I’ve had the privilege of serving as Commanding Officer of two operational units staffed with personnel of different ages, backgrounds, and abilities. One challenge that I’ve had over the years is trying to balance what motivates people of different generations. I’ve had newly reported personnel who are 18 years old and the Coast Guard has been their first real job. On the other hand, I’ve had subordinates that are 40 years old or older who have worked for different leaders over their years and are sometimes stuck in their ways. Within each age group I’ve observed different work attitudes, motivation, and varied reactions to organizational change. As a leader, I found that I would have to address things differently with in each peer group to keep progress towards achieving unit goals moving forward. It is important for leaders to recognize what motivates their subordinates when leading a diverse group of individuals.
I think that the younger generation of employees (Millennials) tend to have a different expectation of the leader / subordinate relationship as compared to those who are older like the Generation-Xers. I’ve found that the Millennials expect greater transparency and are more often going to ask why something needs to get done. They seek instant feedback on their performance and are more aware of how their performance stacks up compared to their peers. According to Gilbert (2011), “traditional semi-annual reviews are too infrequent for millennials.” Conversely, older workers seem to just go about their business when given a task and, in my opinion, care less about supervisor and peer perception. To be clear, I am not pinning one generation against the other rather just noting the differences. My style has always been to be very aware of how each age group reacts to task direction and how individual and team recognition keeps people motivated.
According to Northouse (2013), the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership was developed to describe how leaders support and encourage subordinates to accomplish goals while being satisfied on the job and recognized for their work efforts. I think that this theory can be used to understand how a leader can be successful when faced with an employee workforce made up of different generations of workers. Specifically, the leader needs to understand what motivates people of different generations to achieve peak performance. Removing barriers such as a lack understanding and respect for each age group’s needs certainly strengthens the leader / subordinate relationship.
To explain this, we can look at the different components (leader behaviors) of the Path-Goal Theory and their applicability with both younger and mature workers.
Directive Leadership: We all grew up with a structured routine both at home and at school which sets the stage for young workers entering the workplace. It is important for the leader to be consistent and give subordinates clear task instructions and a time frame for completion. Further, the leader should set expectations for the quality of work which is required for task completion. From my experience, younger workers appreciate having a clear picture of they end goal of their efforts which can be communicated at the onset of a project. While clear task direction is important, I think that millennials appreciate some flexibility in either their schedule or method of task completion which gives them a greater sense of control. Mature workers may enjoy a more structured approach which means that the leader needs to strike a balance with moving towards goal completion.
Supportive Leadership: Here’s where I’ve found the most success with motivating young workers. I made it a point to know as much as possible about my subordinates. I knew where they were from, their favorite sports teams, and a little bit of their cultural background. This not only helped me develop a rapport with them but, when I needed to address an issue or found them having difficulty, I could leverage our relationship and adapt my delivery to the subordinate in order to be as effective as possible when addressing performance issues. Gilbert (2011) discusses that creating engagement strategies with millennials shout be one of management’s big goals.
Participated Leadership: One of the most important strategies to facilitate subordinate buy-in is allowing them to provide input in to how to accomplish the goal. Even if you cannot incorporate all of their ideas, the simple fact that you solicited their input allows them to feel like that have some control over the assigned task and end goal. I’ve found the millennials respond really well to active and involved leadership.
Achievement oriented Leadership: Northouse (2013) explains that this component is characterized by a leader who establishes a high standard of excellence and challenges subordinates to work at a high level. I think that the most important part of this component is that the leader makes sure that when excellence is achieved that the accomplishments are well recognized in an effort to help build employee competence and confidence. The leader should show faith in subordinates which should in turn make the employee want to do his or her best. As previously stated, millennials enjoy instant feedback and the leader should adapt to this by giving on-the-spot recognition versus waiting for an annual or semi-annual formal evaluation. The younger generation has been immersed in technology where information is instantly available at their fingertips. Leaders need to recognize this and provide timely feedback.
The Path-Goal Leadership Theory is not a one size fits all style of leadership rather, it is a combination of different styles and behaviors which a leader can put in to play in various situations and workgroups. Any combination of components may help to remove obstacles and clear a path for workers to achieve both personal and organizational goals. With Baby-Boomers transitioning out of the workforce and Generation-Xers filling leadership gaps, Millennials are the future of the workforce and by 2020, they will comprise 46 percent of the work force (Lynch, 2008). It is imperative for leaders to develop situational awareness and find effective strategies to motivate both mature and young workers. As a Commanding Officer, I’ve found success with utilizing the team concept to mesh the different generations which feeds the collaborative nature of the young workers while allowing experienced team members to influence the development of the junior workforce.
References:
Gilbert, J. (2011). Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-millennials-a-new-generation-of-employees-a-new-set-of-engagement-policies/
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Lynch, A. (2008). ROI on generation Y employees. Bottom Line Conversations, LLC. Retrieved from http://www.knoxvillechamber.com/pdf/workforce/ROIonGenYWhitePaper.pdf