Young Talent Management: 10 Rules to Follow!
7 February 2014
Read by 2519 persons
Whether we call them Generation Y, Generation Emotional, or Generation Give-and-Take, young employees are one of a company's greatest assets. Attracting, motivating, and retaining young talent is a major challenge for HR departments in 2011! Corinne SOUISSI, an HR and training engineering consultant, offers 10 rules for successful young talent management.
1/ DITCH THE "BOSS" SUIT AND BECOME A MENTOR!
For young generations, a manager is considered a partner first and a superior second. Their role is to personally support them on their journey. They have a great need for validation, approval, and encouragement.
The ideal manager for Generation Y employees:
shows strong listening and respect skills,
is open-minded and flexible, while maintaining a minimum of rigidity when necessary
is understanding, organized, and reliable
is creative and encourages teamwork
is appreciative, visionary, and demanding
is fair, humane, and loves what they do
has a sense of humor, is honest, and is interested in people
must build a relationship and a climate of trust, particularly by showing interest in talented employees, to get to know them better.
must question the employee about their values, talents, and expectations of the manager.
2/ DEFINE THE GOAL WITHOUT DECIDING THE PATH TO FOLLOW
The manager must give talented young employees a lot of leeway.
Their need for autonomy and independence must be respected, as it is a real source of motivation. The manager must provide advice while leaving room for employees to take initiative.
3/ FOSTER TRANSPARENCY AND LISTENING
Delivering clear information, being open and approachable seems imperative to retain talent.
Some concrete ideas:
Regularly gather all concerned employees to convey identical information, being as factual, concrete, and concise as possible.
Create periods and spaces for dialogue (seminars, company newsletter, intranet) to answer all employee questions, or set up a "suggestion box" for them to express themselves on any subject related to the company.
4/ ALLOW A BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE
Skillfully managing leave periods, working time, and schedules for young talent is a good way to promote a proper work-life balance, so important for Generation Y. The art is to add flexibility to work schedule organization without harming company productivity and limiting special cases and preferential treatment that could be considered discriminatory…
Examples of systems:
Compressed week: doing the same number of hours in 4 days instead of 5
Volunteering to work on public holidays in exchange for extra days off
Possibility of unpaid personal leave for 3 to 12 months to fulfill a dream or take a break
Flexible seasonal hours
Telework: being able to work from home one or more days a week
Internet connection at home funded by the company
5/ MANAGE WITH PURPOSE
Sharing a vision of the future
The company vision, often initiated by the leader and communicated mainly to top management, only becomes truly shared when integrated by each employee. A shared vision allows the employee to question their role in the company and then consider themselves a true agent of change.
Through exchanges, sharing ideas, and exploring possibilities daily, employees truly bring the vision to life.
Committing to a direction
The young employee's career plan must be linked to the team's mission. What impact for the manager? Be authentic and consistent by linking individual goals and missions to the goals, tasks, and responsibilities of other team members and the team as a whole.
Following the "4 wheels" of commitment:
The first wheel of commitment is alignment: how will success be measured to assess progress? The metrics should be verifiable and quantifiable facts. An original way to reiterate the employee's commitment: write their mission on the back of their business card or a similar-sized laminated card; visible, this leitmotiv will support their motivation.
The second wheel of commitment is the driver (capacity): this involves identifying the knowledge required for plan execution, according to a realistic schedule
The third wheel of commitment is the fuel (resources): this includes the physical resources, time, human resources, and information required to successfully complete the project.
The fourth and final wheel of commitment is the engine (motivation): the employee will find the motivation to commit to their project if their role and the mission pursued by the organization are aligned with their deep personality.
6/ CREATE A TEAM SPIRIT CLOSE TO A FAMILY SPIRIT
From the point of view of personal meaning, young talents want to join committed colleagues who share a common cause. They want to feel that other people are working in the same direction as them.
From the point of view of organizational belonging, the company must foster links with and between employees. Shared values and respect create links between the employee and the organization.
7/ OFFER CAREER OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUR YOUNG TALENTS: AN INDIVIDUAL TRAINING BUDGET
The manager must help employees establish their own training needs in relation to their development needs and organizational objectives. Employees must then justify the return on investment of using their career development account.
8/ REMAIN ACCESSIBLE
The manager must remain visible, accessible, and maintain a personalized relationship with their young employees during informal events (occasional breaks, dinners, birthdays, end-of-project celebrations), and by remembering certain things like their values, passions, and hobbies.
9/ REGULARLY CHECK IN
An effective way to support talented young employees in their professional development is to organize a quarterly follow-up meeting, in addition to the essential annual performance review. This meeting will cover all topics related to their mission, their team, and their individual objectives.
10/ SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION
Lack of recognition is still one of the main criticisms leveled at managers by their employees, especially new recruits. Providing regular feedback, showing visible, sincere, and positive signs of appreciation, and highlighting the efforts made are all good ways to retain young talent.
