By Scott Costa, Publisher, tED magazine
It’s time to talk about Millennials.
Again.
tED magazine has done multiple stories on hiring Millennials, incentivizing Millennials, promoting Millennials. Mentoring Millennials. Using reverse mentoring with Millennials. Communicating with Millennials.
Why do we do so much on the next generation of the workplace? Because they are really, really important.
I use my iPad or iPhone and I think I am getting the maximum potential out of it. Then I see a Millennial use theirs, and all I can do is look on in amazement. This is a generation of people who will be the leaders of the entire supply chain in this industry, and probably sooner than you think. Will you still be working 6 and a half years from now? I ask because in 2020, Millennials will be the largest generation in the workforce. There is an excellent chance when you look across your boardroom table, a Millennial will be looking back at you.
The other reason tED magazine writes about Millennials so much is because you need them. I wish I could count the number of times someone has asked me for help on recruiting younger employees. I point out the stories we have already written, and still, you want more. So we assign and write even more.
The fact is, it really is a great generation. We had a great group of 30 Under 35 at the 2013 NAED LEAD conference. I’ll be honest here, it’s one of my favorite conferences that I have attended. The group is completely engaged in everything that is going on. They will talk with anybody and everybody. Doesn’t matter if it is 7:00am and they never met before. They will sit down and start talking.
Now is the time for you to do your part. The 30 Under 35 nominating process is open right now. Just for kicks, I nominated a fake person here in our home office (we’re ineligible to win). The entire process, from going to tedmag.com/30under35 , to signing in, to filling out the forms, to hitting submit took me less than 15 minutes.
In less than 15 minutes you can incentivize your Millennials by showing them that hard work and dedication to this industry is being rewarded by you. In less than 15 minutes you can recruit Millennials by telling them that if they dedicate themselves to working with you they will have the chance to receive this honor. In less than 15 minutes you can reverse mentor your Millennials by showing them that the great work they do needs to be passed along to other employees. In less than 15 minutes you can promote your Millennials for the entire industry to see as one of the best and brightest young stars.
I’ll do my part and continue to write about the next generation of the workforce, because I believe it is important to this industry. But you need to do your part and take 15 minutes to reward your hard working young employees by nominating them for the 30 Under 35. Nothing brings success like prior success. And nothing is going to bring you future great Millennial employees like your current great Millennial employees.
In case you missed it, you can nominate someone today at:
You can contact Scott Costa at scosta@naed.org
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