The people born after Generation X that is from the early 80’s till the end of the century are commonly termed as Generation Y, aka Millennials. Thought by many as the rowdiest generation till date, millennials have posed a drastically different sort of employee for the average leader, who is now scrambling to adjust their views to match the expectations of this radical new sort of consumer/employee. The percentage of Millennials has recently surpassed that of Baby Boomers in the U.S.; with such a large portion of their consumer being Millennials, businesses are right to be worried.

In order to benefit the most from what Generation Y has to offer, it is important for leaders to know how to understand them. Gen Yers come from a time where there was global financial crisis but also when technology was at its peak. Thus, their mindset is far better equipped to handle with machinery and tech than the basic rules of a work room. Increase your patience with them and take the time to explain things like office protocol and how to present oneself professionally. Simple things like business meeting etiquette may be completely unfamiliar to them; don’t take risks and at first explain the concepts before you let millennials take control of the reins.

Millennials are able to learn new processes swiftly and can pick up on patterns within seconds. However, this also makes them a little unpredictable and when it comes to switching jobs they are more likely to do so. Millennials are always searching for the “right job” something which they love doing. If your office doesn’t resonate with them, then they won’t be staying long. It’s best to give them work which they excel at and are proficient at doing.

For example, put a techie in programming and a writer in publications; both employees will be happy and more likely to stay.

Millennials are the most productive bunch of employees you can hope for – you just have to let them do it in their own style. These teenagers and young adults spent their childhood blogging, instant messaging and playing video games as recreation. They are constantly looking for new software and apps to increase efficiency and productivity. Your Millennials will end up teaching you a new way to work that may change your life forever. Let them run things for a day and you may very well be surprised.

Generation Y are also your risk takers. They are the ideal entrepreneurs because none of them are afraid of failure. A good advantage of video games is that they teach you to try again and try harder in a different way to succeed. For Millennials that is precisely why failure is not that big an issue: the learning of the skill itself matters more. Look towards your younger employees when struggling to make a decision and take their opinions into consideration. Who knows, a radical new line of thought may be just what you need.

Despite what some people may say, the employees of Gen Y can contribute a great deal at the office. It is up to the boss to seek out the best ways to make their presence the most beneficial. We are all diverse in some way. Learning to take time to understand the needs and expectations of others can help you meet your employees where they are at. In doing so, you can build mutual respect and leverage what each person has to offer. Most people will do the minimum of what is expected for a paycheck. However, learning to navigate your leadership style to meet the needs of those you lead can take your team, production, creativity, and innovation to new levels.

Listening with an open mind can be one of the best tools a leader has in today’s competitive workplaces. Being a leader means supporting employee’s needs and setting each of them up for success.

Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management and a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment.

You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook

GET THIS NOW: Diversity, Cultural Competence, and Emotional Intelligence Training online here: http://www.leadership.do

Setting high standards for employees is a good thing. This is conventional management wisdom that many leaders in just about every organization follow. High standards of achievement and professional conduct can be the most effective motivation a leader can create. The general idea is to encourage employees to always aim higher goals, and the only way they can do that is to push harder in order to perform better. In ideal circumstances, employees understand that leader has the confidence if they can accomplish much more than they themselves realize. It is an excellent form of provocation with great power to stimulate growth. Unfortunately, ideal circumstance is few and far between, rendering a good intention into bad managerial style.

 To make matter worse, some leaders fail to recognize (or simply are unwilling to admit) the difference between high standards for and unrealistic expectation from employees. The former is undeniably effective especially when leader is in the forefront of setting examples; the latter is dangerous. By always asking more performance from employees, less successful leader continuously forces everyone to work harder and prepare only to accept great results. The “already high standards” keep on going up to reach “unrealistic” level. At this point the leader will have to deal with an inevitable distress. Unrealistic expectations from employees have some obvious dangerous consequences:

 ·         Employees lose self-confidence: one of the most worrying outcomes of leader’s unrealistic goals and expectations actually happens to the employees. When people find themselves working with or for a leader who is impossible to please, it is only common to feel frustrated and angry. Failure to meet expectation really is not their fault, but merely because the goals are just unrealistic. In such situation, even constructive criticism from leader does not help. When employees feed into the constant negative feedback, they begin to feel inferior as if they cannot do anything right. After a short while, they begin asking why even bother trying if results are not satisfactory regardless of what they try and do. At one point, employees figure out that the best thing to do is to stop trying, and this is bad for the organization.

 ·         Weak organization: if employees are constantly criticized and pushed to perform better, they find it difficult to rise following a setback. Perpetual dissatisfaction on leader’s part will eventually drain employees’ creativity, motivation, mental endurance, and resourcefulness. One instance of failure to deliver as expected can be a learning moment, but leader’s relentless deprecation of their efforts is paralyzing. If the leader is constantly pushing employees to reach ever rising standards, the organization in its entirety is in serious doubt of achieving success in the wake of major problems.

