority over him.
After ascertaining details of the serious problems facing the company, the consultant decided to recommend the hottest new employee initiative to hit the USA since the Wellness Program. Companies deploying the program have shown remarkable results for little cost, and the consultant recognized that for Company X the total cost of deployment came to something less than 1/2 of 1 per cent of his current loaded compensation plan for most of his employees. A no-brainer, right?
Not so fast.
The CEO's response was: "I'm 70 years old, haven't taken a day off in more than five years and my doctor says if I'm still alive in 6 months he will be shocked. My employees work 70-80 hours a week and if they had time for anything else, I would find them more work to do. We are losing so much money I'm not even sure I can keep the doors open, but I still spend most of every day trying to hire new people because everybody keeps quitting. I don't have time to try anything new, even if I could afford it! And if my employees don't like it they can work somewhere else!"
Once, this CEO had been an innovator, but he had become a dying dinosaur and he was taking his business with him to the grave. He was from a different generation and could not engage his younger employees because he could not understand them, and he refused to try. Millennials do not mind working hard, but their hard work looks different from traditional ideas of working hard. For them results matter, not appearances.The CEO of Company X was willing to let his company die rather than change an old value system that did not resonate with the available workforce; when it came down to 'Adapt or Die', this CEO chose 'Die.'
Engaging the Millennials, getting them to commit whole-heartedly to the culture, mission and vision of their employer, is absolutely crucial to the future success of any company, non-profit or association that pays people to work for them. But to engage the Millennials it is necessary first to understand what is important to them. Companies that try to impose restrictions that make no sense to the Millennial mind will find themselves constantly searching for new talent to replace that which just left to go work where the culture fit their priorities.
In other words, the better the talent of the employee, the more mobility they have in the job market. This is a prime example of PLOT, Profits Left On the Table, that can make a critical difference to a company's bottom line. Constantly spending money searching out, interviewing, hiring and training new talent is simply flushing profits down the drain, not to mention the negative effect such a never-ending process can have on the company culture.
Millennials value teamwork more than competition; they would rather work with a co-worker than against them. They are very socially conscious and want to leave the world a better place than they found it. Flexible work time is something they understand more than rigid schedules; they see no difference between working 8-12 PM and 8-12 AM, as long as the work gets done. Entrepreneurship is high on their priority list, but perhaps most important is 'work-life integration', they want to live life to its fullest, live out their dreams while also pursuing their career.
Recently, a consultant called on a 40 year old company (let's call it Company X) that had once dominated its market, but which in recent years had been losing ground to competitors. The company was in a very specialized and competitive industry where expertise came at a premium, and the vast majority of Company X's newer employees were Millennials, who were naturally drawn to the industry (it concerned electronics). From his research the consultant already knew much about the company and its industry, then went about discovering details of Company X's operations.
The company CEO listened to the consultant, answered his questions, and was generally open about all aspects of his business. The most serious issue facing the CEO, who was also the owner and founder of Company X, was a turnover rate that exceeded 50% the previous year, and sub-contractors who gave Company X's competitors priority over him.
After ascertaining details of the serious problems facing the company, the consultant decided to recommend the hottest new employee initiative to hit the USA since the Wellness Program. Companies deploying the program have shown remarkable results for little cost, and the consultant recognized that for Company X the total cost of deployment came to something less than 1/2 of 1 per cent of his current loaded compensation plan for most of his employees. A no-brainer, right?
Not so fast.
The CEO's response was: "I'm 70 years old, haven't taken a day off in more than five years and my doctor says if I'm still alive in 6 months he will be shocked. My employees work 70-80 hours a week and if they had time for anything else, I would find them more work to do. We are losing so much money I'm not even sure I can keep the doors open, but I still spend most of every day trying to hire new people because everybody keeps quitting. I don't have time to try anything new, even if I could afford it! And if my employees don't like it they can work somewhere else!"
Once, this CEO had been an innovator, but he had become a dying dinosaur and he was taking his business with him to the grave. He was from a different generation and could not engage his younger employees because he could not understand them, and he refused to try. Millennials do not mind working hard, but their hard work looks different from traditional ideas of working hard. For them results matter, not appearances.The CEO of Company X was willing to let his company die rather than change an old value system that did not resonate with the available workforce; when it came down to 'Adapt or Die', this CEO chose 'Die.'
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Engaging the Millennials
If you're a Baby Boomer and retirement is on the horizon, join the crowd. For the next two decades roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 every day and many of them will choose to retire. The ethic that generation learned was to go to school and get good grades, then work 40 hours a week for 40 years, retire, and then pursue whatever makes you happy, usually traveling the world.
The generation replacing them are the Millennials, who have very different ideas about work and life. Tailoring the work environment to their priorities and maximizing their talent is a very different proposition; their outlook on work-life integration is vastly different from their parents and grand-parents, as this article from Forbes points out.
In future posts we will look at the coming wave of new employees, born from the early 1980's through the turn of the century, what they look for in an employer and how best to attract and retain the best talent available from this new generation.
Engaging the Millennials
The generation replacing them are the Millennials, who have very different ideas about work and life. Tailoring the work environment to their priorities and maximizing their talent is a very different proposition; their outlook on work-life integration is vastly different from their parents and grand-parents, as this article from Forbes points out.
In future posts we will look at the coming wave of new employees, born from the early 1980's through the turn of the century, what they look for in an employer and how best to attract and retain the best talent available from this new generation.
Engaging the Millennials
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)