By Alexandra Levit
Everyone says that this new crop of twenty-something employees is different. On the good side, they’re innovative, entrepreneurial, and devoted to changing organizations for the better. But on the negative side, they tend to come into their first jobs with a sense of entitlement and typically experience lower productivity and higher turnover than other employees. In 2010, resolve to improve the degree to which your twenty-somethings contribute to the bottom line.
Help them to establish profitable relationships. You can help Millennials get up to speed more quickly by showing them how to navigate your organization’s social and political scene. Introduce them to the people they need to meet, have frank conversations about so-called unwritten rules, and schedule daily or weekly check-ins so that they feel like they’re being heard without being in your office every five minutes.
Encourage them to show controlled initiative. Millennials are blazing trails of ambitious fire. When looking for ways to prove their worth, they are safest if they start small. Ask them probing questions such as: What does the organization or department need and how can you use your unique talents to provide it?
Get them on the path to mastering transferable skills. Millennials need to de-emphasize the importance of getting more responsibility as soon as possible. Direct them to set short and long-term career goals and take on projects that will allow them to develop critical career skills like project and time management, communication, and budgeting.
Follow the series 10 Talent Resolutions for 2010.
Alexandra Levit is the author of Millennial Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Managing the Millennials (http://happyabout.info/millennialtweet01.php). Born at the tail end of Generation X herself, she serves as a bridge of understanding and collaboration between older workers and the new college graduates just entering the workplace. Levit speaks frequently at corporations and conferences around the country and writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal. Learn more at www.alexandralevit.com.
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