 ·         Self-disappointment: without the ability to feel content, the disappointment can turn inward. It is often necessary to be satisfied with the way things are now, even when there are rooms for improvement indeed. The problem with unrealistic expectation is not that the organization will never achieve anything or that the employees are incompetent; the problem lies within leader’s struggle to take pride in any kind of accomplishment. Such leaders do not have the sense professional satisfaction and will continue to play down their own self-perception.

 Goal-oriented is an excellent trait of an effective leader, but it can turn into obsessive tendency toward perfection without proper managerial practices. While the idea of “pushing employees to their best” is great in theory, inadequate ability to honor and praise their roles or current improvement may actually lead the organization to failure.

 Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management and a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment. Visit www.SupervisionEssentials.com for more great free articles and to learn more about leadership effectiveness. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment.

You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook

GET THIS NOW: Diversity, Cultural Competence, and Emotional Intelligence Training online here: http://www.leadership.do

Never assume that all employees share the same drive for constant improvement. Some employees work because they love the jobs, while a lot others are only in it for the money. It is great if the organization is filled only with the former, but more often than not you simply cannot avoid having the latter as well. For the latter, it is a daily job for which they get paid, and harder work does not always mean getting a raise. On leader’s part, asking everyone to improve performance is routine, but it can be detrimental to the mind and feeling. When discontent becomes normal, you have to find ways to take advantage of it for the benefit of the organization. Here are some things you can do to help.

 ·         Expression of dissatisfaction must come with guidance to improvement: it is only natural that employees want to please their leader. However, there will be times when employees fail to deliver or perform as effectively as leader expects; just like the previous statement, it is also natural. After all, employees are human who sometimes have to learn from failures. Leader is human too who has the capacity to feel discontent about something unpleasant or when targets are not met. But leader has authority over others, so the discontent has more weights and stronger influence in organizational environment. Discontent can be a motivational asset, as long as you are willing to express it carefully. Pushing the employees to reach higher standards is only a good thing if those employees actually believe that you yourself can live up the expectation. Remember that an expression of dissatisfaction can turn into a demoralizing criticism if you fail to give them direction on how to achieve improvement.

 ·         Make employees know that you believe in their abilities and value their contributions: another way to express discontent is to wrap it with an appreciation and gratitude. It is just wrong to give harsh criticism for one thing that employees do wrong, when in reality they have done a lot of great things prior to the mistake. If you want others to take the critique seriously (and positively too), you have to show appreciation for their roles in the organization and make sure they know it. They need to understand that what they do here is important. Not only the job or position is important, but also the people occupying it.

 ·         Take a look back at the expectations you set and refine them: as soon as you get a gap between what you expect and what the employees deliver, remember that you are not the only person who has been in the same situation. Before you express an immediate reaction to show discontent, take a short pause to examine the expectation once again too. Instead of channeling the dissatisfaction to the employees, use some of the energy to reassess the overall situation. It is time to check if the team indeed has the capacity to reach the target, whether your expectation is realistic given the circumstances, or if you have communicated properly about it. The key is to show objectivity; if the mistake lies solely on the employees based on objective review, then you have every right to motivate the hard way. Otherwise, your discontent must be addressed to the real culprit.

 As a leader, you have the power to set high standards, demand better performance, and perhaps perfection in some cases. Raising the bar is a great form of motivation to keep the organization moving in the right direction to reach betterment and encourage the employees to achieve their full potential. Inappropriately setting high and even unrealistic expectations, however, can introduce a lot of negative effects to the organization, employees, and yourself. If employees’ performance often falls short of expectations, figure out why and learn to use and express the discontent in effective way.

 Sometimes, changing the way we do things just a little bit, can make such a significant difference. Every challenge is an opportunity to build trusting relationships that leads to greater efficiency and job satisfaction. Ultimately, leaders have the biggest influence on employee job satisfaction, which is directly related to lower employee turnover and operations costs. People are not machines and need to be treated as valued and respected members of a team.

Leaders often forget that just because they lead like leaders of their past, it makes them a good leader. Leading is an active and personal process that must be customized for each diverse member of a team. Most people need to be understood. So, leaders must make the investment of time to understand how to keep people motivated before it is too late. Relationships are fragile.

Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management and a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment. Visit www.SupervisionEssentials.com for more great free articles and to learn more about leadership effectiveness. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment.

You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook

GET THIS NOW: Diversity, Cultural Competence, and Emotional Intelligence Training online here: http://www.leadership.do

 ·         Contradictory Values

 Employees can perform well for an organization in which the rules and cultures are aligned with their personal values. The same employees will almost certainly perform much worse if they work in the same positions but for a different organization with contradictory values.

