Bringing Out the Best in Generation Y

They’re your high-maintenance, entitled, technologically sophisticated and fickle new talent pool. Generation Y, aka the Millennials, is also potentially the most high-performing generation in decades. Here’s the low-down on what makes them tick and how to work most effectively with them

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Management Structures:

Mentors are needed to show Millennials the ropes. Taking a cue from the popular Generation Y television program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, they need a "lifeline" to help them learn what is expected of them professionally, the ins and outs of the corporate culture, how to process constructive feedback instead of discounting or withering under it, and how to increase their self-motivation and problem-solving skills.
Managers must explain to their Generation Y employees the big-picture purpose of the organization and how their role serves that purpose. This is common in some IT organizations that go to great lengths to communicate how everyone's role supports both the business and IT strategies.
New hire orientations. As new employees, they will require much greater up-front investment than their Gen X predecessors who were required (and preferred) to figure everything out on their own.
Frequent check-in meetings with managers. Because Millennials require so much supervision, managers would do well to schedule regular meetings with Millennial staff to make sure they're motivated and getting their work done, and to give feedback.

Training Initiatives:

Members of Generation Y benefit most from hands-on, team-based training as opposed to lectures or textbook theories. Experiential, team-based training gives Millennials opportunities to make and process mistakes in a safe learning environment and successfully transfer their new knowledge and skills to their workplace. Some specific areas of development that Millennials and their employers should focus on include:
Greater understanding of their own personal strengths and limitations, and how to adapt their behaviour to get the impact they desire. Self-development training initiatives will help Millennials learn to appropriately handle feedback, develop the flexibility to lead and be led in a changing work environment, and cultivate the internal motivation needed to succeed in whatever situation they face.
Communication skills. Because Generation Y has grown up with e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging and chat rooms, its members tend to rely heavily on technology to communicate. This may serve them well in virtual team environments where face-to-face interactions are not as common, but they need to know professional communication expectations: when and where face-to-face, phone, text, e-mail and IM communications work best to prevent the miscommunications that often come from an over-reliance on technology.
Collaborative problem-solving skills. Training in this area will help them address complex issues in an environment where time, oversight and conventional solutions are at a premium.

Those organizations that can find the right mix of policy, structure and training for Generation Y recruits will most successfully leverage the generation's potential and ultimately retain their loyalty. Helping Millennials grow their capacity to dissect and tackle complex problems and build their resilience to critical feedback will give this generation the tools it needs to manage the current reality of the workplace and the uncertainty of the future. Given the resources, wisdom and support by older generations, Generation Y can become a catalyst for a better future - one that benefits us all.

Deborah Gilburg is a principal of Gilburg Leadership Institute, a leadership development consulting firm specializing in generational dynamics and organizational succession planning