Ninety days is the amount of time most new hires have to lay the foundation for success in their companies. And according to positive psychologists and neuroscientists, it’s also the number of days it takes to make a new habit a way of being. Because onboarding is the process of getting new employees integrated into your company culture, competent in their roles and consistently delivering the results you expect of them, your onboarding process should be more than a one-day orientation or even a week-long employee training program.

Here are the key reasons why your onboarding process should extend throughout your employees’ first quarter and how you can ensure that you best meet your new hires where they are, and partner with them so they get to where you need them to be.

Habits Are Created Through Daily, Intentional Practice. If you want your new employees to be peak performers, make yourself a partner in their learning and development. Give them the knowledge they need to successfully perform their work and make yourself accessible to support their growth, ideally through weekly check-in meetings. Encourage them to book time with you whenever they need it—regardless of what the issue is. If you make it easy for your new employees to come to you with questions and concerns, you can nip any issue in the bud before it becomes a real problem.

It Takes Time to Create a Culture Fit. As Zappos founder and CEO, Tony Hsieh says, “If you get the culture right then most of the other stuff will happen naturally.” Unfortunately, for a lot of new employees, the first 90 days at a new job can feel more like a dress rehearsal than a final performance. New hires don’t yet feel like they are a part of their company culture, and yet they must before they can make positive contributions to it. There are a few key tactics managers can put into practice to expedite the process:

• Connect new hires with all the right people: Immediately introduce new employees to the colleagues, clients, and other stakeholders they will be working closely with. By facilitating these connections, you ensure that your employees have the people resources they need to be successful, and you give them a supportive community which will help them feel strong and supported.
• Demystify company and field jargon: There is nothing worse for a new employee than to hear other people using abbreviations or industry terms that they don’t understand.  Help them become a part of your tribe by giving them the inside scoop on words and phrases they can expect to hear.
• Hook young professionals into your company’s unique cultural features: Get your new hires excited about your team and company traditions and rituals. One of the easiest ways to get your young professionals involved in your culture is to have them share their experiences with it. Whether it’s writing testimonials for your Facebook fan page or employee blog, documenting colleagues at work (and hopefully sometimes at play!) for company events, or having them share their candid experiences with prospective new hires, when employees have the opportunity to reflect on the culture they will take more of an active role in it.

A successful onboarding process requires the support of everyone who has a stake in new hire success, e.g., hiring managers, HR, training, and a direct supervisor. It takes time and should be ongoing. In order to inspire the performance you want from your new employees, you have to invest time and energy in bringing them on board and welcoming them into your workplace family.

Alexia Vernon is an author, speaker, International Coach Federation (ICF) certified coach, trainer, and media personality who specializes in helping organizations recruit, retain, educate, and grow their young professional workforce. In her book 90 Days 90 Ways: Onboard Young Professionals to Peak Performance, Alexia demonstrates how to achieve the goal of getting new employees oriented, integrated and trained within 90 days of their employment. As a member of Gen Y and with her unique approach to talent development, Alexia has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including CNN, NBC, Wall Street Journal, CBS MoneyWatch, FOX Business News, Forbes.com, ABCNews.com, TheGlassDoor.com, and Mint.com.  To learn more visit www.AlexiaVernon.com and connect with Alexia on Twitter @AlexiaVernon.

When a new hire goes rogue or fails to meet expectations, employers are often blind to their role in the failure.  Instead of asking, “Could I have better supported my employee?” they instead say, “I hated to do it, but I had to let Suzie go” or “I had to put Bill on probation.”

We erroneously have a habit of viewing underperformance or shattered expectations as the fault of one person. Once we understand that we are as responsible for the success of a new hire as the new hire is, we can develop, apply, and refine strategies and corresponding techniques to ensure our new hires, particularly those who are new to the workforce and in their first one or two positions, get to where they need to be.

For sustainable workplace success, transparency is key. New employees can easily become lost and unsure of themselves when employer expectations are not communicated clearly. As a direct supervisor or manager, you should touch base with the new hire by the end of the first week about their chief responsibilities and how you will hold them accountable. During this conversation, you also want to clarify exactly what you expect from your new hire in each of what I call, the 4 P’s:

Professionalism

While some of these you may have addressed prior to the first day, it’s never a bad idea to revisit these important questions.

