It’s a whole new world out there in the workplace. Millennials want work that matters, and don’t care for hierarchies. Boomers are coming back to work, but because of their experience, they may be insulted by constant feedback. All prefer more flexible hours, the chance to work from home, and the traditions of lifetime loyalty to one company no longer apply.
Loyalty to a given company now has to be inspired rather than assumed. These challenges, with recommendations for addressing them, were detailed nicely for me in a new book, “The Boomerang Principle,” by Lee Caraher, who has built several companies, and has helped many others manage Millennials, reduce turnover, and improve satisfaction and the return hire rate.
She and I both offer the following insights on how to green your own pasture by helping employees find and use their strengths, and inspiring them to be more satisfied and productive, on your side of the fence, and even happily return if they do wander in their career advancement:
- Provide a structured approach to mentorship. Mentoring is the number one request by Millennials in the workplace. They are used to, and appreciate, relationships with older people who will help them navigate their way. Coincidentally, Boomers love to share their guidance to bridge the generation gap. Thus mentoring inspires loyalty all around.
- Create a culture of specific and timely feedback. Everyone needs feedback, but they dislike just the annual performance reviews. Employees today expect a culture where feedback, both positive and corrective, is natural, timely, and constructive. Adjusting your style so that each employee hears you is the mark of a leader who generates loyalty.
- Focus on the next step, as well as the current role. Employees need to feel that their role today in your team will be beneficial to their career tomorrow, and what opportunities you might see for them. If you match that with commensurate training and professional development coaching, you will see their commitment, productivity, and loyalty in return.
- Allowance for today’s work flexibility needs. Today, it’s not only caring for children, but also caring for elderly parents or relatives. Real work flexibility also caters to personal preferences regarding the time and location of work, not just fixed options. With our new devices and pervasive Internet access, almost any work can be done from anywhere.
- Define work deadlines rather than work hours. Flexible work requires inflexible deadlines that are specific – time, date, time zone – and consistently met. Measuring attendance-only from nine-to-five is not satisfying or productive for the company or the team. Overt planning takes into consideration each team member’s preferred schedule.
- Adjust salary practices as careers progress. The old standard practice of three percent raises every year, for people in their early career, basically ensures that your younger talent will look elsewhere quickly. For good performers, larger increases early (10-15 percent) generate loyalty. Ensure that all employees are paid at market rates.
- Create an expectation of happiness at work. Happiness and loyalty tend to go hand in hand. Unhappy team members are a drag on everyone’s performance as well as loyalty. Unhappiness comes most often from under-appreciation, lack of understanding of what is required, and resentment of punishment for mistakes. Don’t let these happen.
- Expect career transitions and plan for them. No employee today stays forever, because they need career broadening. Your company also benefits from a regular infusion of new ideas, skills, and experience, so treat transitions as mindful and positive. Employee loyalty includes what they say to peers, and their potential to return later.
Make your company a good place to be from, as well as a good place to work. No one will say it’s easy, or you shouldn’t have high expectations from every team member. The longer you keep non-performers, energy suckers, or toxic people on your team, the more likely you are to lose the good people. However, always set a high bar for your behavior on the way out for anyone.
Just because someone isn’t right now doesn’t mean he won’t be right later. The best companies create cultures to which employees want to return, which provide both short-term and long-term benefits. That’s the new lifetime loyalty, and it serves everyone better than the old model of the same employees forever. Is your company there yet?