Managing the Entitled Generation
Learn to work with the group stereotyped as being entitled, lazy, and difficult to manage, with the help of the Entrepreneur.com article “6 Tips for Managing Millenials (Whether You Find Them to be Entitled or Not).” Whether these stereotypes of Generation Y are accurate or not, there’s no doubt that there will be some generational issues in any business with older and younger employees. Use these tips to more effectively manage the generation mix:
1. Create a flexible work environment. While the amount of freedom possible will vary greatly between positions, any added flexibility will be seen as a great incentive, likely boosting satisfaction and productivity.
2. Practice “reverse mentoring.” Managing millennials isn’t just a chore – it’s also an opportunity to learn. While you’ll be doing plenty of instructing, there are areas (tech and social media for example) where you may want to defer to their knowledge and pick up some valuable skills in the process.
3. Offer opportunities for formal training. “Managers can get greater outcomes from millennial employees through formal training, not only in hard skills, but also in soft skills, where both millennials and their employers feel Gen Y needs improvements,” Entrepreneur.com writer Kate Taylor says.
4. Create micro-moments for mentorship. You don’t have to invest a lot of time to provide encouragement and support for your millennial employees. Just having regular 5-minute chats with employees will help them feel valued and strengthen company ties.
5. Provide purpose, not perks. Research has shown that millenials highly value the opportunity to grow in their position and have a sense of purpose attached to their work.
6. See beyond the stereotypes. Don’t let generational stereotypes get in the way of the bottom line. At the end of the day, the end goal for all generations is to work “to make money in a way that is meaningful and exciting,” Taylor says. The easiest way to keep generational differences from becoming an issue is to simply acknowledge them and communicate well.
