October | 2012 | CEO People Management

“That’s it. I’m only going to hire Baby Boomers from now on… Gen Y are just too much hard work”.

It seems that many managers and business owners have reached breaking point with Gen Y. This younger generation, after all, rarely hangs around in a job for long enough to warrant the financial and time investment of training. What’s more, they have a sense of entitlement and a brash self-confidence that is less than endearing to many older managers.

Gen Y: they have been the topic of countless articles, research papers and books in recent years. Workplaces and employers in every sector are finding this group a great challenge to recruit, motivate and retain. This younger generation seems to operate by a different set of rules. Their concept of patience, respect and work ethic can seem bewildering at best and insulting at worst. Is it any wonder then that many managers are asking if Gen Y are really worth the hassle?

Sure Gen Y may pose some challenges to work with. Sure they may have an approach to the real world that can sometimes seem less than realistic. And yet, this group is a generation of confident, well-educated natural networkers. They are innovative, flexible, tech-savvy and most important of all, at home in the modern era. It is, after all, the only era they have ever known.

Clever managers are recognising that Gen Y are indeed an excellent source of creativity, innovation and a competitive edge. Rather than seeing this group as a challenge or a source of frustration, these managers are seeing the potential of engaging a generation who have a fresh perspective, boundless energy and a keen desire to get runs on the board as quickly as possible.

If you are keen to join the ranks of those that are engaging rather than estranging Gen Y, the following three keys should help:

Put relationship before role
Gen Y are a connected generation. Community, relationships and a sense of belonging are at the core of both their online and offline identities. They have typified the old phrase ‘I don’t care how much you know, till I know how much you care’. Managers that can build a strong relationship and genuine rapport with their Gen Y staff will find that this will indeed be the key to gaining commitment and loyalty from this group. They will not be loyal to companies or corporate mission statements, but they are loyal to people and relationships. A far cry from the power and control days of management, those in authority can no longer rely on creating a separation between themselves and those they lead. If you want to build rapport with Gen Y, two tips; be authentic, and be interested. They don’t want you to be like them, they want you to be you. Walk your talk, be transparent, have some fun at your own expense and Gen Y will love you for it.
Focus on outcomes not process
If outcomes are all about why we do what we do, then perhaps process could best be described as how we do what we do. Of course, while both the why and the how are necessary for organisational performance, many organisations fall into the trap of focussing on process over outcomes. They become so obsessed with structure, lines of authority, rules, policies, benchmarks and KPIs, that they lose sight of the reason these processes were put there in the first place. Process itself is not the enemy, but process that seems disconnected to outcomes is. The biggest turn-offs at work for Gen Y are unnecessary structure, excessive bureaucracy and suffocating red tape.
Give regular positive feedback
Recognition is that all powerful motivator. It’s the one thing that babies will cry for, grown men will die for… and Gen Y will work for. Positive reinforcement is the best and perhaps the only way to bring out the best in the people we lead. Look for and ‘catch’ employees doing the right thing and then reward it, rather than ‘catching’ people doing the wrong thing and then punishing it. This principle is certainly a key to engaging Gen Y.Use positive affirmation, recognition and encouragement with this younger generation and watch them thrive. Two quick tips when doing this; recognise them in person (don’t just send an email), and recognise them in public (they love to be singled out in front of their peers and colleagues).

Engaging Gen Y employees may seem like a lot of hard work. It will certainly require an investment of time and energy and a willingness to change and adapt. However, those managers that can embrace the challenges of working with this group will reap the benefits of a younger workforce that is energetic, switched on and hungry to get ahead.

Guest Author:
Michael McQueen is a leading authority and sought-after presenter on the topic of Understanding & Engaging Generation Y.

Republished from CEO Online – your online business resource – www.ceoonline.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of CEO Online’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.ceoonline.com/subscribe/

The following 10 tips are designed to help you prepare for your next performance review process.

Most managers will tell you that they don’t look forward to the annual performance review season. It’s not hard to see why. Reviews are time consuming, they can often take hours to prepare for and many of us have had little or no formal training in facilitating a performance management process, let alone delivering sensitive feedback in a constructive manner or conflict resolution.

Relax. With a little bit of preparation and a positive attitude, you’re certain to learn a great deal about your team and more importantly yourself.

The golden rules

Before we look at the 10 tips below, there are a few golden rules of management that overlay the entire performance review process and in fact successful management techniques in general.

Remember that your employees are probably just as anxious about the review process as you are.
Like you, your team members have feelings and may from time to time show emotions at work.
Treat your employees with the same respect and courtesy that you would expect from your manager.

