Ashley Nelson

Let’s begin with some context: in this case, we are referring to the “camel humps” that are the relative sizes of the Baby Boomer and Millennial generations when compared to Generation X that falls between them. In other words, Generation X is roughly half the size of each of the Baby Boomer and Millennial generations. Now that we’re clear on that, what is this implication?

For several years now, there has been quite a bit written and discussed around the impending “brain drain” that will come with the mass exodus of Baby Boomers from the workforce. While the pace of the exodus has slowed due to a variety of reasons (e.g., Baby Boomers wanting to stay challenged and intellectually engaged through work, the tanking of the economy and subsequent tanking of retirement portfolios), the reality remains that the exodus is occurring and will continue to occur over the next several years. This issue is well documented and the idea that organizations will lose intellectual capital and tacit know-how is well understood and accepted by most organizations…even if they don’t know what to do about it quite yet.

We could continue to discuss this issue ad nauseam, as it is a rich one and a real problem for many organizations. Instead, I would like to spend some time discussing a different implication, one that in my humble opinion, does not receive enough attention in the current research and subsequent literature.

Let’s begin by doing the math. There are approximately half the number of Gen Xers in the workforce as there are Baby Boomers. So, as Baby Boomers retire, there are about half the number of people available to take their spots in the organizational hierarchy. While organizations are tending to become a bit more progressive in their thinking around who can lead and manage (i.e., not tying those assumptions only to tenure), it is still safe to say that with the Baby Boomers leaving, there will be a large need for people to slide into senior management and executive leadership roles. If, however, there are approximately half the number of Gen Xers available to take on these responsibilities, a fairly safe conclusion to make is that the Millennials will be forced to take on management and leadership responsibilities sooner in their careers than previous generations. The question that follows is: will they be ready?

The “camel hump implication” is that with the Baby Boomers leaving the workforce, organizations need to accelerate the younger generations’ ability to assume critical leadership roles. Does your organization have a strategy in place to address this reality? My contention, and admittedly this is a generalization with sure exceptions to the rule, is that the majority of organizations have not fully acknowledged the inevitable consequences of these looming retirements. As we work with our clients around their mentoring strategies, we regularly hear of the organizational need to “reinvest the knowledge of the Boomers back into the workforce.” We also hear of wanting to support general management and leadership development processes. However, we don’t often hear of intentional strategies to accelerate the development of future leaders in response to the anticipated needs left by the departure of the Boomers. I think organizations should realistically be concerned about the potential dearth of ready leaders over the next 5-10 years. Intentional development strategies need to begin reaching deeper into and more broadly across the organization.

One important thing that organizations do have going for them is that the Millennial generation is very open to mentoring, coaching, and feedback. In fact, they crave it and can sometimes be perceived as “needy” when they are not receiving it. The Millennial generation is accustomed to learning in contextualized person-to-person relationships. The emergence of social networking platforms and technologies such as instant messaging and texting over the last several years has enabled this generation to readily communicate with those who can help them. Whereas homework for me, as a Gen-Xer, was predominantly a heads-down, grind-it-out type of process with some occasional partnership or teamwork, homework for the Millennials is and has been largely about collaboration. It is not uncommon for a Millennial student to be carrying on multiple “conversations” via text, IM, and phone while completing an assignment (quite possibly all from the same mobile device). What probably would have been viewed as distraction a generation ago is now viewed as collaboration, expediency, and effectiveness. It is simply the way learning gets done for this generation. Therefore, in looking to implement strategies in this regard, organizations should not encounter significant resistance from the Millennial generation. The key is to ensure that opportunities are focused on processes that provide access to multiple knowledge resources in the organization. That is, take a networked view of learning vs. the antiquated one of encouraging people to find “that one sage guru” for all career development needs.

At the end of the day, what organizations need to do is get intentional around providing these opportunities before the immediate need is upon them and they find themselves promoting individuals into positions of significant responsibility and then scrambling to get them ready for the role. Old adages are adages for a reason and in this case an ounce of prevention is probably worth at least a few pounds of cure.