4 ms·

If you want to retain your millennials, ditch the office hierarchy

5 points by ekpyrotic 9y ago

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Boothroid 9y ago
Hang on a minute. If millenials are so ambitious and craving of advancement, what kind of advancement is going to be possible without hierarchy? Certainly ditching hierarchy narrows the options for rewarding employees. Also, ditching hierarchy risks royally pissing off older workers that have worked for years to ascend, and in some cases these are the very people whose knowledge is indispensable to the functioning of the company. Finally, at some point these millennials will get older, and some may stay at a company for years. How then to reward loyalty if hierarchy is ditched? Isn't loyalty worth rewarding via hierarchy given the cost of hiring new people and having them learn the business?
- JoeAltmaier 9y ago
  Lots of ways. One way: certify employees in different facets of the business. Older employees will have many certifications; newer ones, fewer. Pay them by certification; respect their opinion based on certifications. Heck, you can even issue medals for each one, and the old greybeards can have a chest full of brass.
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    In an ideal world perhaps - in my experience in many businesses there is often a gap between the way things should work, and the way they really work, and it's often the old timers that are the keepers of this knowledge, and it's not the type of thing that's amenable to certificates.
executesorder66 9y ago
I thought the reason most people switch companies every 2-4 years was because it pays better to switch companies, instead of remaining loyal to one company and relying on increases/promotions within the company.
- taylodl 9y ago
  Ssssh! Don't let the facts confuse this person's perception of reality!
forgottenpass 9y ago
I'm half suspicious the author is deliberately ignoring they obvious so they can focus on buzzwordy phrases. Millennials don't stick around because they know they will have slower career progression by staying put. People, in general, are more amenable to collaboration within the boundaries of their work than answering to controlling micromanagers. Quelle surprise. Hierarchy is a red herring. Hierarchies aren't a problem in and of themselves. Hierarchies that decide everyone below certain boundaries should be treated like fry cooks are. I guess you could call the opposite "challeng[ing] lines of management and overcome hierarchical bureaucracy" but that framing just makes me think you have something to sell. It's not like millennials are more anti-establishment than generations before them (they're frighteningly obedient). It's that people with a decent work life don't realize how bad the "professional" jobs taken by the generation can be.

5 points by ekpyrotic 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Hang on a minute. If millenials are so ambitious and craving of advancement, what kind of advancement is going to be possible without hierarchy? Certainly ditching hierarchy narrows the options for rewarding employees. Also, ditching hierarchy risks royally pissing off older workers that have worked for years to ascend, and in some cases these are the very people whose knowledge is indispensable to the functioning of the company. Finally, at some point these millennials will get older, and some may stay at a company for years. How then to reward loyalty if hierarchy is ditched? Isn't loyalty worth rewarding via hierarchy given the cost of hiring new people and having them learn the business?

JoeAltmaier 9y ago
Lots of ways. One way: certify employees in different facets of the business. Older employees will have many certifications; newer ones, fewer. Pay them by certification; respect their opinion based on certifications. Heck, you can even issue medals for each one, and the old greybeards can have a chest full of brass.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  In an ideal world perhaps - in my experience in many businesses there is often a gap between the way things should work, and the way they really work, and it's often the old timers that are the keepers of this knowledge, and it's not the type of thing that's amenable to certificates.

executesorder66 9y ago

I thought the reason most people switch companies every 2-4 years was because it pays better to switch companies, instead of remaining loyal to one company and relying on increases/promotions within the company.

taylodl 9y ago
Ssssh! Don't let the facts confuse this person's perception of reality!

forgottenpass 9y ago

I'm half suspicious the author is deliberately ignoring they obvious so they can focus on buzzwordy phrases. Millennials don't stick around because they know they will have slower career progression by staying put. People, in general, are more amenable to collaboration within the boundaries of their work than answering to controlling micromanagers. Quelle surprise. Hierarchy is a red herring. Hierarchies aren't a problem in and of themselves. Hierarchies that decide everyone below certain boundaries should be treated like fry cooks are. I guess you could call the opposite "challeng[ing] lines of management and overcome hierarchical bureaucracy" but that framing just makes me think you have something to sell. It's not like millennials are more anti-establishment than generations before them (they're frighteningly obedient). It's that people with a decent work life don't realize how bad the "professional" jobs taken by the generation can be.