Managers, listen up. Retaining millennial talent is a hot topic, and from offering free hot dogs to hosting bring-your-dog-to-work day, companies are bending over backwards to attract top candidates. Guess what? There’s a better way.
All those gimmicky work perks are great, but what today’s employee is looking for is better professional growth. According to the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016, “44% of millennials would like to leave their current employer in the next two years because ‘a perceived lack of leadership-skill development and feelings of being overlooked are compounded by larger issues around work-life balance, the desire for flexibility and a conflict of values.’” Basically, millennials are seeing no potential for future career growth, and the company culture isn’t keeping them engaged enough to make that perceived dead end worth it.
If you’re one of the many companies facing this problem, we have good news: developing your employees’ talent isn’t all that expensive or time consuming. BULLIT now makes it easier than ever for you to support your team members’ careers in a meaningful way. In turn, you’ll see your employees want to stick around for much longer. Read on for our top five ways that you as a manager can help your coworkers succeed!
Host regular reviews.
Why? Firstly, especially if you’re working with someone from GenX or a Millennial, they value getting regular feedback. Regular as in, at least monthly. It shows you care about their progress and keeps them on track.
Secondly, there’s nothing more demoralizing than getting to a year-end performance review and realizing that you were making the same simple mistake over and over again. If you see one of your employees struggling with something, don’t surprise them at the last minute. Give them some coaching along the way.
What kind of coaching? One expert suggests asking your team members to “reflect on their own work. In what areas do they think they need to improve? And how can you help them do so?” Keep in mind that these areas need not be technical — and in fact, good professional development comes in talent areas like leadership, creativity, and logic. If you need a little inspiration, start with BULLIT’s six point feedback prompt to start to build areas where your coworkers can grow and achieve.
Remove obstacles in their path.
Really it can be as simple as doing a little creative scheduling. If you’re going to host training programs or invite guest speakers, make sure you avoiding scheduling conflicts such as interfering with financial deadlines or holiday time. If an employee wants to take a course, do what you can to make sure they have the time and resources. This is management 101, and by investing time in your employees, you’ll see how they invest effort back for you.
Create a mentorship program.
Ideally, you’d be in a position to mentor some of the coworkers you manage yourself. However, this isn’t always the case. You want to help your employees find someone with the right personality and the career trajectory to fit their goals. BULLIT can help with this, too. Work with your employee to follow our four step plan to finding someone who suits their unique profile. Start by evaluating your employee’s strengths and challenges, goals and the talent they’ll need to achieve those goals. From there, reach into your own personal network to find a person who will complement your employees nicely. We’re making it simple to build a mentorship program with little to no resources. You’re welcome.
Consider job-rotation or shadowing.
One way to give your employees a chance to develop skills they didn’t know they had? Have them shadow someone in a separate department or job role. They’ll get a chance to network with others in your organization, as well as to see what it takes to do a different job each day. “Getting a taste of the problems and successes other groups face every day enhances communication through improved understanding. And when team members learn empathy, they can better support their colleagues,” notes one HR blogger. Sure, having your digital media manager sit in with an IT developer probably won’t help their technical skills. However, there is sure to be an exchange in leadership, accountability, and the things that make us humans at work. What could be more important?
Be an example.
A major part of this process is building trust, and to build trust, you have to be open to your own professional development. “According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, one in four workers say they don’t trust their employer, and only about half believe their employer is open and upfront with them. If leaders disengage or refuse to share their own ongoing learning journeys, how can they expect their people to enthusiastically pursue theirs?…If managers want employees to engage in learning and development, then they need to show that they are actively pursuing their own personal learning journeys as well.”
It’s no secret: millennials admire transparent managers. Ask for feedback regularly on your own BULLIT profile, and give your employees the chance to leave you anonymous feedback safely. You control what gets shown, and your team will have a channel to voice their honest opinion in a way that serves your career growth. No harassment is tolerated, and you can respond however you like to what they have to say. Being open to feedback is what matters most.
Ready to be manager of the year?! We’re here to help! Sign up for BULLIT today and start seeing your employees thrive.
Originally published at BULLIT.
