These days, several organizations are adding a new role to the team… a Chief Experience Officer, instead of or in addition to a Human Resource Officer. What does this say about the emerging workforce, increasingly made up of Millennials?
Compared to previous generations, Millennials don’t tend to see their life as siloed. Their experiences between work, social ties, and hobbies create an intertwined, overlapping reality. Largely, they are looking for deep meaning in their jobs, and making drastic changes if their lives aren’t panning out how they initially thought. The New York Times published an article highlighting the post-pandemic trend of some Millennials quitting stable jobs for once in a lifetime adventures, start-ups, or career moves.
How can we lead in a way and create spaces where the Millennials on our team want to flourish? I don’t believe they are going to find meaning if they don’t find enjoyable work relationships and mentoring. They seek meaningful community.
What’s the obstacle? This generation craves community, but they don’t value accountability–and there is no community without accountability. As a leader, the deeper the relationship you want to have with your team members, the clearer and more transparent your accountability structures need to be. Just like in parenting, you need to be objective and subjective. As a parent you don’t have the freedom to just be subjective, or just objective. There are principles that a family lives within. These rules, these laws of accountability, are what maintain the integrity of the family. In the same way families live by values, organizations need clearly defined values as well.
What trends have you seen in the Millennial workforce?
