New research has implications for developing your company’s leaders.
It’s no secret that baby boomers are retiring. They’re being replaced by three of the most studied “generations” in history:
- Generation X (born mid-1960s through mid-1970s)
- Generation Y (born mid-1970s through mid-1990s)
- Generation Z (the newest entrants to the workforce, born after 1995)
Lots of research time has been invested in helping employers understand how these generations differ from each other. But in what ways are they the same?
Gen X, Y, and Z: “We want to be leaders.”
A recent Harvard Business Review article provided a provocative answer:
“An INSEAD survey of 18,000 professionals and students in 19 countries found that a solid majority of Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z respondents—both men and women—say that becoming a leader was important to them.”
Significantly, a full 77% of American Gen Y employees (also known as “millennials”) said that landing a leadership position was important to them.
The career success of this group, now the largest “generation” in the workforce, is particularly critical to company performance over the next decade.
Prepare them now to lead in the future.
One implication of this research is clear.
Preparing the men and women of Gen X, Y, and Z to assume leadership positions is a mission-critical task for every organization—one that promises to accelerate an organization’s performance in addition to improving the career satisfaction of its talent.
One key to achieving this is equipping employees of all ages with essential leadership communication skills—ones that help them to promote their best ideas within the organization and to its customers.
What does that look like?
- Presenting ideas in ways that drive better decisions faster
- Influencing others in key conversations to “buy into” or invest in those ideas
- Collaborating as team members and as team leaders to execute on great ideas
Gen X, Y, and Z employees are motivated to become tomorrow’s leaders.
But without these three essential communication skills, they’ll never achieve their full potential.
Mandel Communications can help. Our singular focus is to drive better business performance through better communication.
We train and coach professionals at every level to develop the critical thinking and speaking skills they need to present their ideas and recommendations with impact, to quickly influence decision-makers to commit to those ideas, and to lead teams to execute on those ideas with excellence.
Learn more about the challenges of preparing your employees to lead.
Start by downloading the eBook, Millennials in the Workplace: The Key to Unlocking Their Effectiveness.