• What is the appropriate use of technology, particularly social media?
• Can employees take personal calls in the workplace?
• What kind of relationship can employees enjoy with managers outside of the workplace?
• Can colleagues date? If so, must they be in different departments? Have lateral positions? Report it to HR?

Performance

• What are three to five key indicators of outstanding performance in this position?
• What skills and behaviors do you want to see evidence of?
• What are key benchmarks in performance that must be met in the first 90 days?
• What are key project deadlines that must be hit in the first 90 days?
• How are promotions and raises decided?

Problem Solving

• What are proven best practices for handling the “typical” problems that someone in this role will encounter?
• How should a worker navigate a problem? At what point should a supervisor be brought in?
• What are company practices for handling internal conflict or conflict with a customer/stakeholder, should it emerge?

Passion

• What’s an appropriate workplace attitude?
• What values do successful employees carry into their work?
• How can professionals demonstrate creativity and innovation?
• How can new hires best incorporate themselves within (while actively shaping) company culture?

By asking and answering these questions for yourself, you’ll be able to effectively communicate your expectations to your employees so that you and they are on the same page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alexia Vernon is an author, speaker, International Coach Federation (ICF) certified coach, trainer, and media personality who specializes in helping organizations recruit, retain, educate, and grow their young professional workforce. In her book 90 Days 90 Ways: Onboard Young Professionals to Peak Performance, Alexia demonstrates how to achieve the goal of getting new employees oriented, integrated and trained within 90 days of their employment. As a member of Gen Y and with her unique approach to talent development, Alexia has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including CNN, NBC, Wall Street Journal, CBS MoneyWatch, FOX Business News, Forbes.com, ABCNews.com, TheGlassDoor.com, and Mint.com.  To learn more visit www.AlexiaVernon.com and connect with Alexia on Twitter @AlexiaVernon.

Are you trying to climb the corporate ladder while the company is working through the recession? In other words, are you aiming to be a leader?

Well, behind every great leader, at the base of every great tale of success, you will find an indispensable circle of trusted advisers, mentors and colleagues. These groups come in all forms and sizes, and can be found at every level and in nearly all spheres of both professional and personal life. What they all have in common is a unique kind of connection with each other that I’ve come to call “lifeline relationships.”

In order to build these all-important lifeline relationships, there are four core mindsets that can be learned and practiced, and help lead you on a path to personal and financial prosperity. They are:

Generosity
This is the base from which all the other behaviors arise. This is the commitment to mutual support that begins with the willingness to show up and creatively share our deepest insights and ideas with the world. It’s the promise to help others succeed by whatever means you can muster. Generosity signals the end of isolation by cracking open a door to a trusting emotional environment, what I call a “safe space” — the kind of environment that’s necessary for creating relationships in which the other mindsets can flourish.

Vulnerability
This means letting your guard down so mutual understanding can occur. Here you cross the threshold into a safe space after intimacy and trust have pushed the door wide open. The relationship engendered by generosity then moves toward a place of fearless friendship where risks are taken and invitations are offered to others.

Candor
This is the freedom to be totally honest with those in whom you confide. Vulnerability clears the pathways of feedback so that you are able to share your hopes and fears. Candor allows us to begin to constructively interpret, respond to and grapple with that information.

Accountability
Accountability refers to following through on the promises you make to others. It’s about giving and receiving the feet-to-the-fire tough love through which real change is sustained.

The real key to establishing close relationships with people you consider your trusted advisers in your career and in your personal life is how these four mindsets work together.

The process starts with generosity. It jolts people out of traditional transactional do-for-me-and-I’ll-do-for-you relationships. Actively reaching out to and helping others gives us the opportunity and permission to take a relationship to a deeper level. This allows us to explore intimacy, ultimately to the point of being vulnerable and open with one another.

If we’ve created a safe space, a place where we feel safe enough to say candidly what we think and feel, we can take greater risks in the relationship. It can lead to making a commitment to mutually support one another through thick and thin and to hold one another accountable for doing the things that will allow us to achieve our dreams and destinies. Taking such risks can lead us to create more than just friendships — we can create lifeline relationships to a better future.

