Page 134 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Real Job of Managers C121

We grew up in a different time, when we communicated by
memo and phone. They want things the way they want it
because of the way they grew up—the Millennials grew up
online and are comfortable using blogs. So, if we want two-
way communication with them, we need to start using dif-
ferent media. Memos are passé—younger employees want
to respond and give their two cents‘ worth. We have our own
internal Web site where people can get photos of our last
party. We need to embrace the techniques that engage that
generation. They want more feedback, and that’s good, be-
cause we think feedback is good for the business. Feedback
to us means constantly communicating customer service
scores and texting more. But you have to ask what feedback
means to each employee. They’re not all the same. It doesn’t
matter how—they all just need to get the message. I’m actu-
ally finding it fun to stretch and take the challenge of com-
municating differently with each generation and with each
person. We can tap their creativity if we leverage how they
like to communicate. We need a diverse group of people be-
cause that makes for the best teams. It’s OK to debate and
disagree and work through our differences, to have a healthy
discussion. It’s more work, but the outcome is better.”

When Managers Are Not Engaged
We certainly cannot overlook what remains as a significant challenge for
employers: many managers themselves are not engaged, and that being
the case, we cannot realistically expect them to effectively engage those
who report to them. Even though most managers are more engaged
than the average worker, if only 25 percent of the workforce is engaged
and if the percentage of engaged managers is double that number, that
still leaves another 50 percent of managers who are not engaged.
Managers are employees too, of course, and they become disen-
gaged for the same reasons as everyone else. Often, they are the worst