 Even when organizations can evaluate every candidate properly through objective measures, they have strong tendency to overrate their own cultures. Any organization will say that it has innovative, diverse, performance-oriented, inclusive, and prosocial cultures; it encourages strong work ethics, accountability, and employee development. While some of those can be true, there is a good chance that a lot of the stated values are nothing more than wishful thinking instead of accurate self-assessment. An abrupt change in culture is as disruptive as it can be, but often necessary to optimize resources including employees.

 ·         Employee Disengagement

An expected side effect of poor alignment between employees’ values and organizational culture is disengagement, although it is not the only reason behind the lack of motivation. There is another culprit; one that is more obvious yet rarely pointed-out by employees: poor leadership.

 A leader needs to understand that poor performance sometimes is not solely because of employees’ incompetence but the result of poor dynamics of interpersonal relationships either among themselves or between employees and leader; it can even be both in an organization without a capable leader to resolve conflicts. Motivation is an excellent remedy and thankfully it comes in a multitude of forms. Enforcing good communication practices and developing conflict-resolution plans may not sound like motivations, but they are few among many effective methods to prevent disengagement and promote optimum performance. Just like the organization itself in general, a leader is required to perform objective self-assessment. Good leadership skills create a work environment conducive for optimum performance.

 ·         Organizational Politics

It is true that modern organizations are armed with more reliable data-driven methodology in talent management practices than in previous years, but room for improvements are still all over the place especially in relation to the basic extent of organizational politic. A person’s political savvy is (and has always been) a factor to advance careers, but unfortunately it is a factor that can stand on its own and overshadow technical skills and talents. The nepotistic side of organizational life will continue to exist; it is both toxic and persistent.

 In an organization with heavily-political culture, talents rarely speak for themselves. It does not matter how talented some employees are, they can never reach their full potential unless they partake in the political side of their career. Once they do, the actual talents useful for the progress of the organization are often underutilized in favor of politics. Put in mind that all organizations are essentially political, but some are far less contaminated than others.

 ·         Unsupportive Work Policies

 An organization will always expect that employees have no personal issues, or at least they don’t take personal disputes, difficulties with families, or any financial hardship to workplace; it is another fine example of wishful thinking. Employees have personal and private life, which can at times interfere with work performance. Good leader and organization consider the issue a “probability” rather than “possibility.”

 Supportive work policies put leaders in a position to understand employees’ circumstances and offer help in their professional capacity. This is not to say that the organization takes care of all employees’ problems, but it must provide supports so that employees can focus on delivering good performance and reach their full potentials at workplace instead of being consumed by other concerns. At the end of the day, both sides get the benefits of supportive employment policies.

 Every organization is only a strong as leaders allow their employees to be. When employees are failing to meet expectations, that is an opportunity to build a relationship, understand needs, coach and support an employee to success. Every employee was hired because they were the best qualified. A great leader must constantly find ways to help employees be there very best. Failing to do so, could cause an employee to lose interest and dedication, then start looking for an organization that could better support their potential, desires, and needs.

Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment. Visit www.SupervisionEssentials.com for more great free articles and to learn more about leadership effectiveness. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook

Diversity, Cultural Competence, and Emotional Intelligence Training online here: http://www.leadership.do

Explore the Underlying Problems

 The last thing you want to do is jumping to conclusion. There can be reasons why some employees behave the way they do at work, and you will find a lot of possible culprits for examples conflict with coworkers, financial hardship, marriage problem, recent loss of family member, medical condition, or even mental health issue. Personal circumstances affect performance, and to some extent encourage unpleasant behaviors at work. If that is the case, you can in fact offer support such as counseling resources or recommend potential solutions to alleviate the underlying problems. As a leader, this is part of due diligence.

 Make Clear the Consequences

 Another possible reason a toxic employee shows no willingness to improve is the unawareness of negative consequences. People have tendency to deal with potential losses more seriously than with potential gains. They are also inclined to be more responsive anytime there is a real possibility of serious penalty. In other words, you may need to make threats and follow through if the person is hesitant to change. For most people, the likelihood of suspension without pay or missing out on a promotion makes a strong enough motivation to behave in more civil way.

 Get the Documentation Compiled

 You should hope that a toxic employee will eventually improve and be responsible for damages done, but there are times when you just have to accept that some people will not change. If at the end of the day there is nothing else you can do in your professional capacity to alter the situation, terminating the term of employment is the last resort. Before you do that, however, make sure to document all offenses made along with your responses so far. It is crucial that you establish a pattern of the employee’s behaviors and measures taken to address the issue. Formal complaints, video or photo evidence of poor conducts, performance evaluation records, and other relevant information would be helpful. The idea behind documentation is to protect the organization (and yourself) from legal consequences and show that you let the employee go for good reasons.