This process is iterative: The more you give, the deeper you get and the more profound your sharing becomes. That strengthens your safe space, and provides more freedom to be vulnerable and candid — which opens the relationship even more deeply. Trust builds incrementally, by stages, growing deeper and stronger as the mindsets are practiced more sincerely and passionately.

Once you work within the four mindsets, you will see it’s a truly inspiring experience. Whether you’re working with an experienced sales team or building a business from scratch, the lifeline relationships you build will become more than your colleagues or assistants. They will become you’re a trusted circle of advisers and your peers.

That’s worth repeating: peers. Equals. Even though one of them may have clear organizational authority — and the title and decision-making power to go with it — each member functions as a highly respected equal, offering up creative ideas, candid feedback and criticism voiced with authentic concern for the others’ interests, and rigorous attention to accountability around goals, goal setting, follow-through and, of course, results. Each member has free, open and respectful permission to call the others out when they are falling short (because we all fall short, and most of us, as I know well, tend to do so repeatedly).

Do you want to be more successful in your career and more fulfilled in your life? Then let’s get started.

Keith Ferrazzi is the author of Never Eat Alone and the founder of the myGreenlight, an online training program for networking that offers the structure and support to put Keith’s bestselling books into action in your life for unparalleled career success and satisfaction. Go here to learn more: mygreenlight.com. 

Employee engagement is a crucial part of any successful workplace.

True engagement goes beyond job satisfaction and loyalty — instead, it delves into an individual’s personal satisfaction. From a company’s perspective, true engagement ultimately contributes to the organization’s bottom line.

What makes engagement work for employees? The equation is simpler than you’d think. For workplace engagement (or happiness), a job needs to provide meaning, enjoyment, and not surprisingly, a paycheck.

At WorkSimple, we love offering tips and trick to encourage employee engagement. However, there are only so many ways we can share the dos. What about the don’ts? After all, it’s just as important to know what to avoid (not mention, it’s kind of fun).

Here are six don’ts every manager (and executive) should keep in mind when working on employee engagement:

Don’t limit feedback
Limiting feedback to annual (or even more sporadic) performance reviews is harmful to employee engagement. It catches employees off-guard and usually pulls from specific instances instead of providing an overall picture. Ultimately, limited feedback keeps workers on their toes (in a bad way).

Engaged employees love frequent feedback. It gives them confidence and helps them move forward. More importantly, feedback helps them understand how their work fits into the team and the bigger company picture.

Don’t stick to long-term objectives
Picking one massive project for everyone to work on is not good for employee engagement. After a long day’s work, only a fraction of the project will be accomplished, leaving employees stressed and feeling unimportant.

Engaged employees prefer a combination of long-term and short-term goals. In reality, short-term goals reflect what is going on in the workplace today. It helps workers deal with shifting priorities.

Short-term goals can, however, contribute to a long-term direction. This leaves employees feeling more accomplished and less stressed.

Don’t go all-for-one
When management forces their employees to work separately, engagement goes out the window. Competition outweighs collaboration, leaving employees to feel like it’s them against the world.

Engaged employees prefer to work together in a group for most goals and projects. That way everyone’s best skills are used appropriately and a team dynamic is inspired.

Don’t stay by the book
Religiously following an original business plan can work against employee engagement. It allows no room for new ideas and your employees will feel like they’re a cog in the machine.

Successful companies that have existed for 10, 20, or even 50 years learn early on that change does happen from time to time. An engaged workforce will shift goals and techniques instead of remaining stagnant. Flexibility encourages innovation and the company as a whole will thrive.

Don’t criticize
A manager or executive who consistently focuses on where employees fall short is working against employee engagement. Constant micromanaging and layering on work without praise keeps employees tense and powerless.

In an engaged workplace, employees hear praise and constructive criticism often. This instills a sense of trust that they are improving and that they matter to the company.

Don’t keep management and workers separate
If there is a rift between management and staff, engagement won’t be able to thrive. Employees will have the distinct feeling that management is “above” them and management will lord over employees. In this scenario, employees feel condescended to and disengaged.

