Manage the next generation in the workplace

MANY managers find it tricky to manage across generations. If they are from Generation X (born between the late ’ 60s and the early ’80s), how can they relate to the twentysomethings who are now entering the workplace?

Kelly MD Graham Bentley has some advice. “Generational theory can be extremely useful to managers wishing to tailor their leadership approach to suit their team members,” he said.

He has the following tips for managers:

The current trend to delay getting married and starting a family means many young people focus their full attention on their careers. Increased productivity will not only drive South African business forward, but will also help with the national agenda of upliftment and empowerment;

Members of the born-free generation believe strongly that they have the right to be heard. They are confident and willing to express themselves freely at work rather than hoping their circumstances will change;

Millennials tend to be ambitious, so managers should ensure they have plenty of opportunity for growth. Upward mobility can only drive the South African workplace forward as the youth work hard to better their lot in life;

Make sure you give the young people in your company the responsibility they need to feel in control of their destinies, because many of them yearn to be their own bosses; and

Twentysomethings were born in the digital age, so technology comes more naturally to them than the older generations. — Margaret Harris