Helping Bosses Decode Millennials -- for $20,000 an Hour

By Lindsay Gellman

Millennial expert Lindsey Pollak says she can teach companies a thing or two about young workers. First, they expect work to be meaningful. Second, they crave frequent feedback. Third, they despise voice mail.

People born in the 1980s and 1990s now make up the largest single generational group in the workforce, and managing them has become a source of agita for big businesses such as Oracle Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

Millennial issues also have become a source of income for a host of self-anointed experts who say they can interpret young workers' whims and aspirations -- sometimes for as much as $20,000 an hour. Oracle, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s HBO have retained millennial advisers to stem turnover, market to young people and ensure their happiness at work.

"There is somewhat of a disconnect between young people, their hopes, goals and expectations, and what companies think young people want," said Ms. Pollak, who has advised Estée Lauder Cos., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. "I see my role as a translator."

Intergenerational consulting barely existed a few years ago, but these are boom times. Source Global Research, which tracks the consulting market, estimates that U.S. organizations spent between $60 million to $70 million on generational consulting last year. More than 400 LinkedIn users globally list themselves as a "millennial expert" or "millennial consultant."

You don't have to be a millennial to be an expert. Ms. Pollak, who is 41 years old, identifies as a "proud Gen Xer" in speaking engagements -- the better to relate to her clients, who tend to be members of the slacker generation or baby boomers, she said.

Consider Morley Winograd and Mike Hais, ages 73 and 72 respectively. Together, the principals of Mike & Morley LLC have written three books about managing young workers and counsel organizations such as commercial-production firm Furlined LLC and the University of Washington in strategies for engaging young adults.

"We want older generations to understand this young generation, and not make the mistake of ignoring or resisting their influence," Mr. Winograd says in a promotional video on the duo's website, mikeandmorley.com. They declined to comment for this article.

Lisa McLeod, a 52-year-old independent consultant, has addressed Alphabet Inc.'s Google and other companies about engaging young workers, and boasts a millennial of her own, her daughter Elizabeth, age 23. The elder Ms. McLeod typically charges up to $25,000 for a keynote address; booking the Atlanta mother-daughter pair costs $30,000.

The McLeods help companies set a "noble purpose" to strengthen young employees' connection to their work, the elder Ms. McLeod said. For a concrete company seeking to boost employee engagement, she suggested that managers share stories of how constructing solid residential foundations helps people feel safe at home. She also advises clients to strip out numbers from internal presentations because, she says, millennials find stories more compelling than figures.

"All my friends have been wowed by foosball tables and all these benefits" some startups offer, the younger Ms. McLeod said, "but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and everyone hates their job, no one cares about foosball tables."

Sometimes, managing millennials boils down to letting them work fewer hours -- something employees of any age would like. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers hired Dan Schawbel, 32, to help stem turnover among young workers. Mr. Schawbel, a partner and research director at Future Workplace, an executive-development firm, said he advised managers at the Greenwood Village, Colo., burger chain to let corporate employees set flexible schedules. The company now allows corporate employees to take Friday afternoons off, and banned Friday meetings, said Cathy Cooney, senior vice president and human-resources director.

Mr. Schawbel said he also advised Red Robin to make its executives more visible. Chief Executive Stephen Carley now brings doughnuts or bagels into the office at least once a quarter and personally hands them out to employees, Ms. Cooney said.

Quarterly town-hall meetings also got a millennial-friendly makeover, moving from the company offices to Comedy Works, a local club, said Ms. Cooney. Executives take turns at an open mic on stage, peppering financial updates with gift-card giveaways, jokes and individual praise for employees seated at cocktail tables.

"They're actually pretty funny," Ms. Cooney said, adding that attendance at the gatherings has risen since moving them to the club.

Managers struggle with how much to concede to young workers. Tony Kender, senior vice president for Oracle's Global Cloud Human Capital Management unit, recently granted a junior employee a three-month leave of absence to accompany a friend to a snowboarding competition. Mr. Kender said he deliberated about whether to allow the leave, but decided it wouldn't hurt the employee's ability to do his job long-term.

The employee never returned. Mr. Kender was frustrated. "There's no playbook for this," he said.

Companies' ideas about millennials often are wrong, said Jessica Kriegel, who has a doctorate in education. Though she describes generational consulting as "a complete racket," Oracle hired the 32-year-old in part to train managers and executives in communicating effectively with young workers.

Oracle managers wanted to kindle connections among junior employees who spend their days coding software in cubicles. The company has tried offering more free food to employees, movie outings during workday afternoons and plans to start team-building activities such as trust falls, said Shasank Chavan, a data architect who manages a team of about 25 people, most of whom are in their 20s.

The hope, Mr. Chavan said, is that happier employees will generate stronger ideas. "It benefits our bottom line," he said. "Oracle makes a ton of money and free food is small peanuts."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 17, 2016 13:36 ET (17:36 GMT)

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