To increase employee engagement, turn managers in coaches. This encouraged the overall “team” feel throughout the company. Employees feel more comfortable working with management and vice versa.

What do you think? What other don’ts would you add to this post? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Morgan Norman is the Founder and CEO of WorkSimple, putting an end to performance reviews by providing a better way for coworkers and teams to share goals, work together, get and give feedback, and make each other shine. Connect with him and WorkSimple on Facebook and Twitter.

By Russell Glass, CEO of Bizo

As hiring professionals, we’ve all been there. Your teams need support, but you don’t have the budget or resources to hire the desired people. Perhaps you find yourself in a hiring position, but can’t find the candidates that fit the bill. The difficulties of being a hiring manager are not characteristic of one particular industry or field. Everyone, from President Obama to the store owner next door, is faced with the difficult decisions that surround job creation and hiring.  So what do we do?

Location is Not a Barrier

As the CEO of Bizo, a fast growing company in the technology industry, I have a simple solution, “in-shoring.” Here at Bizo, we not only hire the most highly-skilled people, but we also hire them just about as fast as we can find them –wherever we can find them.  Bizo is just one of the tens of thousands of businesses that are in the same position.  We realized early on, that to successfully build our company, we needed to hire only the best people. However, hiring people solely based in the local San Francisco Bay Area was a significant limitation—and sacrificing quality talent was just not something that we were willing to do. At the same time, we didn’t feel that we could build the right tight-knit culture we wanted by off-shoring to countries like India, Belarus or other far-away lands.  The solution? Again, a simple one: use powerful, effective and inexpensive collaboration and communication technologies like Skype, Google Docs, Dropbox, instant messaging, and web conferencing to manage our company’s remote workforce and “in-shore.”

What does it mean to “in-shore”?

In-shoring is a simple idea that offers a plethora of significant benefits to everyone. At Bizo, we’ve built a culture that enables our teams to work together efficiently. By doing so, we’ve managed to:

• Build an infrastructure to hire incredible talent regardless of where they live in the country
• Lower our average cost per employee so we can hire more of them
• Establish networks around the country that fuel our ability to hire more great people

Today, our 45-person company is represented in 10 states around the country, including one person in Hawaii. It is my belief that better companies are built with a diverse foundation, and “in-shoring” has the potential to alter the landscape of this country’s job market.  If the laid-off auto worker in Detroit, the high school student in Little Rock or the former textile marketer in Greensboro, sees that there are jobs available to work for high growth Silicon Valley technology companies if they only had the right skills, they will go out and acquire those skills.

Bringing Jobs to the People

Job seekers need to believe that if they take the initiative to get new skills, there will be a job available to them.  This way, they will have the incentive to acquire the relevant skills they need to be successful.  Leading a technology company in Silicon Valley, I believe that I and others in a similar position have a responsibility to do our part to create and fill jobs in this country. This is simple economics.  If the economy thrives, we will be more successful and our children will be more successful. Ultimately, that’s why we all work in the first place, isn’t it?

With expanded education opportunities, a focus on “in-shoring” and continued innovation and next generation technologies, we can overcome the structural challenges that we face today and lead the world in high technology job creation for decades to come.

So what does “in-shoring” look like for your company?

Russell Glass is CEO of Bizo, a business-to-business marketing firm. Glass is a serial technology entrepreneur, having founded or held senior positions at four venture-backed technology companies. Other than business data, Glass’ passions include golf, anything in high def, and Duke basketball. Follow Glass on Twitter at https://twitter.com/glassruss.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: See how you can get a free copy of one of two best-selling leadership books! See contest details below!

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Authored by Lisa Orrell. Orrell is known globally as The Generation Relations Expert. She is the author of the top-selling books Millennials Incorporated and Millennials into Leadership. In the final part of this three-part series, Orrell further explains the importance of training your Millennial employees for leadership roles – and shares practical tips for teaching your employees that crucial leadership skill: problem-solving.

As a consultant, I often hear employers tell me that one of their main challenges – and one they feel their Millennials struggle with – is problem solving. With that in mind, I’d like to share the following tips for problem solving, which you can share with your Millennial team members as you continue to groom them for leadership.

