Leadership for Better Millennial Recruitment and Retention |
Posted: July 28, 2017 |
The role of a leader has shed, gained and transferred several layers to evolve into the entity it is now. Here in 2017, organizational leadership no longer associates itself with the balking of orders, bouts of micro-management and an air of being above-it-all. Today, the biggest compliment you can confer upon a leader is that of being “grounded” – Someone who is willing to get their hands dirty if the job calls for it. The true essence of any good leader – past or present, has been their ability to identify with the people they are responsible for. They are able to imbibe and nurture the aspirations of employees while keeping the interests of the organization in mind. Wading in Unchartered Territory In this changing dynamic of modern leaders, how does the current generation of employees and office-goers perceive leadership? Always when looking forward, we must also look to the past. The thoughts and actions of our old role models are just as relevant today as they were all those years ago, (maybe even more so). That is one indication of sound leadership - something that withstands the test of time. Not to place too much pressure on the shoulders of our future leaders but one irrefutable element that shines through all good leaders is that they were revolutionary in some aspect. It is important to remember that millennials are not cut from the same cloth as any generation before them. For starters, they were brought into a world where answers to most of their questions are populated in less than 0.44 seconds on Google. The kind of knowledge they would seek from their leaders is hard to come by and likely gained through years of life-lessons. What Qualities do Millennials Admire? Most millennials are empowered by social media platforms that give them a platform to voice their opinions, their feelings and beliefs. They don’t need someone to speak for them, but instead, someone to hear them out might help. We would imagine that the word ‘leader’ itself will digress to a more practical one like ‘mentor’. Someone who allows them to discover their own paths and guides them through it. The internet has cracked open every corner of the world and allotted them access to different geographies, cultures and environmental issues. This is a generation that is coming to terms with the vast consumption of natural resources and is ideating new conservation techniques. Simply put, they would like their mentors to lead by example. Someone as driven toward the same causes as they are. The Synergy Between the Organization and New-age Leadership Of late, terms like ‘work-culture’ and ‘best places to work’ have been thrown around to make work places more attractive to today’s talent. It is not just expensive tapestry, fancy coffee gallerias or brighter rooms with gardens that will crack the formula. This may help attract your people but who has ever retained an unsatisfied employee with the promise of “mochaccinos every day?” Firstly, to mould an organization and make it welcoming to millennials, today’s leaders must change a lot more than interior design. From a corporate stand-point, several uncomfortable changes will have to be incorporated. Uncomfortable, here, is a Janus word because what we’re actually doing is simplifying the work process and uncomplicating hierarchy in a way that older employees may not be used to. Leaders today need to understand that although money and status are important aspects of a millennials aspirations, they are certainly not the deciding criteria. A lot of them can fend for themselves through more creative outlets. In fact, a trend of rising popularity is the freelance model which does not restrain employees to a single organization and which allows them to pursue their own interests. To fight this metamorphosis of organizational structure would be a mistake on the part of future leaders. They must instead try and entice good employees to voluntarily bind themselves to the ideology of the company. This can only be achieved if the organization itself is transformed into something more than infrastructure. It must be a place where the breaches of hierarchy do not restrict an idea from taking flightand where employees feel as much responsible for its success as its leaders.An organization that meets these criteria will be privy to employees who are driven and proactive. As a futuristic thinker, one must also pay heed to the development of technology because it goes hand-in-hand with the way organizational trends shape up. Familiarizing oneself with merging trends like Big Data and the IOT can double up as major pay-offs in the days to come. More and more is being invested in recruitment analytics so that companies can have qualified staff right from the get-go. Recruitment analytical tools help illuminate the possibilities hidden within unstructured hiring data. Such tools can promote better recruitment, undermine the competition’s hiring strategy and set the wheels in motion for better retention. Leading for the Future The roadmap for aspiring leaders is fairly green-field for now. There is no fool proof formula that can ensure success. When it comes to millennials, one thing is certain - leaders are no longer defined by rank or pay-scale. It could be anyone in the organization they look up to. From the characteristics of their generation, innovation, forward-thinking and social responsibility rank high on their value scales. Pragmatism and open-mindedness is a sure-fire way to attract the best that this generation has to offer and more importantly, retain it. A leader who manifests these qualities is on the right track to securing the future of the organization they represent.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|