http://www.fortunechina.com/column/c/2014-12/23/content_232064.htm?source=yd
親愛的安妮：我目前在一家《財富》500強公司主管產品開發團隊，部門負責人和我剛剛制定了2015年的重要目標，其中計劃在明年年中推出的產品是重中之重。我認爲，我們爲項目不同階段設定的最終期限是現實的，但這些目標能否實現卻取決於當前的團隊能否保持穩定，因爲要找到了解情況的替代者，會拖延我們的進展速度。
我最大的擔憂在於，22名下屬當中，有12人在二十五六歲到三十出頭。這個年齡段的員工在我們公司的流動性最高。我該如何才能留住他們，至少讓他們堅持幾個月時間？您有什麼建議嗎？——F.C.
親愛的F.C.：相比其他年齡段的員工，尤其是嬰兒潮一代，千禧一代（80後、90後）跳槽的頻率確實更高。例如，薪酬網站Payscale.com的最新研究顯示，超過40%的嬰兒潮一代認爲，一份工作應該至少做滿五年，或者至少在一家公司工作五年。持同樣觀點的千禧一代卻僅有13%。
此外，有許多證據證明，年輕人對工作的預期與前輩們不同。所以，要想留住他們，僱主必須適當改變一下領導方式。BetterWorks公司致力於打造旨在幫助企業實現目標的軟件平臺。該公司 CEO克里斯•達根表示：“千禧一代希望管理更加開放和透明。他們還需要更多鼓勵，更希望感覺自己在不斷進步。在他們看來，大多數管理者習慣提供的那種鼓勵還遠遠不夠。”
達根也是遊戲化公司Badgeville的聯合創始人。與BetteWorks的客戶合作期間，他近距離地觀察到，哪些措施有助於留住二十多歲的年輕才俊，哪些措施無法做到這一點。他推薦了下列四個步驟：
目標要明確，包括他們的和你自己的目標。達根說道：“千禧一代渴望條理性和指導，所以要設定明確的預期。”同時，要向他們解釋你自己的目標——例如，趕上那些苛刻的最終期限——以及爲什麼這些目標不僅對你的團隊，對部門和整個公司都非常重要。
達根說道：“管理者在分配任務的時候通常不做任何解釋，結果人們並不清楚他們的老闆在努力實現怎樣的目標。但對於千禧一代而言，弄清楚不同工作之間的關聯非常重要。他們希望瞭解全局。”
不要成爲他們的攔路虎。達根表示，向員工解釋清楚目標之後，“便不再插手，讓他們自己決定如何實現這些目標。你要從管理者轉變爲類似教練的角色，鼓勵他們自己確定細節。”他補充道，千禧一代往往對微觀管理非常反感（反感程度超過了其他年齡段的大多數人），所以要儘量避免微觀管理。你的作用是提供幫助——比如爲實現更大的目標，設定較小的臨時目標和最終期限等——但決不插手干涉。
提供大量積極反饋。千禧一代是被過度誇獎的一代，每個人只要露個面就會贏得一件獎品，這一點已經引起了人們的熱議。但達根認爲，讚揚工作中的進步和里程碑事件，與所謂權利意識無關。相反，他指出，有研究表明，使用計步器或FitBit腕帶來測量每日步行距離的人，比不使用這些裝備的人，每天行走的步數多出30%。
這並非巧合。他說道：“瞭解自己的表現，讓自己的進步得到認可，能夠極大調動一個人的積極性。”並且這種反饋越頻繁越好。他補充道：“年度績效評估不適合千禧一代。他們希望每一兩週便能得到一次反饋和指引。”
向他們展示職業發展路徑。雖然千禧一代經常進行看起來毫無章法的短期變動，但他們“其實非常注重長期發展。他們想弄清楚當前的工作是否適合自己的整體職業規劃。通過開誠佈公地談論如何在公司不同級別取得成功，以及晉升需要達到怎樣的條件等，僱主可以讓一些非常抽象的東西變得具有可操作性。”談論未來，可以給Y一代一個在內部尋找新發展機會的理由，而不是選擇跳槽。
達根說道，只要想創造一種對千禧一代友好的文化，任何團隊領導者都可以做到，而一月份“則是開始採取更加開放的協作管理方式的絕佳時機——新的一年，新的目標，新的透明度。”祝你好運。
Dear Annie: I’m in charge of a product development team at a Fortune 500 company, and right now the division head and I are setting a couple of big goals for 2015, especially regarding products we want to roll out by mid-year. I think our deadlines for different phases of these projects are realistic, but our ability to meet them depends partly on keeping the same people we have now, because having to bring replacement hires up to speed would really slow us down.
The main thing that worries me is that, out of the 22 people who report to me, 12 are in their mid-twenties to early thirties. Our whole company has had a problem recently with high turnover in this age group. Do you have any suggestions about how to hold on to them, at least for the next few months? — Fingers Crossed
Dear F.C.: It’s true, Millennials are quicker to jump ship than any other generation of employees, especially Baby Boomers. One new study from Payscale.com, for instance, says that more than 40% of Boomers think people should stay in one job, or at least one company, for at least five years. A scant 13% of Millennials agree.
There’s also lots of evidence that young workers hold much different expectations about work than their elders ever did. So bosses intent on keeping them around may have to make some specific changes in the way they lead their teams. “Millennials want more openness and transparency,” observes Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks, which makes a software platform aimed at helping businesses reach goals. “They also need more encouragement, and more of a sense that they’re making progress, than most managers are used to giving people.”
Both as a co-founder of gamification company Badgeville and from working with BetterWorks clients now, Duggan has seen close up what works, and doesn’t, in inspiring twenty-something talent to stay put. He recommends these four steps:
Make goals clear, both theirs and yours. “Millennials crave structure and guidance, so set clear expectations,” Duggan says. At the same time, explain what your own goals are — meeting each of those demanding deadlines, for instance — and why they matter, not just to your team but to the division and the whole company.
“Often, managers just assign tasks without explanation, so people don’t see what their bosses are trying to accomplish,” notes Duggan. “But it’s important to Millennials that you connect those dots. They want to see the big picture.”
Get out of their way. Once you’ve explained exactly what has to get done, Duggan says, “step back and let them figure out how to do it. You really shift from being a manager to acting as more of a coach, and encourage them to figure out the details.” Millennials tend to rebel against micromanagement (even more than most other people), he adds, so avoid it. Your role is to help — in setting small interim goals and deadlines that lead up to larger ones, for example — without hovering.
Give lots of positive feedback. Much has been made of Millennials’ upbringing as the overpraised generation, where everybody wins a trophy just for showing up. But, according to Duggan, applauding progress and celebrating milestones at work is not about that supposed sense of entitlement. Rather, he points to research showing that people who use a pedometer or FitBit to measure how much they walk each day take 30% more steps than people who don’t.
That’s not a coincidence. “Knowing how you’re doing, and having your progress acknowledged, is immensely motivating,” he says, and the more frequently, the better. “Annual performance reviews do not work with Millennials,” he adds. “They look for feedback and direction every week or two.”
Show them a career path. Despite what often looks like a disjointed series of short-term moves, Millennials are “intensely focused on the long term. They want to see how their current job fits into their whole career plan,” Duggan says. “By having open conversations about how to be successful at different levels throughout the company, and what it takes to be promoted, you can take something very abstract and make it real.” Talking about the future might also give Gen Yers a reason to look for their next job in-house, instead of somewhere else.
Any team leader who wants to create a Millennial-friendly culture can do it, Duggan says, and January “is a great opportunity to start being more open and collaborative — new year, new goals, new transparency.” Good luck.