12 Problem-Solving Tips to Teach Your Gen Y Future Leaders:

1. Leaders First Envision Success: Leaders know that every problem has an answer; it just needs to be found. Worrying about the problem gets you nowhere, while working towards the answer will get you everywhere. Leaders control their attitude and focus on results.
2. Leaders Clarify the Problem: Leaders determine what’s wrong by cutting through clutter and noise, and by focusing on the issues that are at the core of the problem.
3. Leaders Get the Facts: Leaders collect all the facts about the problem because they know that some problems are not as big as they seem. Fact-finding is an analytical, rather than an emotional task, so it is useful in other ways, too. When a follower comes to a leader with a problem, a good leader will start asking questions and gather the facts, rather than engage in an emotional discussion.  Fact-finding is a process and you may have to dig deep to get to the real problem. Leaders are great at asking the right fact-finding questions. They’re also adept at listening to the answers and “hearing” any sub-text that could illuminate the situation.
4. Leaders Start By Looking to Themselves for Possible Solutions: If the problem does need attention quickly, leaders first look to themselves for answers. They ponder what actions they might take personally that could resolve the problem. They brainstorm all ideas and write them down. If the problem was developed by someone else, they ask that person how they think it should be resolved. And if the issue is significant, the leader will go to their team, or trusted advisors, for idea sharing. Being able to get a variety of solutions to choose from, from people with different perspectives and experience, is powerful.
5. Leaders Continually Self-Evaluate: Leaders constantly assess whether the process is going well, if the solutions being discussed make sense, and if they are doing everything they can to solve the issue.
6. Leaders Do Research: Leaders consider what research would be valuable to their problem-solving efforts (like searching the Internet, asking other people, reading books, etc.). Leaders do not think of themselves as all-knowing and understand that the first instinct for an answer is not necessarily the best. Sometimes when you are too knowledgeable about a subject, you can overlook something obvious.
7. Leaders Make Decisions: Leaders pick a solution and implement it. They may start with a quick-fix solution and follow up with a more long-lasting fix, but they decide what needs to be done…and they do it.
8. Leaders Follow Through: Effective leaders don’t just implement the solution and turn away. They follow through with making sure necessary team members are also doing their part (if required). And they ask everyone involved how they think the “solution” is working out now that it’s actually being used.
9. Leaders Create Achievable Markers: Leaders break the problem-solving process into small steps, and then focus on the most immediate steps. They know how to break problems down into their component tasks and then track the progress of each one over measure.
10. Leaders Aren’t Too Proud to Say “I’m Wrong”: Be ready to undo whatever (ineffective) solution you implemented without shame. A respected leader is never embarrassed to correct mistakes. Without mistakes no progress would ever be made!
11. Leaders Don’t Just Know How to Solve Problems; They Know How to Find Them: Great leaders can detect smoke, rather than simply trying to fight raging fires. That’s the type of leader you should groom your Millennials to be. And it’s critical they have a good rapport with their team to encourage them to share bad news, red flags, or concerns with them quickly!
12. Leaders Take Ownership: Ineffective leaders try to pass-the-buck by placing the blame on their peers or employees. They act like small children on a playground when confronted by an adult after a toy is broken; all of them point fingers at each other. But when you’re a boss and something in your department or team is “broken,” and your supervisor asks you how or why it happened, you must own it as the team leader.

Finally, if nothing else, remember that great leaders view problems as opportunities. They recognize that problems happen, even in very successful organizations, despite the best leadership talent and most sophisticated management techniques. They actually embrace problems, because they see them as opportunities to learn and improve. Therefore, they seek out problems rather than sweep them under the rug. Tell your Millennials not be sweepers!

If you missed the first two parts of this series on preparing your Millennial employees for leadership, you can read about “6 Ways to Retain Your Gen Y Future Leaders” and “9 Ways to Teach Gen Y Employees a Leadership Mindset” now.

Want to win a free copy of Millennials into Leadership or Millennials Incorporated?

WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR WORKING WITH MILLENNIALS? Whether you work with Millennials, or are one yourself, chances are you have some nuggets of wisdom to offer. Give us your thoughts, and you could win one of Lisa Orrell’s best-selling leadership books.

