Tag: employees

Here’s a key reason why all of your millennial employees are quitting

Here’s a key reason why all of your millennial employees are quitting

by | May 16, 2016 | 0 |

quitting job boxNew research finds two-thirds of millennials plan to leave their current organization by 2020. One-quarter see themselves elsewhere within the next year.

While you could argue that young workers have always been inclined to job hop (and millennials are less inclined to do so), their reasons for restlessness may have changed.

Young workers’ latest gripe? Insufficient opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

That’s according to the fifth annual Global Millennials survey, cited on Bloomberg, for which Deloitte reached out to nearly 7,700 working college-educated professionals in 29 countries.

As many as 63% of respondents said their leadership skills are not being fully developed.

And it seems to be a key reason behind their willingness to leave: While 71% of those likely to leave in the next two years are dissatisfied with how their leadership skills are being developed, that number drops to 54% among those who are planning to stay beyond 2020.

As Punit Renjen, chief executive officer of Deloitte Global, told Bloomberg, young workers’ pursuit of leadership skills even at the expense of switching jobs is a new phenomenon.

Perhaps it has something to do with the recent trend of flattening organizations, which was highlighted in The Washington Post. In an effort to cut costs, organizations have removed levels of bureaucracy, which means there’s not much of a corporate ladder to climb anymore.

“The biggest driver of disengagement is people feeling like they’re stuck in a job, and there’s nothing for them there,” one expert told The Post. “It’s easier to quit your company and find a new job than find a new job within your own company.”

Restoring some semblance of a corporate ladder may require a good deal of structural reorganization. In the meantime, managers can take small steps to help their employees develop into leadership positions.

The Wall Street Journal recommends creating mentoring programs in which workers are paired with more senior employees at their company. You can also rotate your employees through different jobs, so they gain new knowledge and expertise.

As for individual employees, US News & World Report suggests being proactive instead of waiting for a leadership position to open up.

If you work for a large company, you can speak to someone in human resources and ask what you should be learning to reach the next level. You can also volunteer to take charge of a particular project, so that management recognizes your capabilities.

SEE ALSO: 20-somethings say they’d give up a high salary for a job that gets them psyched to wake up in the morning

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Billionaire investor Ray Dalio explains the process he uses to find ideal employees

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio explains the process he uses to find ideal employees

by | Mar 13, 2016 | 0 |

ray dalio

If you take a job at Bridgewater Associates — the world’s largest hedge fund, with $169 billion in assets — you’re agreeing to abide by founder Ray Dalio’s “Principles,” a manual of 210 musings on management and character.

It serves as an introduction to the hedge fund’s culture of “radical transparency.” At Bridgewater’s Westport, Connecticut, headquarters, all meetings and interviews are recorded and logged.

Employees are also required to refrain from keeping criticisms of their colleagues or managers, including Dalio, to themselves

To ensure that the right people are recruited, Dalio lays out his hiring philosophy in “Principles”: “Hire right, because the penalties of hiring wrong are huge,” he writes.

Dalio values a person’s character and way of thinking over their skill set, and he has managers express this in Bridgewater’s job postings.

For example, a current posting for a compliance associate states that the team is looking for someone who is “Logical with strong common sense,” “Not afraid to speak up and make suggestions for areas of improvement,” and “Self-aware, reflective, and able to learn from mistakes.”

Dalio writes that instead of trying to overcome the fact that managers have a tendency to look for their own traits in applicants, it is up to the manager to use different team members as specialized interviewers to root out a candidate’s character.

“For example, if you’re looking for a visionary, pick a visionary to do the interview where you test for vision,” he writes. “If there is a mix of qualities you’re looking for, put together a group of interviewers who embody all of these qualities collectively.” It’s of utmost importance that you deeply trust these interviewers, he says.

bridgewater associatesIt’s necessary to pay careful attention to someone’s track record, Dalio explains, but to also use references, research, and interviews to understand why candidates made the career decisions they did.

He and his managers look for someone who is just as inquisitive about the company and interviewers as they are about the candidate. “Look for people who have lots of great questions,” he writes. “These are even more important than great answers.”

It’s up to a manager to find “sparkle” in a candidate. “If you’re less than excited to hire someone for a particular job, don’t do it,” he writes. “The two of you will probably make each other miserable.”

And then if you feel this “click,” make your salary offer a premium on what that candidate was paid before, and what you think their attributes justify. Don’t worry about the market value of a job title.

After you finally make your hire, Dalio writes, ensure that you keep an eye on this person’s progress during the onboarding process to validate whether you made the right decision.

It’s about finding someone you respect and identify with. “Don’t hire people just to fit the first job they will do at Bridgewater; hire people you want to share your life with,” Dalio writes.

SEE ALSO: The world’s most successful hedge fund just made a big change — here’s a look inside its unique culture

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Slack grew from 80 to 385 employees in 14 months. Why that worries its CEO

Slack grew from 80 to 385 employees in 14 months. Why that worries its CEO

by | Feb 24, 2016 | 0 |

stewart butterfield

By all measures, Slack is one of the fastest growing startups in Silicon Valley. 

More than 1.5 billion messages are sent monthly on the platform. 2.3 million people use it daily, and of those, 20% just started using it in the new year.

Its CEO Stewart Butterfield isn’t worried about the product — it’s clearly been proven a hit. 

Instead, he told the crowd Wednesday at the Startup Grind conference that he’s most worried about the people.

At the beginning of 2015, Slack employed around 80 people. By year-end, that number ballooned to 320 employees. Already in 2016, the company has increased its headcount to 385. (That’s adding at least one employee every day.)

“The thing I worry about is people,” Butterfield said. “That kind of growth is hard to do.”

It’s a crazy rate of growth, but it’s justified to keep up with demand, Butterfield argues.

The bigger issue is how to integrate all of the new employees into Slack’s culture so they’re there for more than just the valuable stock options. 

“You need to really have the volume up. Cultural problems need to be addressed as they arise,” Butterfield says. 

Turning the volume up means constantly, and loudly, reiterating the company’s values and making sure they don’t get muddled as the company grows. 

The company has six core values, expressed in three sentences, Butterfield explains:

  1. Empathy as expressed through courtesy
  2. Craftsmanship tempered with playfulness (That’s where those funny Slack messages come from)
  3. Thriving, both in ourselves and others (That means thriving not only as a team, but also making sure you’re personally thriving and doing this thing you’re meant to be doing with your whole heart, Butterfield explained)

Making sure those are understood and embraced is a challenge for a company growing so rapidly, but one that Butterfield is making a priority to address early as it grows — and not just when it’s too late. 

SEE ALSO: Here’s how Silicon Valley’s startup guru can instantly tell if you should start a company

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