Understanding Younger Generations
I was talking with a friend the other day, and we were discussing ‘Millenials’ and ‘Gen Z’. My friend is much older, and we were trying to discover why there’s always a disconnect. Ok, boomer, let’s dig in deeper on that subject.
We all think we just “don’t understand” these “kids”. (I feel that a lot actually even though I’m a Millennial.) My friend (Gen X) reminded me that it happens with every generation. He’s managed, coached, and mentored many in the younger Gen X and Millenial group and he remembers his early bosses saying the same about his generation.
As leaders, it’s important that we need to get into the weeds to understand how to keep these employees engaged and attract the best talent. So, I wanted to research how to best coach up the next generation.
Let’s start with the generational ‘Cutoffs’ below:
What Younger Generations Are Looking For In the Workplace
Next, I researched a bit more into what these generations look for in an employer. I found that Gallup and other sources have generally settled on a few keys that younger generations look for in ‘work’.
These differ quite a bit from older generations, but since we’re all hiring mostly Millenial and Gen Z, let’s look at those:
- Appropriate Compensation – (not excessive but ‘enough to live on’)
- Autonomy of Work – they want autonomy and flexibility to work some different hours from time to time. Is this possible in a dental office? I’m not sure, but autonomy can definitely come with skill. As leaders, we should strive to coach people up to the level where we can give an appropriate level of autonomy.
- Mastery – These generations want to be masters of their skillset, and they want to have ‘wins’ in their day. This can happen when we track metrics and our WIGs (Wildly Important Goals). In some of our offices, we strive to have little wins every day, as well as the ‘Jar of Awesome’ every week, where we celebrate something that a team member did that was awesome. It’s a small win, but has a great impact.
- Purpose – They also want to work for an organization that has core values and a purpose. Money is not a purpose, few are attracted to that. However, if a company has a mission and purpose to help change the world, there are hundreds of employees across the country that would be energized by that philosophy and apply. It’s important to remember that the purpose has to be well-defined, and can’t just be ‘to change the world’. Get specific and find some local impact you can have.
- Leadership has Integrity and ‘Care about them as People’ – This is huge…and can not be understated. We as leaders need to care for our team and support them as they grow in items #1-4. This is of course listed in many leadership books and podcasts, but cannot be forgotten.Hopefully some of these strategies will help you as you consider how to hire and coach up team members. Next week in your Tactical Tuesday Newsletter, Dr. Mark Costes will be sharing The Six Steps of Effective Leadership.
In Summary
If you’re looking for more help on how to grow your leadership skills, and thereby your leadership team in general, check out the ‘High Performance Dentist Academy’ room inside of Dental Success Network. It’s a very active room that gives many strategies and tactics about leadership and ways to become a better leader.
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