HOW TO ENTER:
In the comments section below, simply submit a one- or two-sentence answer to this question: “What advice do you have for working with Millennials?” Ten (10) lucky winners will be drawn at random to receive a copy of one of the books of their choosing: Millennials into Leadership or Millennials Incorporated. See contest rules for details.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: See how you can get a free copy of one of two best-selling leadership books! See contest details below!

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Authored by Lisa Orrell. Orrell is known globally as The Generation Relations Expert. She is the author of the top-selling books Millennials Incorporated and Millennials into Leadership. In the second part of this series, Orrell shares nine ways to teach your Millennial employees how to adopt a leadership mindset now – regardless of their current position within your organization.

In the leadership workshops I conduct for Millennials, one of the key points I emphasize is that even an entry-level management position IS a leadership role. I also explain to them the need to understand the difference between a leadership mindset and a manager mindset from Day One of their first professional job. After all, they are judged on everything they do and say – and everything they don’t do and don’t say – from the very beginning of their career.

As their supervisor or employer, your goal should be to help your employees understand this concept; however, I know many upper managers who still struggle with it themselves, so it’s important to remember the following (which you can then pass on to your employees):

Even if you just manage one person, you are also a leader. Yes, you may be considered a “manager” on paper, but you are leading, too. And even though your current position may not be one that “sets direction for the entire company or a department,” you are still a leader. Furthermore, even if you currently don’t manage anyone, you can take on leadership roles (e.g. heading up a project, volunteering to plan a company event, etc.).

Regardless of the type of management roles your Millennials assume, cultivating a leadership mindset is critical to their success early on. Successful managers are also successful leaders, and successful leaders experience employee retention and loyalty.

I realize not every Millennial in your company wants to be a senior executive or “lead” the whole business. But to not embrace some fundamental, effective leadership qualities – which will make their employees happier and more productive – is to BE LAZY, in my opinion.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.” Be sure to share that with your Millennial employees and emphasize that your goal is to help them avoid being a young leader employees choose to leave.

To further illustrate this point, consider the following key differences between a manager mindset and a leader mindset. Share these with your Millennial employees as well, as you work with them to adopt leadership into their personal management styles:

1.       Leaders seek employee commitment – Managers seek employee compliance

2.       Leaders are proactive – Managers are reactive

3.       Leaders create change – Managers maintain the status quo

4.       Leaders take risks – Managers are risk-averse

5.       Leaders are passionate – Managers are controlling

6.       Leaders create loyal followers – Managers have subordinates

7.       Leaders use personal charisma – Managers rely on bestowed authority

8.       Leaders give credit – Managers take credit

9.       Leaders understand what motivates each employee – Managers stick to a one-size-fits-all approach

Managers who choose not to embody important leadership qualities suffer – as do their employees and their companies as a whole. Shortsighted managers tend to focus on process and procedures, not people and vision, whereas leaders focus on the latter first.

Groom your Millennial employees to blend solid management skills with strong leadership qualities, and they will have a much better chance of succeeding in any role, at any level, within your organization.

If you missed the first part of this three-part series on preparing your Millennial employees for leadership, you can read about 6 Ways to Retain Your Gen Y Future Leaders now.  Soon to come: “12 Problem Solving Tips to Teach Your Gen Y Future Leaders,” ths final part of this series.

Want to win a free copy of Millennials into Leadership or Millennials Incorporated?

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LEADER AND A MANAGER?  Answer this question for the chance to win one of Lisa Orrell’s best-selling leadership books.

HOW TO ENTER: In the comments section below, simply submit a one- or two-sentence answer to this question: “What’s the difference between a leader and manager?” Ten (10) lucky winners will be drawn at random to receive a copy of one of the books of their choosing: Millennials into Leadership or Millennials Incorporated.

Update: The time period for this giveaway has expired.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Authored by Lisa Orrell. Orrell is known globally as The Generation Relations Expert. She is the author of the top-selling books Millennials Incorporated and Millennials into Leadership. In the first of a three-part series, Orrell discusses not only how to better manage and retain your Millennial talent, but also how to groom them to be effective leaders.

Why do companies – large and small – spend so much time worrying about how to retain Millennials (a.k.a. Gen Y)?  It’s basically a matter of math.

According to the Employment Policy Foundation (EPF), our country is at the beginning of a labor shortage of approximately 35 million skilled and educated workers, which is estimated to continue over the next two decades – especially now that Baby Boomers are starting to retire at an estimated rate of 1 every 8 seconds.

Out of necessity, Millennials – many of whom may only have one to three years of career experience – are moving into management roles much sooner (and younger!) than the generations before them did – and are expected to perform in these roles successfully.

While it’s entirely possible to groom this next generation of professionals to be effective leaders, you must first be able to retain them (otherwise, grooming them for leadership won’t even matter!). For the first of this three-part series, I’d like to share six effective tips to help employers and managers effectively retain Millennial talent.

6 Ways to Retain Your Gen Y Employees:

1. Constant Contact: A recent survey of over 1,000 Millennials showed that over 60 percent of them want to hear from their managers at least once a day. That message is pretty clear: They want to communicate with you often so make it happen or they will leave! Unfortunately many older generations tend to operate differently. Oftentimes, they have a hands-off approach to management, but this style clearly does not work well with Millennials.
2. Praise Culture: We all need praise from our employers, but Millennials tend to need it more often than older generations. If they are not feeling “valued” on a regular basis, they will leave. So many well-known companies are shifting to a “praise culture” to retain them…and it improves retention of their older employees, too! Get creative and have fun with this. I know of one company that actually appointed a “celebrations assistant” in their office and one of her tasks is to throw confetti on employees (in their cubes or offices) whenever a manager tells her an employee had done something exceptional. I realize this strategy may sound a bit extreme to you, but this company is obviously seeing an ROI (or the confetti wouldn’t be happening).
3. Rapid Advancement Alternatives: Millennials feel that “paying their dues” is just occupying space for no good reason. So if a Millennial employee is truly qualified for a promotion, many companies now offer it to them versus giving the position to someone who has simply been at the company longer. But what if they’re not qualified to move up the ladder yet and getting antsy? Find creative ways to give them more responsibility, such as letting them do one or more of the following:
   1. Start, or write for, the company blog
   2. Set-up, or participate in, your company Fan Page on Facebook or other social media presence
   3. Contribute to the company e-newsletter
   4. Research and set-up a new software solution that improves productivity for your company (or department).

   You don’t always have to give them a raise or promotion to keep them happy; being creative with increased responsibility can work great! Millennials have fast minds and get bored quickly, but it’s your job as their employer to help eliminate the “boredom” factor.

4. Cubicle Shackles: Millennials have a very hard time understanding why they need to sit in a cubicle 8-10 hours a day. They want the flexibility to work anytime, from anywhere, and many companies are revamping their policies to provide more flexibility, using flex time as a “perk” to attract Millennials to their workforce. The upside? Employees from all generations respond favorably to this flexibility and employers actually find that most employees become more productive…and tend to put in longer hours!
5. Mentor Programs: This is key! Millennials have grown up with a lot of guidance from their parents, society and teachers. Now, they expect this type of handholding at work. So, heed this advice! If your company, large or small, doesn’t offer a formal (or informal) mentorship program, create one. I recently spoke with three Millennials who actually quit their jobs within one year because their employers had promised mentorship, but never delivered. Mentorship truly means that much to them.
6. Leadership Training: There is a resurgence of Leadership & Management training programs happening because the Millennials want it, need it and are demanding it. In the past year, my Millennial Business Boot Camp and Get a Grip on Leadership workshops have become, hands down, my most requested presentations – that’s how important leadership training has become. Unfortunately, MANY companies still do not offer these types of programs, much to their own detriment. It’s only a matter of time before their Millennial employees leave to pursue organizations that do offer these programs.

Finally, it’s important to remember that Millennials’ wants and needs aren’t much different from those of older generations; they just have a lower tolerance threshold than generations before them. A Boomer may put up with a job for five years even if he or she is bored or doesn’t feel valued, but a Millennial may only tolerate it for five months…or until the current job market improves.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be posting parts two and three of this series, to address tips and best practices for preparing Millennials to be successful leaders in your organization.

