Employee Engagement: A Youth Movement

Carmine Gallo writing in business week outlined five ways to successfully engage with twenty-somethings. I encourage you to read the article outlining 5 keys to engage this age of worker:

1. Don’t manage, mentor
2. Don’t assign, explain
3. Don’t dictate, solicit
4. Don’t ignore, respond
5. Don’t conceal, communicate

Carmine believes effective communication is to respond to Gen Y’s craving for empowerment.

My favorite tip was from Marisa Mayer of Google who brought a university professor practice to business by having posted office hours for her staff.

For 90 minutes each day at 4 p.m., her staff can sign a sheet outside her office for a 15-minute impromptu meeting…although these employees may have spent only a few minutes with Mayer, they leave knowing they have been heard and that their opinions matter.

If you are a leader or a manager in your organization how do you foster employee engagement in younger workers and how available are you to the people you lead or manage?

Photo Credit: 15 minutes … by http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdcyyz/299156833/

David Zinger

Founder of The Employee Engagement Network