千禧一代职场新人的培养之道

    如果想让高级经理人活跃起来，就和他们谈谈年轻员工的话题。谈话气氛会突然变得热烈非凡，大家各抒己见，话题五花八门，从穿着人字拖上班到他们独特的说话风格。经理们抱怨道：“他们总是三心二意。他们为什么需要那么多反馈意见？怎么就不能自己动脑子想想？”

    劳伦•斯蒂勒•瑞克林成，对于出生于1978年到2000年的千禧一代，经理人不免把自己当年身为新员工的行为举止和年轻员工的态度相比较，他们迟早会提到“自以为是”这个词。劳伦•斯蒂勒•瑞克林是研究跨代问题的专家，最近为波士顿学院工作和家庭中心（Boston College Center for Work and Family）撰写了千禧一代领导力的报告。

    最近，咨询公司Workplace Solutions对637名美国劳动者进行了调查，有68%的人表示，他们认为和老一代员工相比，千禧一代缺乏责任感，不能很好地完成工作。

    瑞克林说：“在工作中，管理者对千禧一代的工作动机和热情的认识出现了显著偏差。他们之间更多的是沟通隔阂，而不是代沟。”

    雇主开始认识到这个问题，谈论在工作中对待不同年代员工的方法，管理者可能会很容易认为，年轻雇员非常娇气，直率的谈话会让他们坐立不安，必须小心翼翼地对待他们。但是，越来越多的公司希望，管理者和千禧一代能够在沟通方式和工作习惯上达成妥协，用折中的方式实现目标。

    各个组织也制定了计划，确保千禧一代了解职场的处事准则和成功技巧——这些计划的设计参考了了这一代人从学龄前幼儿游戏班到足球队乃至大学学习小组的发展轨迹。

    波士顿学院的这份报告指出，有多家公司已经围绕千禧一代独特的个性，制定了网络、计划和培训机会。比如说，德勤公司（Deloitte）组织了地区Y世代委员会，向高管提供反馈意见以及交际机会。近来，德勤公司召开峰会，聚集了所有委员会和高级经理人，主要讨论弥合沟通隔阂的问题，建立在线社区，为下一代领袖提供资源。

    If you want to liven up a group of senior managers, raise the topic of the youngest employees in the workforce. Suddenly, the conversation turns animated, with strong opinions on everything from their flip-flops to their conversational style. "They are always multitasking," managers complain. "And why do they need so much feedback? Can't they just figure it out?"

    Sooner or later, the word "entitled" is bound to come up, as executives compare the way they behaved as new workers with the attitudes of the Millennial Generation, those employees born between 1978 and 2000, says Lauren Stiller Rikleen, an inter-generational consultant and author of a new report on Millennial leadership for the Boston College Center for Work and Family.

    In a recent poll of 637 working Americans published by consultant Workplace Solutions, 68% said that they felt that Millennials were less motivated to assume responsibilities and produce good work than their older counterparts.

    "There's a significant disconnect in the workplace regarding how managers perceive the motivation and work ethic of Millennials," Rikleen says. "But this is much more of a communication gap than a generation gap."

    When employers first identified this issue and began talking about dealing with different generations in the workplace, managers could easily have felt that their young employees were too precious to upset with frank talk and had to be handled with kid gloves. But increasingly, companies are expecting both managers and Millennials to compromise on their communication styles and work habits, with a goal of meeting somewhere in the middle.

    Organizations are also setting up programs to ensure that Millennials learn how to behave and succeed in the workplace -- all designed on structures familiar to a generation that progressed from preschool playgroups to soccer teams and study groups in college.

    The Boston College report identifies a number of companies that are designing networks, programs, and training opportunities around the unique characteristics of Generation Y. For instance, Deloitte runs regional Gen Y councils that provide feedback to senior leaders as well as networking opportunities. A recent Deloitte summit brought together all the councils and senior management to focus on bridging communication gaps and creating an online community with resources for the next generation of leaders.