Thursday LinkUP: Millennials— If You Don't Develop Them, You'll Lose Them

"As a millennial myself, I would say that I connect deepest with brands that keep an active and inspiring social campaign. This means that their post, image, or link catches my attention in my already busy newsfeed, say images and quotes that are industry-related (but maybe not brand related) as well as industry-related articles are my favorite posts from the brands I follow." 

~~ Clark (FSO MVP)

Good Morning Folks,

I've been using Thursdays for throwback posts the past few weeks. Meanwhile I'm amassing more content than I can possibly share on social media, so today, I thought I'd LINK YOU UP to the business world's most forward thinking on my favorite topic: Millennials.

Once upon a time generations of workers had a life-long career in a single company with a progressive path upward inside the company (as in Detroit automakers), the reality is that most of us do not have that option today, and that path is no longer even viable (as in Detroit automakers).

The career escalator is jammed at every level. Unemployment rates are sky-high. Creative disruption is shaking every industry. Global competition for jobs is fierce. The employer-employee pact is over and traditional job security is a thing of the past.

At FSO our managers excel navigating a brave new world in which companies must manage four different generations from Millennials to Boomers — each with different needs and motivations. The challenge for our executive leadership team and in grooming our future leaders is... in an era of job hopping and fast rises, how do you turn young talent into leadership? The answer is if you don't develop them you'll lose them.

“The Millennial Compass“ study was released at this years SXSW holds some answers.

It found that Millennials are focused on achieving through personal networks and technology. They value a good work-life balance, perceive their managers as friends, and don’t want to be tied to an organization, a timetable or a hierarchy.

According to Mashable whose founder and editor Pete Cashmore participated in the study, (Pete Cashmore And Olivier Fleurot: The Truth About Millennials At Work), "The Boomers helped shape some of the great global companies that exist today and the Millennials are turning innovations into new businesses with speed we have never seen before. The boundaries of business today are expanding in America and around the world." 

"Successful leaders must drive constant innovation, manage with ease in a world of change, and must be able to navigate global markets. In that respect Millennials seem to be well prepared for the future. Whether they do that in large companies or in start-ups really doesn’t matter. Entrepreneurial skills should be valued in both."

"The Boomers helped shape some of the great global companies that exist today and the Millennials are turning innovations into new businesses with speed we have never seen before. The boundaries of business today are expanding in America and around the world. Successful leaders must drive constant innovation, manage with ease in a world of change, and must be able to navigate global markets. In that respect Millennials seem to be well prepared for the future. Whether they do that in large companies or in start-ups really doesn’t matter. Entrepreneurial skills should be valued in both."

Among the starkest data points in a different study (Deloitte's 2014 Global Human Capital Trends report) is this one: About two-thirds of companies around the world consider themselves weak in developing millennial leadership. Meanwhile, only 5 percent of companies rated themselves as "excellent" in that field.

The data comes on the heels of other reports showing trouble in leadership development programs. Among those findings: Companies are hurting themselves by failing to differentiate between high-performance and high-potential employees, and though they recognize the importance of talent development they're not putting their money where their mouth is by investing in development programs.

Every brand, well most of them, desperately want to understand millennials – their online behavior, where they spend their time, what they care about, how they work, purchase patterns, etc. And the reason is pretty simple. There are over 80 million of them roaming the Internet, which is by far the largest generation to date.

The only language that really counts is to "level with them". Knowing them is an edge to marketers who can provide efforts that builds awareness and cultivate referrals on long term basis.

At FSO, know we are doing an exceptional job meeting the millennial challenge and making the most of its unique technological skills and brainpower.

But if your company is like most others, you'll need all the help you can get. These article links that follow, the most informative from my large Millennial resources archive, may shed some light. 

And for millennials reading this I've also included a link to a great guide to retirement as many millennials feeling young and invincible live from paycheck to paycheck and may not otherwise consider these issues before it's too late.

Stern Advice - Getting real about retirement  (Reuters)

Get Creative to Recruit Millennials   (INC)

The Millennial Marketing Mix: Community, Innovation And Values  (Forbes)

The Paradox of Generation Y  (Entrepreneur)

Commitment-phobia: Millennials want different models of ownership and brands need to keep up (Marketing Magazine UK)

What We All Thought About Millennials Is Actually True  (LinkedIn, Log In required)

Pete Cashmore And Olivier Fleurot: The Truth About Millennials At Work (Forbes)

Why It's So Hard to Turn Fickle Millennials Into Leaders  (INC)

Millenials Believe Business Can Do More (LinkedIn, Log In required)

Millennials Are Changing the Wine Industry With Tasting Room (HuffPO)

Are Millennials Too Impatient At Work?  (LinkedIn, Log In required)

Sorry Banks, Millennials Hate You  (Ritholz Blog)

Love them or hate them, Millennials are here to stay and they carry the torch to take business into the next millennium and beyond. Therefore to my boomer peers running law firms or corporations I remind you that David Ogilvy once said "the consumer is not a moron, she is your wife" to which I say today "the consumer and brand she or he is buying from aren't morons, they are your kids!"

Next week I will return to the "throwback" mode with a review of the cell phone on its 30th anniversary.

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here