 It certainly takes a lot of time and energy – invaluable resources you can otherwise spend more productively to address more important issues – to fix problems with or caused by a single toxic employee. The negativity is sometimes too much to deal with, but put in mind that this is one of the responsibilities every leader must bear. As a leader, you are deemed capable of putting an end to the issue with the least possible consequences on productivity and organizational well-being.

 Ultimately, your company has invested a lot of time and resources in hiring, grooming and supporting each employee. It is a lot more cost-effective to listen to employees, come to a clear understanding of what needs to change and help them be more successful. Every “problem” is really an “opportunity”. Listen more than you speak and try to find win-solutions. Trust is earned and fragile. Earn trust back and help the employee know you want him/her to be the best employee possible and how their success is your success. Of course, we must own our own mistakes and do our best to be supportive leaders. Leadership is an active process, right?

Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about and like the article if you agree with it!

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment. Visit www.SupervisionEssentials.com for more great free articles and to learn more about leadership effectiveness. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook

Personal responsibility and having a sense of ownership in on organization are the roots of accountability. Leaders and employees are of equal standing in this case, despite the differences in scope of duties. Regardless of position and titles in the organization, all must be held accountable for their decisions and actions with regard to their roles and responsibilities. No organization cannot function efficiently and effectively as possible without accountability. Being accountable is one thing; making it a part of organizational culture is another. The short answer is that accountability starts at the top and then it is the leader’s job to be the most influential proponent of the idea. Leader can do this by committing to roles and responsibilities, building good lines of communications, and fostering mutual collaborations among employees.

 1.      Be committed to your roles

 The best way to ask employees to perform their duties well is to be a role model of that. You can only expect others to do what they are assigned to do if you practice the same principle. Consistency lays the path to accountability; employees will expect you to keep promises and deliver exactly as planned.

 Leaders, just like employees, are held accountable for every decision they make. Discrepancy between what’s said and done leaves the door open for distrust to enter. Trust is always being tested. Trust is the glue of all relationships. So, leaders must never fail employees on giving trust or violating expectations.  Employees also turn to leaders for guidance because they see someone of authority as the most reliable person to provide suggestions. Consistency and reliability are the personal traits that put you in a position to lead others. So commit to your role as a leader by nurturing and influencing employees to develop the same traits. If all employees are committed to their roles and responsibilities, accountability is easy to come by.

 2.      Build comprehensive lines of communication

 By definition, the term “comprehensive” means including all aspects or elements of something. Having a comprehensive line of communication helps you monitor performance and results across all work areas. A leader alone can hardly cope with all the departments and on-going projects, but an always-open channel of communication ensures good flows of information as everything happens. To some extent, you can almost call it a practice of “constant observation” of performance. Effective coaching to help employees be successful can only happen if there is clear understanding of where the may be knowledge or skill gaps. You must be able to correctly diagnose the problem, before you can give the correct remedy.

 In an ideal world, employees should always perform well whether or not they are under supervision. However, good flows of factual information to the leader is a preventive measure to minimize the possibility of not being disciplined. That way nobody can escape from responsibilities of work, hence being accountable. On the more positive side, good flows of information also allows for quicker delivery of suggestions and feedback.  Great leaders must understand what is going on and remove obstacles, give proper support, and resource. Set each employee up for success by understanding them, their needs, and challenges.

 3.      Foster collaboration

 When people talk about accountability, most of the time it carries a negative connotation that a person is to blame because of a wrongdoing. In a larger organizational context, however, accountability refers to doing the job well in accordance to the instructions and expectations. All employees can be accountable if there is mutual collaboration or good interpersonal relationships among them in which everyone is friendly, supportive, and helpful as far as their professional capacity allows. While employees do not answer to their own peers, the sense of belonging to the same group empowers them to hold each other accountable and get the job done for the benefit of organization in general.

 The leader is responsible to help employees improve performance and guide them to success. Accountability is among many different personal characteristics to develop. One thing to remember is that the leader cannot simply demand accountability and make it happen. There is a learning process which may unfortunately involve employees making mistakes. Remember that a workplace is a learning environment where ideas and achievements as well as failures and disappointments are all natural aspects. The best kind of accountability is one that grows from constant learning process rather than a trait forced upon those unwilling to learn.

 A leaders’ attitude and approach to taking action can lower or increase levels of trust. Employees must feel adequately supported and their diversity and authentic-self must be respected too.  Leaders have the biggest influence over an employee’s success and job satisfaction. It is important to remember that when leaders fail to support an employee properly with the right kind of care, communication, and respect, they may lose motivation, and start looking for work in a workplace that is more fulfilling—potentially making your competition stronger with the training you provided the unsatisfied employee. It is usually more cost-effective to take time to listen to employees, provide clear expectations of accountability, then coach employees to success while giving the proper support and resources to become experts in what you need them to do.

 Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get to choose how you feel about it!

Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone you care about.

Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace. He is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on their training investment.

Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook