Meagan Johnson - Generational Speaker
Solve Your Challenges and Bridge the Gap between Generations at Your Multigenerational Workforce
Millennials vs Gen X… so what’s up with the Millenials and why everyone makes fun of them? What is the difference and how can millennials positively tap into their power? It is what we’re discussing today…
This episode starts off with 7 minutes of Simon Sinek – fantastic observations about the millennials. Starting at about 17 minutes into the podcast, I will discuss the generational gap in the workplace with Liv.
Let’s get to it…
How to Give Corrective Feedback to a Baby Boomer, when you are the Millenial Boss? Yes, a much younger person trying to lecture to an experienced one?
I’m talking to my dad, professional speaker Larry Johnson. He is a co-author of the best-selling an absolutely fabulous book ‘Absolute Honesty’.
Recently I had a Millennial audience member ask me about how to best give an honest feedback to somebody she was managing. Somebody much older. Old enough to be her dad. She felt a little awkward giving the corrective feedback.
I thought I’d asked my dad, who is also a baby boomer and a co-author of the best-selling book ‘Generations Inc’.
“How best should this millennial give honest feedback to this person she’s managing?” And I think we’re safe to assume that it’s a corrective feedback. It’s not a compliment but rather that she wants the person to change their behavior.
I think it kind of depends on where the other person perceives this younger person’s area of expertise.
In other words, the baby boomer may question what right does this person have to tell me how I should do anything? I know as a baby boomer, I really appreciate the younger person who coaches me on how to better use my software, how to use my computer, or how to use social media.
We get into some tricky territory when the younger manager is going to coach me about something I think I know everything about.
It’s very important that you preface whatever you’re going to say to this person with some acknowledgment of her experience.
Say: “I know you’ve got a lot of experience in this area of dealing with customers who are upset. However, I’m concerned. When you said to the customer ‘don’t worry your pretty little head’, it could have been considered offensive.”
The Millennial that’s giving the feedback needs to voice that it is not appropriate. It could almost be interpreted as sexual harassment. It could be considered offensive.
I would say in that case that you pose it in terms of how it might be experienced by the customer or even by the Millennials.
Describe the effect of what he’s doing okay and maybe make a suggestion on how he might approach it differently.
Mentoring Millennials should be a part of every organization, especially if you want to retain your millennial employees!
Here is why:
According to Deloitte study, 64% of millennials plan to see their current job in their ‘rearview mirror’ by the year 2020.
What does that mean? It means that in less than two years 64% of millennials plan on leaving their current job.
The average millennial stays in their job less than three years. However, that same Deloitte study discovered that Millennials who are at their current job or organization for longer than five years are two times more likely to have a mentor.
According to Price Waterhouse Cooper, 98% of millennials feel that working with strong mentors is very important.
I recently interviewed a millennial and he said to me that a mentor-mentee relationship is extremely important. He shared, however, that many mentors feel that being a mentor means telling them how they did something. He said: ”A mentor to me means challenging me to think differently!”
There really are 3 stages of the mentor-mentee relationship:
The coach is really there to help the millennial get their feet wet. Maybe they are new to the organization or new to the position. A coach is a great way to teach the Millennial about the corporate culture or maybe work on a soft skill.
I know that when I was in my 20’s and I had my first job out of college, I would’ve loved to have a coach to help me with writing skills. So, coaches are a terrific way to help the Millennial ease into the corporate culture of the new organization.
2. The 2nd stage is a Mentorship Relationship: The mentor relationship is based more on the relationship itself.
In fact, Millennials may have many mentors.
There is something called micro-mentoring and those are groups that connect via social media. There’s also reverse mentoring. A reverse mentor is when the millennial mentors a more senior person, typically about something technology related.
Reverse mentoring is a great way to open the door between millennial and someone who’s been around the organization for a long time. Most importantly, the mentor in the mentor-mentee relationship holds the mentee accountable for meeting their goals.
3. The 3rd stage is the Sponsorship: This is intriguing because this takes the mentor-mentee relationship up a level.
This is truly a one-on-one relationship. It is a higher level of mentoring and the sponsor typically has a high status with the company. The sponsor’s responsibility or goal is to help that millennial reach their next level. To get that promotion or that raise. That sponsor also acts as an advocate for the Millennial within the organization. He/she helps the millennial identify skills and talents they need to develop to find that new promotion or raise.
