Expanding The Young Professional’s Perspective to Become Effective Employees

daniel
March 9, 2021

Help Young Professionals See the Gray in The World & Embrace It

As managers and leaders, it can be tempting to make the work environment “simple” for your direct reports. You feel like you need to protect them from the extra complexity that starts to rise at the higher level of the business. But did you know that increased internal communications and keeping everyone in the loop can increase employee engagement, which in turn can enhance profitability by up to 25% and output quality by 40%? Keeping it simple for employees can easily be seen as keeping them in the dark about what’s going on in the organization, so open up, increase communication, and you’ll see your business performance improve.

How Expanding a Young Professional’s Perspective Can Impact Your Bottom Line

When it comes to millennial employees, they’re more mission-driven than any other generation. In fact, 9 out of 10 millennials would take a pay cut to work at a company who offers a mission and values that align with their own. This means they are invested. They’re invested in making a difference in their role, and to do that, they must be involved and feel valued.

Young employees don’t understand how businesses work. Their first full-time role post-college is typically the first “real” job they’ve had outside their summer gigs, which to be honest, don’t usually expose them to the true world of work. They don’t understand how their role is interconnected with other departments; they don’t understand how their projects contribute to the greater good of the organization—unless these things are shared with them from their manager from the get-go. They often don’t even fully understand how value is created in the business.

Providing early professionals with guidance on how the business operates is pivotal for their engagement and ability to make decisions that help the company, rather than just their siloed role or department. It can also help prevent resentment which is born from simple responses like, “well, that’s how management said to do it.” Helping them understand why and how decisions are made will help them see the bigger picture. It will allow them to feel a part of the bigger mission and engage accordingly, inspiring greater productivity and contributing to the bottom line!

The Importance of Practicing What You Preach in the Workplace

All that said, it’s important for managers to model this practice day in and day out, while also welcoming employees’ perspectives. In addition to sharing with employees what is going on at every level of the organization, it’s important that their opinions are sought out and thoughtfully considered. This practice goes a long way in boosting morale and motivating the workforce!

Taking the time to schedule weekly meetings with direct reports to get their feedback on projects, allow them to share their ideas, and then in turn, show to what degree their feedback was used is pivotal to increased engagement. Most employees don’t expect that every idea they have will be implemented whole heartedly—but the simple show of consideration goes a long way in making employees a part of the team and allowing them to understand the perspectives of each unique management team member or project.

74% of employees want a job that allows them to feel like their work matters, so why not inspire managers to ensure everyone feels valued, has a sense of purpose within the organization, and knows their ideas are respected?

Need Assistance Showing Your Team How to Widen Perspectives?

If your organization could use assistance crafting a human resources strategy to enhance employee engagement and help millennials grow critical workplace skills, NimblyWise can help. Schedule your complimentary consultation with NimblyWise CEO, Mike Sweet, to discuss your company’s future and how NimblyWise can help you grow.