Millennials: Coach Them or Risk Losing Them

Millennials, the generation poised to become 75% of the workforce by 2025, demand our attention. And they may very well head out the door of your organization if they don’t get the attention they’re looking for.

It’s well known that millennials desire regular feedback, a voice in the conversations that matter, and room to do things in their own way. Managers who look at these expectations through their baby-boomer lens of “just do what you’re told and pay your dues” miss rich opportunities to harness the innovative power of this creative generation.

Millennials don’t respond well to command-and-control leadership, but they love – and expect – to be coached. Coaching-based leadership resonates with millennials because that’s how they were raised and educated. They’ve been encouraged all of their lives to take on the challenges they find meaningful, and experiment with how to turn their intentions into action.

Companies that integrate coaching-based leadership into their organizations now will have a significant competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining the best and brightest of the millennial generation.  As an added bonus, those organizations will create cultures where collaboration, innovation and change can, and will, thrive.

To learn more about coaching millennials check out my companion article in the April 2013 edition of CLO Magazine, You Coach, They Build, a companion article to Develop an Innovative Culture for Gen Y, page 33.