For more information about Lisa Orrell, visit: www.TheOrrellGroup.com.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Authored by John Thedford. Thedford is CEO of La Familia Pawn and Jewelry, a chain of high-end pawnbroker shops with locations throughout Central and South Florida, and he is the author of Smart Moves Management: Cultivating World-Class People and Profits. For more information, visit www.lafamiliapawn.com.

A company without good employees is like a shark without teeth … very ineffective and bound for extinction. Here are some strategies that can help you hire and promote the best people for your business.

Being a business owner requires a strong commitment to success and attention to detail. Tasked with many responsibilities, entrepreneurs have to maintain a vigilant focus on the key processes that drive their operations. Based on my own experiences, I believe the trickiest part of running a company is the hiring process. Why? Because people are complex creatures with unique attributes, and hiring the right employees is imperative to the success of your endeavor. In other words, when it comes to hiring, the stakes are high.

The “right” people are the core of your strength. Inversely, the “wrong” people will make you weaker and less effective. In the end, you’ve worked hard to start your business, and you need to create an environment where everyone functions on the same page and works toward the same goals. How do you accomplish this? Take hiring — and the development of superior talent — very seriously, and have a process in place that gives you the best chance of hiring and retaining employees who will help you realize success.

A Strategic Path to Success

Through trial and error, I’ve learned that business success isn’t a model; it’s an equation of compatibility and chemistry among employees, customers and investors. Creating a strategic path based on this philosophy will pay major dividends because an engaged employee will provide exceptional customer service and make so much money for themselves and for the company that your shareholders will marvel at the outcome.

Ask yourself a simple question. Who do you want representing your business? Remember that you’re looking for specific attributes, and you need someone who fits comfortably into your company culture. An Ivy League graduate with the wrong skill sets for your particular venture brings little value to the table, no matter how well-educated that person might be. And a bad hire can be costly; the industry rule of thumb suggests that hiring the wrong person costs you three times his or her annual salary. A $50,000 employee costs you $150,000; a $150,000 employee costs $450,000. That’s for starters. There’s also lost opportunity cost … plus lost business, potential customers and momentum. And now you’re back to square one, looking for a replacement.

In order to avoid these setbacks, it’s important to understand that a successful hiring process begins with a clear understanding of the critical traits that are required to get the job done. Those who seek to complete the type of work required to operate your business possess a set of core competencies that define and highlight their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Once you determine which specific attributes best suit your needs, you need to learn how to identify them when selecting new hires or promotable candidates.

Identifying Core Competencies

Each business requires its own set of core competencies that management feels will help maximize growth and profitability. The key is that everyone involved in the hiring process understands the selected competences, asks the right questions to gain better insight into the thoughts and tendencies possessed by candidates (both new hire and promotable), and makes the right hiring decisions that will ultimately strengthen the overall staff.

At La Familia Pawn & Jewelry, we’ve developed our own set of core competencies that fall into the following categories: intellectual, personal, interpersonal, management and motivational. Based on a comprehensive interview and a temperament questionnaire that we require every candidate to complete, we feel confident determining if a person possesses the right mix of desired traits. When analyzing motivational competencies, for example, we want to consider the following factors:

• Energy — Exhibits energy, strong desire to achieve and appropriately high dedication level.
• Passion — Exhibits dynamism, charisma, excitement and positive “can-do” attitude.
• Tenacity — Demonstrates consistent reward of passionately striving to achieve results.

Specific interview questions we include to help determine if a candidate possesses these motivational competencies include:

Energy

1.     How many hours per day have you worked, on the average, in the past year?

2.     What motivates you?

Passion

1.     How would you rate yourself (and why) in enthusiasm and charisma?

2.     Describe the pace at which you work – fast, slow, moderate – and the circumstances under which it varies.

Tenacity

1.     What are the challenges you have faced and overcome?

2.     What will references say is your general level of urgency?

By developing your own set of core competencies, you can begin to incorporate hiring strategies that give you the best chance to hire the people you need in order to succeed. And once you get these individuals into the fold, you need to hold it all together with strong leadership and a positive, motivational work culture.