Leading a multigenerational workforce: strategies for attracting and retaining millennials

Over the past several years, leaders in healthcare have noticed an increase in generational tension among employees, most often focused on the attitudes and behaviors of the arriving millennials (generation Y). While these employee relations issues were a nuisance, they rarely rose to the level of a priority demanding leadership intervention. Some leaders, in fact, hoped that the issues would resolve themselves as these young employees settled in and learned that they had to demonstrate new behaviors to be successful in the workplace. Most organizations adopted this wait-and-see attitude. Not so today. As the boomer generation has begun its exodus from the workplace, organizations are increasingly looking at the millennials as not a problem but a solution to the workplace manpower transition that is under way. Our problem is that we don't yet know how best to lead such a diverse, multigenerational workforce. This article examines the generational topic and provides advice concerning a variety of changes that leaders may implement to advance their organization's ability to attract and to retain the millennials.