For more information on this topic, please feel free to consult Stéphane SIMARD's excellent book "Generation Y: Attracting, motivating, and retaining young talent"
Corinne SOUISSI.
Gereso.com
Posted online February 7, 2014.
1/ DITCH THE "BOSS" SUIT AND BECOME A MENTOR!
For young generations, a manager is considered a partner first and a superior second. Their role is to personally support them on their journey. They have a great need for validation, approval, and encouragement.
The ideal manager for Generation Y employees:
shows strong listening and respect skills,
is open-minded and flexible, while maintaining a minimum of rigidity when necessary
is understanding, organized, and reliable
is creative and encourages teamwork
is appreciative, visionary, and demanding
is fair, humane, and loves what they do
has a sense of humor, is honest, and is interested in people
must build a relationship and a climate of trust, particularly by showing interest in talented employees, to get to know them better.
must question the employee about their values, talents, and expectations of the manager.
2/ DEFINE THE GOAL WITHOUT DECIDING THE PATH TO FOLLOW
The manager must give talented young employees a lot of leeway.
Their need for autonomy and independence must be respected, as it is a real source of motivation. The manager must provide advice while leaving room for employees to take initiative.
3/ FOSTER TRANSPARENCY AND LISTENING
Delivering clear information, being open and approachable seems imperative to retain talent.
Some concrete ideas:
Regularly gather all concerned employees to convey identical information, being as factual, concrete, and concise as possible.
Create periods and spaces for dialogue (seminars, company newsletter, intranet) to answer all employee questions, or set up a "suggestion box" for them to express themselves on any subject related to the company.
4/ ALLOW A BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE
Skillfully managing leave periods, working time, and schedules for young talent is a good way to promote a proper work-life balance, so important for Generation Y. The art is to add flexibility to work schedule organization without harming company productivity and limiting special cases and preferential treatment that could be considered discriminatory…
Examples of systems:
Compressed week: doing the same number of hours in 4 days instead of 5
Volunteering to work on public holidays in exchange for extra days off
Possibility of unpaid personal leave for 3 to 12 months to fulfill a dream or take a break
Flexible seasonal hours
Telework: being able to work from home one or more days a week
Internet connection at home funded by the company
5/ MANAGE WITH PURPOSE
Sharing a vision of the future
The company vision, often initiated by the leader and communicated mainly to top management, only becomes truly shared when integrated by each employee. A shared vision allows the employee to question their role in the company and then consider themselves a true agent of change.
Through exchanges, sharing ideas, and exploring possibilities daily, employees truly bring the vision to life.
Committing to a direction
The young employee's career plan must be linked to the team's mission. What impact for the manager? Be authentic and consistent by linking individual goals and missions to the goals, tasks, and responsibilities of other team members and the team as a whole.
Following the "4 wheels" of commitment:
The first wheel of commitment is alignment: how will success be measured to assess progress? The metrics should be verifiable and quantifiable facts. An original way to reiterate the employee's commitment: write their mission on the back of their business card or a similar-sized laminated card; visible, this leitmotiv will support their motivation.
The second wheel of commitment is the driver (capacity): this involves identifying the knowledge required for plan execution, according to a realistic schedule
The third wheel of commitment is the fuel (resources): this includes the physical resources, time, human resources, and information required to successfully complete the project.
The fourth and final wheel of commitment is the engine (motivation): the employee will find the motivation to commit to their project if their role and the mission pursued by the organization are aligned with their deep personality.
6/ CREATE A TEAM SPIRIT CLOSE TO A FAMILY SPIRIT
From the point of view of personal meaning, young talents want to join committed colleagues who share a common cause. They want to feel that other people are working in the same direction as them.
From the point of view of organizational belonging, the company must foster links with and between employees. Shared values and respect create links between the employee and the organization.
7/ OFFER CAREER OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUR YOUNG TALENTS: AN INDIVIDUAL TRAINING BUDGET
The manager must help employees establish their own training needs in relation to their development needs and organizational objectives. Employees must then justify the return on investment of using their career development account.
8/ REMAIN ACCESSIBLE
The manager must remain visible, accessible, and maintain a personalized relationship with their young employees during informal events (occasional breaks, dinners, birthdays, end-of-project celebrations), and by remembering certain things like their values, passions, and hobbies.
9/ REGULARLY CHECK IN
An effective way to support talented young employees in their professional development is to organize a quarterly follow-up meeting, in addition to the essential annual performance review. This meeting will cover all topics related to their mission, their team, and their individual objectives.
10/ SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION
Lack of recognition is still one of the main criticisms leveled at managers by their employees, especially new recruits. Providing regular feedback, showing visible, sincere, and positive signs of appreciation, and highlighting the efforts made are all good ways to retain young talent.
For more information on this topic, please feel free to consult Stéphane SIMARD's excellent book "Generation Y: Attracting, motivating, and retaining young talent"
Corinne SOUISSI.
Gereso.com
Posted online February 7, 2014.