Establish the right mind-set – If I asked you to rate your level of satisfaction with your company’s annual performance review process, how would it fare? If you’re like most managers in most organisations, it probably doesn’t rate highly on the list of tasks outlined on your position description.For your performance reviews to be a success, it is imperative that you go into the process well prepared and with a positive frame of mind. To do this, you need to take a step back and see the process for what it really is; an opportunity for you to spend time with your team so that you can uncover ways to improve their performance and satisfaction. Why is this important? Well, if your team members are happy, they’re more likely to perform better and less likely to leave your organisation. With happy, committed and more productive staff, your life as a manager can only get easier.
We know for a fact that an employee’s manager is the number one reason for employees seeking alternative employment. With this in mind, the performance review process is your opportunity to learn more about your team; specifically what motivates them, what new challenges they’re looking for and how your needs (i.e. a stable, productive team) and theirs (i.e. personal development and career path) can align. Happy team members really do stay!
Remember, reviews are a two way street – As mentioned earlier, managers have typically viewed employee performance reviews as an opportunity to point out all the things an employee’s “stuffed up” over the previous 12 months. Warning: If this is your approach, it’s a sure fire way of increasing staff turnover and damaging employee morale and trust.Savvy organisations have long been using the performance review process to find out how their managers and indeed the organisation can lift its game. By allowing the employee to have their say about where they feel the company or manager could improve, they are also more likely to accept comments about their own performance gaps and areas they need to develop over the next 6 to 12 months.
A small caution for all managers when hearing feedback about your own performance: sit back and listen to the team members comments – take it all on board. Do not jump down their throat in your defence as this will defeat the purpose. Instead, try to ask probing questions, “can you give me an example of that so I can better understand?’ ‘How do you think I/we could handle that better in the future?”. Acknowledge their comments, “‘I appreciate your comments on that.’ ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.'”
Take time out to prepare – A large percentage of managers I speak with only spend 10 minutes on average preparing for an employee performance review. Often this is done 5 or 10 minutes before their next review meeting.If you’re looking to get maximum value out of your review process you need to make time to prepare. Block out at least 1 hour in your calendar for every team member and if possible leave the office to do it; you need time to think about each team member without the normal day to day interruptions. Talk with your manager if you don’t think your current workload or schedule will allow for that to happen and ask for assistance in covering for you during this time.
Talk with other people before the review to source other opinions – Performance reviews have traditionally been very insular. That is, they have been based on the opinions of two people – the manager and the employee. If you don’t already, try talking with some other people such as your fellow managers, the employee’s peers and even their subordinates. Try to do this at various stages throughout the year so it doesn’t look like a last minute effort.We know that when feedback is obtained from multiple sources:
If obtaining the thoughts of other managers, subordinates and peers is a little difficult in your organisation, there are a number of online performance review tools that can facilitate the collection of information from multiple sources. This is often referred to as 360 degree or multi rater feedback.
Prepare an agenda and communicate this to employees in advance – It is vital that you have an agenda for the review meeting: a road map that includes the things you intend to cover off. Having an agenda will convey to your team that you are treating the performance review process seriously and that there will be some structure to the conversation. It is particularly useful to provide each employee with the agenda several days before their review and that you encourage your team to add agenda items that they’d like to discuss. Understanding what is on the mind of your employees before the review meeting will help you to be better prepared. No surprises.
Stay on track – It is possible that the review meeting may get a little heated. Conversation may also head in a direction that takes you out of your comfort zone or is non work-related. The minute this happens, excuse yourself [interrupt] and reiterate that you only have an hour now so whilst this issue is of obvious importance, it might be best to get back to the agenda given there are other important issues to get through. If required, the point of contention can be addressed in another forum at a later point in time.To minimise the likelihood of this occurring, make sure you keep the conversation work-related at all times and don’t ever criticize or blame team members directly.
If you can’t reach consensus on a particular issue, always go back to the agenda and move on. The agenda is your friend; you just need to remember to refer back to it when required.
Start and finish with positive feedback – They say that as a rule of thumb, you should give 5 pieces of positive feedback for every 1 piece of negative or constructive feedback. Whilst this may be a little difficult to do in some cases; what it does indicate is that the overall theme or flavour of your review needs to be positive.Always start off by thanking the team member for their contribution over the past 6 or 12 months. Regardless of what you’re about to say, you have to remember that they have turned up for work more often than not over the past 365 days and that they have probably spent more time sitting at their workstation than they have with their family. Scary but true.
Ensure that you finish the meeting off on a positive note. The following point about action items will help you to do this.
Create a list of action items – One of the main complaints employees have of the performance review processes is that nothing ever seems to change after the review. In fact you can hear these sentiments echoing around the corridors of almost every organisation in the land, “I just spent an hour and half talking about the same stuff I talked about last year and nothing ever changes”. It’s easy to see how employees can be skeptical of the performance review process.Managers have historically left the performance review process and immediately become ‘busy’ again with their own day to day tasks.
Like any serious business meeting, it is important that you take notes during the meeting. At the end of the meeting, recap the content of the meeting back to the employee; ask them whether you’ve missed or misunderstood anything. Spend 5 or 10 minutes at the end of the performance review meeting to brainstorm the top 5 key action items that can form the basis for that employee’s development plan over the next 6 to 12 months.

Make sure you spend 5 minutes to brainstorm the top 2 action items for you as their manager to walk away with. This will demonstrate to the employee that you’re also serious about continual improvement and making their life at work better.
Have the team member agree on the action items and next steps – So you’ve created a list of action items. The next step in the process is to get the employee to agree and more importantly commit to the action items; that is to treat them seriously. Before leaving the meeting, seek verbal confirmation that the employee understands what was discussed and that they are comfortable with the proposed action items.The final piece of information to convey to the employee in the performance review meeting should be to advise them that you will be typing up notes from the discussion and booking in three half hour ‘catch ups’ over the next 12 weeks to ensure momentum is maintained and the next steps are on track. This is best done in a more relaxed environment; say at a coffee shop over a drink, breakfast or even lunch. Don’t underestimate the power of taking your team out of the office for a meal or a drink.
View this as the start of the process not the end – Many managers walk away from the performance review meeting and leave the conversation back in the meeting room. This is only the start of a 12 month program designed to improve the performance and satisfaction of your team.When you walk out of the review, schedule in at least 3 catch up sessions over the next 12 weeks. Once you have completed all of your performance reviews, block some time out of your diary once again to finish off the performance review process. This will include typing up the notes from each review and reviewing each action item to ensure you know what is expected of you as manager. Type up your action items as well and if you’re brave enough (and you’re not breaking confidentiality or trust to do so) stick them up on the wall in your office so that you are looking at them every day.
As a rule of thumb, you should allow at least 30 minutes per employee for the post performance wrap up.