Mentoring millennials is not an easy task – however, it can be a rewarding one for both parties involved.
A baby boomer I recently interviewed said to me:
“It is our responsibility to mentor the young people in our lives, however mentoring is not just about handing them a book. It’s also about telling them what they have done right.”
So there you have it – the Mentoring Millennials segment.
I look forward to seeing you next week when we further dig into this topic about the multi-generations in the workplace.
Customization!
That was a big buzzword with baby boomers and Gen Xers. It was about making someone’s experience customized, but now it’s not so much about customization, but personalization. Especially when it comes to the millennial generation. Engage millennials with personalization!
Millennials, people born after 1980. They are currently the largest generational section of the workforce today.
Make the engagement personal and customized.
When it comes to you and connecting with the Millennial Generation, well what was previously impossible or financially not doable. Through technology, it can be done and the Millennials have embraced this.
We don’t call them “the selfie generation” for nothing. They’re able to put their image, their thoughts and their feelings on anything. They personalize the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, the phones they carry.
The more that you engage this generation through personalization, the stronger your connection.
Engage millennials with personalization!
There’s a clothing store in Saugatuck Michigan – it’s a terrific place.
I was lucky enough to meet the owner and he shared with me his job application. I thought we’ve all seen a job application. Most of us could fill one out in our sleep. But what David did with his job application, was something I have never seen!
The job application starts out like this:
“Howdy! Thank you for considering joining the talented and fun crew at land sharks. This is our fancy job application for every job opening. About fifty-five people who complete this quiz, have a less than 2% chance of becoming a shark.”
That’s what he calls the people that work at his store – sharks.
“We understand this may not be worth your time, but if you’re interested in meeting and working with some really fun and talented people, please answer the questions below. Preferably honestly!”
What’s so beautiful about this job application is that he has taken something so mundane, something so ordinary, and he’s personalized it. And not only does it represent the personality of his store, but it engages the millennial employee to bring their own personality to the interview process.
Here are a few of the questions on that job application:
When I asked him about this question, he explained to me that people in their 20’s often have friends getting married. If they’re standing in the wedding, they want Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Those are his busiest times in business.
I asked him about this question. He said, “well, for one thing, I’m a voracious reader. I’d like to know what other people are reading,” he said “but also I feel that people that read, tend to bring a different personality element to the store”
And like one of my favorite questions on the application:
I really like how he’s changed some of those mundane, standard questions that people get asked in the interview and he’s personalized it.
Learn from this example to engage millennials with personalization.
They are the fastest-growing generation in the workforce and the marketplace today. The more we engage this generation with personalization, the more we connect and then we succeed.
I look forward to seeing you next week.
We will discuss this incredible millennial generation and what they bring to the workforce and how you can connect with them successfully.
When it comes to managing millennials in the workplace, the leaders and managers of the organizations have a responsibility to engage as well.
According to a recent study, 60% of the millennial generation wants to be learning something new at work. Also, 64% of the millennials want to feel that their work is valued by their leader!
So, a leader or manager of your organization – what does this mean to you?
We all have a lot on our plate on a day to day basis, so what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to manage the millennials best?
Just one 15-minutes monthly conversation with your millennial employee!
But wait… not just any kind of conversation. In this short meeting, you should discuss four questions:
Question Number One:
This question puts at the forefront of the Millennials mind what the organization has done to invest in their skills and development.
If the millennial can’t name something that they are better at now than they were last month, then there is something wrong with the training or development program they received…or the lack of.
Question Number Two:
This puts goal-setting into place. Makes them think of something they’re going to work on and develop more skills in.
Question Number Three:
Let them tell you what their plans are and listen carefully what they are saying.
Question Number Four – This is my favorite question:
Millennials appreciate these conversations once a month for 15 minutes.
They’re collaborative and it also demonstrates to the Millennial that there’s somebody there for them. Somebody on board that’s invested in their development, their skill set, and their career.
And this is very important, as it helps tremendously with managing and motivating millennials.
Next week we will discuss the ever-changing generations in the workforce and what we can do differently to achieve success.