Millenials … the challenge of Leadership

"If you intend fidelity of a" Y "Millennials or, better, buy a dog."
Often I hear the growing concern in the business of the difficulty of attracting and retaining new talent in the new additions, and some of the main complaints are:
"They have no career horizon and they not know they want to do."
"They want everything now, they lack consistency, and don’t realize that things take time."
"We have a 25% turnover. We train young people and the year we go, we can’t retain them. "
"They do not ask for anything after 5 o'clock. They don’t like the compromise. "
"They have no commitment to the company, or his work."
"It’s spent on the computer wasting time."
"They do many things, but do not stop anything. They have no proof. "
Before reading further let us understand we're talking about specifically.
Sociological research considered Generation "Y" or Millennials those born between 1980 and 2000. If we mention the most important demographic events those twenty years, it’s impossible to ignore the Internet explosion, or globalization for example, and the boom in personal development which causes people to be more in touch their feelings and they’re more connected with themselves permanently. The Millennials were the largest education investment in the history of mankind, and they was born and raised in homes technologized, at least in the presence of a computer and a mobile.
In Spain, the Millennials are the children of democracy, the mass introduction of computers in the home, msn, chat, mail, divorce, explosion "neoliberal", culture of service, etc are some of the elements that have marked this period.
And fundamentally, are children of a new political-democracy-and this brings with it the relation of generation "Y" with the authority is emerging that this is represented by a person, system, company, or from their parents, therefore, is the link to the Millenials with the authority from which we begin to understand their "mission" first generation, then retrace the interpretation of their behavior and aspirations.

Those who are considered to belong to the previous generation, the "X" as those born between 1965 and 1980, were educated under the message "you have to pursue a career that convenient to you, or when entering a company, "bought "development plan to ten years. And many of them dreamed of retiring in this company. Without thinking through its development challenges, but rather on the responsibilities associated with professional success.
Also, many "X" are still first-generation children of the welfare state, with which they penetrated deep into certain mandates and practices related to planning, saving, "the first house" rapid independence from the parental home to marriage, sacrifice, education as a long-term culture often almost obsessive work.
In contrast, Millennials are the children of parents who "always to be there" as to the rescue, unfinished cut the cord, whose children "and" manifest behavior characterized by:
• The technological revolution and news changes in habits generates: instant friends, practicality, individuality, the loss of children's play practice of interaction and contact, and so on.
• A late adolescence that extends to 30-35 years in parents' house.
• A culture characterized by the immediacy and instantaneous.
• New forms of study and access to information, through interaction and image. Virtual Universities like example.
• Growing up in a context marked by a strong culture of service, see education as a commodity to be bought and consumed, so their approach to knowledge must be fast, convenient, easy and even fun.
The relationship of the "Y" and the work
Many "Y" that I interact with have seen their parents being laid off from their jobs, or staying in the company, with less salaries because they don’t have other choice because of their age or their level of education. This leads to a vision of an evil enterprise system, which better get something (experience, money, contacts, possibility of growth), before the system will not remove them.
Freedom is one of their capital values, wary of the term "professional development", prefer to speak of "professional projects" with clearly established timelines and actions for themselves, where the company is the means to achieve them, not an end in itself.
Clearly, this freedom leads to employment, in its traditional form, yield place to employability. There are no employees are employable (free carriers subject knowledge) of the market and "their" own project. They work as a freelance professional with specific knowledge and the "sell services" according to the needs from the supplier"
There is no loyalty to the company, in any case, the same expiration date and therein lies its commitment. They learned this lesson when, during the 90 parents saw their "X" gave all for his work, after many years of "race" and delays families, their children among others within the company saw no change and they were happy.
As a consequence, they favor stability in employability over job stability. Put under scrutiny the concept of "retention", nothing except the time for performance of his project, feeling in a field that favors freedom of choice, participation, evaluation and completion of their contributions, are retained.
At the same time the values are entered with them are: "quality of life" outside of work or "work-family balance", they become the true standards of the Millennials and key decision factor when choosing a job, or renew the mental. Personal time is much more important on the job, and obviously they work to live, not live to work, and less still in a dependent relationship.
Many of them are professionals in their university training, but emotionally immature, lacking therefore, among other things, emotional maturity and life experience necessary to manage and monitor the performance of partners that twice their age. The Millennials, in turn, have characteristics that, well diagnosed and prosecuted according to a business objective by their leaders, generate effectiveness: the natural relationships, the tendency to lateral thinking, a new vision of management People in organizations, and access to technology, puts them above other generations when undertaking projects.
They are mostly creative, bold, and with great flexibility to adapt to situations of continuous transition. In general are bilingual because they travel a lot and some of them have done postgraduate studies abroad.
They are a good challenge (or sometimes a real pain), to their leaders for their tendency to question and call into question the established management paradigms. Pragmatic and action-oriented, need-based leadership in setting and monitoring objectives, need, like any teenager, you mark the spot and give them precise information on the time needed.
The big question is "what to expect from their leaders?".
Millennials' commitment to the organization isn’t because, as mentioned before, they don’t believe in it, but they believe only in people, especially in their leaders, which is why we consider it important to review the leadership practices based on the daily construction of the authority and justice, because in order to interact with them is essential.
For them build leadership by example, not by the demonstration of power, and those who belong to the generation "X" certainly remember teachers, professors, and even heads, which made the power their means of influence. Nothing is further from what the expects from "Y".
Therefore, the "Y" are promoted more in a creative environment where the input values and freedom of thought. As a leader, it’s very important that we build trust and lead by example, let them know what is expected of them and be assertive when agreements set expectations and ways of monitoring and evaluation of their performance.
As conformism isn’t in their scale of values, it’s important to feel the challenge to lead projects rather than to manage tasks. Change their structures get them out of the comfort zone, not allowed to stagnate, since for a Millenial the challenge is the essence of industrial action.
The value recognized by the "Y" in their leaders is integrity and is essential to feel their leader is consistent between his thought and actions, keep in mind that the commitment doesn’t develop with the company, but with the people and especially with their supervisor. Therefore, it’s so important to feel obligated or responsibility to them to have all the answers. It’s a generation that values "not know" that a lie, by their leader.
As teams responsible for the presence of this generation involves reviewing and, why not, and redesign certain leadership practices, while still obtaining results and objectives of the first order, but knowing that the roles are changing.
Although I consider essential for the experience, perseverance and long-term orientation salient features from the generation "X" are a good complement for spontaneity, drive and creativity of the "Y".
I considere, we are in front to a good opportunity to build great teams, enhancing and professionally managing differences.
Respecting the generational differences and learning to get in the place of others allow you to build organizations in which professional development is something stimulating and enriching for all.
Well, it’s all for today friends.
Your comments, and until next blog!
Have nice Halloween and very good week to all!!
Lorena