Why should you or your organization invest in employee development coaching or consultation from Life Work Balance LLC?

Ask yourself these questions:
✅ Do you want to attract top talent?
✅ Do you want to retain your top talent?
✅ Do you want your employees to feel like you care for and value them?
✅ Do you want your employees to feel engaged at work?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should invest in coaching as a way to provide growth and development opportunities for your employees.

Effective development and coaching facilitates the professional growth of your employees by:
✅ helping them recognize their natural talents
✅ develop those natural talents into strengths
✅ and acknowledge and improve on their weaknesses

Employee development is a huge missed opportunity for organizations.

Opportunities to learn and grow is considered one of the top 3 factors in retaining young workers, and is important to all generations in the workplace (see this article by Gallup).

According to Gallup, “87% of millennials rate ‘professional or career growth and development opportunities’ as important to them in a job…[and] 69% of non-millennials say the same.”

When organizations lack professional-development opportunities for their employees, many high-potential/high-performing employees will move on to organizations that do foster their growth. This costs organizations money, time, and resources.

The effort it takes to recruit, orient, and train new employees are often better spent developing and encouraging current employees, especially when they are otherwise happy in their work.

MIT says coaching:

creates a genuinely motivating climate for performance, improves the match between an employee’s actual and expected performance, and increases the probability of an employee’s success by providing timely feedback, recognition, clarity and support.

How does Life Work Balance’s employee development coaching work?

Coaching is a unique one-on-one relationship designed to help members of your organization:
✅ overcome challenges
✅ realize their potential
✅ and maximize their success.

Coaching is appropriate for all members of your organization. This includes high-performing employees who are looking for additional professional development opportunities; promising or established employees who have lost motivation; employees who need help improving their time management or communication skills; and employees who are struggling with interpersonal relationships at work.

When your employees work with our coaches, they receive individual, confidential guidance. Our coaches act as a resource and sounding board for employees while also providing unbiased, honest feedback, and ask questions that spark, inspire, and provoke discussions, thought, and self-reflection.

Organizations paying for coaching for an employee may work with a consultant to set the initial coaching objectives or delineate the challenges as they see them, but they will only receive limited information about the coaching engagement. Further information will be shared by the employee at their discretion.

If you feel your organization is ready to invest in employee development coaching, contact us here.

The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey provided several insights and opportunities for business to both attract and retain employees who fall into the Millennial and Gen Z generations. If you don’t have time to read the 32 page report (PDF), we’ve got you covered!

How does Deloitte define Millennial and Generation Z?

A Millennial is someone who was born between January 1983 and December 1994. Gen Zs were born between January 1995 and December 1999.

All of the Millennials who participated Deloitte’s survey had a first degree or higher-level qualification and were employed full-time. All of the Gen Z respondents were either studying for or had obtained a first/higher degree.

What is are the primary takeaways from Deloitte’s survey?

Millennial and Gen Z workers want businesses to:

Generate jobs and provide employment
Act ethically and work toward improving society and the environment
Promote innovation by developing new products and services, and generating new ideas
Focus on inclusion and diversity

Where do Millennial and Gen Z workers think business priorities fall instead?

Generating profit
Driving efficiencies
Producing/selling goods and services

Most respondents described how they don’t believe businesses and organizations behave ethically.

They believe companies only want to make money and selfishly want to focus on themselves rather than consider society as a whole.

Young workers are realistic and understand profits are needed for a successful business. However, they believe it is possible for organizations to prioritize profits while also prioritizing job generation, innovation, improving society, and promoting inclusion and diversity.

Young workers want business leaders to be proactive about making a positive contribution society and they want businesses to benefit all of their stakeholders. Stakeholders are not limited to board members or shareholders; they also include the employees, customers, and the communities in which the businesses operate.

Unfortunately, young workers’ experience is of employers and businesses prioritizing the bottom line ($$$) above workers, society, and the environment.

This leaves young workers with little sense of loyalty.

Among Millennials, almost half plan on leaving their job within two years. Only about a quarter plan on staying beyond five years.

Gen Z respondents expressed even less loyalty, with more than 60% saying they would leave within two years if given the choice.

Good pay and positive culture will likely attract both Millennials and Gen Z, but
diversity/inclusion and flexibility are important keys to keeping them happy and with your organization.

Loyalty isn’t a given, it must be earned.

Loyalty is more than just a paycheck. Providing young workers with a sense of purpose, exceptional workplace culture, and professional development opportunities are likely to attract and retain the best talent. One of the benefits of attracting and retaining top talent? Organizations have an opportunity to perform better financially.

How can an organization work to improve loyalty among it’s young workers?

Increase pay:
Although this might seem counter intuitive, it actually is consistent with the ideas that employers should “share the wealth” by enhancing workers’ lives and providing good employment. It also is consistent with workers trying to pay off school debts, afford housing, and save for their future.
Make work more than just a pay check:
Millennial and Generation Z workers need positive reasons to stay with their employers; more than just a pay check. Not only does a company need to show that by staying loyal to the company the employee will be better off financially, the organization also needs to show that the employee will be more developed as an individual professional compared to if they quit.
Align priorities:
Companies need to ensure their motivations and priorities are aligned with those of the younger workforce. A focus on profits does not promote loyalty. As described above, Millennial and Gen Z workers want organizations to generate jobs and provide employment, act ethically and work toward improving society and the environment, promote innovation by developing new products and services, and generating new ideas, and focus on inclusion and diversity.
Be flexible:
When an organization offers flexibility for workers, not tying them to strict hours or locations, loyalty can be improved. Young workers appreciate the flexibility and value the trust of their employer.
Provide professional development opportunities:
The 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is upon us. Many young workers feel unprepared. Organizations that help their employees adapt and develop to the changing world keep their key players around longer because they show they are invested in their employees. The Deloitte survey authors say, “about 8 in 10 Millennials say that on-the-job training, continuous professional development and formal training led by employers will be important to help them perform their best.”

Connecting the Dots

Young workers in the Millennial generation and Generation Z want business leaders to take a step away from focusing on profits and toward focusing on social concerns that can help solve the world’s problems. Organizations need to be more diverse and inclusive, offer additional flexibility in schedules and work locations, and be nurturing and generous with it’s employees.

Organizations that can achieve the above are more likely to attract and retain the top Millennial and Gen Z talent, which will help set the organization and it’s employees up for long-term success.

Thank you for reading! If you’re looking for ways to increase your organization’s level of employee engagement, especially among your younger workers, please review my services here and contact me here.

Category: Generation Z

For Organizations: Employee Development Coaching/Consultation