Leadership for Millennial Employee Retention

Abstract

Company leaders are always in search of ways on how they will engage their employees and address retention issues in the workplace. Managers of Millennial employees opined that this generation is tougher to manage and a bigger challenge. However, experts say that this all because of the total lack of good leadership which is the responsibility of the corporate environment. This research aims to understand the Millennials’ leadership style preferences and identify factors that will eventually make them stay with the company. Qualitative research was done by the researcher to understand the Millennial worker through in-depth interviews. The result of the research showed four leadership styles that will retain Generation Y. (1) Trustful leadership. Millennials would rather be given the task, trust them to do it on their own, ask if they need assistance and complete it. (2) Appreciative Leadership. Millennials appreciate being valued for their opinions on decisions to be made on the performance of any task. (3) Mentor Leadership: Mentorship is a big factor in retaining the Millennial and not just for developing skills. They look at their managers not merely someone who leads but a coach or a mentor. (4) Collaborative Leadership. Generation Y resists the traditional top-down management style and prefers collaboration among team members. Managers should not only lead the team but should be one of the key players. Good leaders should realize that they have a lot to learn from their employees as much as they have much taught.