如何留住80后、90后员工？

http://www.fortunechina.com/column/c/2014-12/23/content_232064.htm?source=yd

亲爱的安妮：我目前在一家《财富》500强公司主管产品开发团队，部门负责人和我刚刚制定了2015年的重要目标，其中计划在明年年中推出的产品是重中之重。我认为，我们为项目不同阶段设定的最终期限是现实的，但这些目标能否实现却取决于当前的团队能否保持稳定，因为要找到了解情况的替代者，会拖延我们的进展速度。

我最大的担忧在于，22名下属当中，有12人在二十五六岁到三十出头。这个年龄段的员工在我们公司的流动性最高。我该如何才能留住他们，至少让他们坚持几个月时间？您有什么建议吗？——F.C.

亲爱的F.C.：相比其他年龄段的员工，尤其是婴儿潮一代，千禧一代（80后、90后）跳槽的频率确实更高。例如，薪酬网站Payscale.com的最新研究显示，超过40%的婴儿潮一代认为，一份工作应该至少做满五年，或者至少在一家公司工作五年。持同样观点的千禧一代却仅有13%。

此外，有许多证据证明，年轻人对工作的预期与前辈们不同。所以，要想留住他们，雇主必须适当改变一下领导方式。BetterWorks公司致力于打造旨在帮助企业实现目标的软件平台。该公司 CEO克里斯•达根表示：“千禧一代希望管理更加开放和透明。他们还需要更多鼓励，更希望感觉自己在不断进步。在他们看来，大多数管理者习惯提供的那种鼓励还远远不够。”

达根也是游戏化公司Badgeville的联合创始人。与BetteWorks的客户合作期间，他近距离地观察到，哪些措施有助于留住二十多岁的年轻才俊，哪些措施无法做到这一点。他推荐了下列四个步骤：

目标要明确，包括他们的和你自己的目标。达根说道：“千禧一代渴望条理性和指导，所以要设定明确的预期。”同时，要向他们解释你自己的目标——例如，赶上那些苛刻的最终期限——以及为什么这些目标不仅对你的团队，对部门和整个公司都非常重要。

达根说道：“管理者在分配任务的时候通常不做任何解释，结果人们并不清楚他们的老板在努力实现怎样的目标。但对于千禧一代而言，弄清楚不同工作之间的关联非常重要。他们希望了解全局。”

不要成为他们的拦路虎。达根表示，向员工解释清楚目标之后，“便不再插手，让他们自己决定如何实现这些目标。你要从管理者转变为类似教练的角色，鼓励他们自己确定细节。”他补充道，千禧一代往往对微观管理非常反感（反感程度超过了其他年龄段的大多数人），所以要尽量避免微观管理。你的作用是提供帮助——比如为实现更大的目标，设定较小的临时目标和最终期限等——但决不插手干涉。

提供大量积极反馈。千禧一代是被过度夸奖的一代，每个人只要露个面就会赢得一件奖品，这一点已经引起了人们的热议。但达根认为，赞扬工作中的进步和里程碑事件，与所谓权利意识无关。相反，他指出，有研究表明，使用计步器或FitBit腕带来测量每日步行距离的人，比不使用这些装备的人，每天行走的步数多出30%。

这并非巧合。他说道：“了解自己的表现，让自己的进步得到认可，能够极大调动一个人的积极性。”并且这种反馈越频繁越好。他补充道：“年度绩效评估不适合千禧一代。他们希望每一两周便能得到一次反馈和指引。”

向他们展示职业发展路径。虽然千禧一代经常进行看起来毫无章法的短期变动，但他们“其实非常注重长期发展。他们想弄清楚当前的工作是否适合自己的整体职业规划。通过开诚布公地谈论如何在公司不同级别取得成功，以及晋升需要达到怎样的条件等，雇主可以让一些非常抽象的东西变得具有可操作性。”谈论未来，可以给Y一代一个在内部寻找新发展机会的理由，而不是选择跳槽。

达根说道，只要想创造一种对千禧一代友好的文化，任何团队领导者都可以做到，而一月份“则是开始采取更加开放的协作管理方式的绝佳时机——新的一年，新的目标，新的透明度。”祝你好运。

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.