Tuesday, January 25, 2011

10 Ways To Whip Twenty-Something Employees Into Professional Shape

whip

Twenty-something employees are cost-efficient, energetic, motivated and innovative. 

They can also be a pain to manage.

Harvard Business Review's Michael Fertik offers tips to oversee young employees.

Teach them: Younger employees are more motivated by education than small salary bumps

Fertik says managers who offer praise and incremental education to young hires get results.

If you're managing someone younger, overexplain your decisions to them.  These employees may not have the experiences or perspective to read between the lines of what you say and do, but they are eager to learn.

"Three short minutes of explanation usually make excellent junior employees excited, since they feel the immediate benefits of gaining insight into decision-making processes," Fertik says.



Have them start making decisions immediately

And if they don't know how to do something, tell them to figure it out. 

Many young employees will try to ask questions because that's the easy thing to do. But most inquiries can be answered with a little bit of effort on their end.

If you hold your employee's hand they won't learn anything, so show a little bit of tough love.



Reward them when they do something well

You don't have to send a big 'congratulations' email or praise a twenty-something in front of coworkers.

Simply asking them questions in front of senior colleagues is rewarding enough.

The question-asking tactic helps young employees learn, it makes them feel important, and it will improve their status to their peers.



View more at Business Insider


Julie Benz Saira Mohan Brittny Gastineau Ashley Tisdale Rachel Blanchard

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