Are you a Millennial who is managing?

One of the biggest struggles I hear from Millennials who have risen up in the ranks of corporate America is that they have a hard time managing employees who are older than they are. There are most likely several reasons for this but today I want to just focus on one.  For just a minute, step back and think about all the Gen Xers who are reporting to you.  Many have been faithfully working (sometimes for 10-20 years) for a company and waiting for their time to lead. Boomers are staying in the workforce longer than anticipated which means their leadership spots are not opening up as quickly as hoped. Add to that the fact that most companies want to hang onto their top Millennial employees (who they know may bounce in about 3 years) so they are putting them on the fast track to promotions. This means that many faithful, loyal Gen Xers are getting leapfrogged and left behind.  This is one of the reasons why HBR recently published a study saying that 40% of Gen Xers in high-level manager positions want to leave their job. They are fed up.

If you have the important job of managing them just try to put yourself in their shoes and approach them with some respect for how they might be feeling and empathy for why they might not be so excited to have you as their boss. This doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it or are not capable of doing it well. It simply means that they may need some time and some extra incentives to feel motivated to be on your team.

One other piece of information that might help you along the way: Gen Xers hate being micromanaged. They will get the job done.