There’s no shortage of chatter around the Millennial workforce. They’re the largest demographic in the marketplace, and they operate much differently from their predecessors. Everything from their expectations to values and work preferences have upended the traditional office environment, which means your succession plan needs to prepare differently for the future of leadership. You need to tailor your strategy to the work styles and cultural environment that Millennial leaders wish to implement as they move into leadership roles. They’re ready, willing, and able to scale the mountain, but only if the mountain has the right terrain and they have the right sherpa to guide them.

Carving The Right Path
So what does the Millennial leader terrain look like? They expect empathy, mentorship, and transparency. So the path to leadership needs to be one that values those practices and provides future leaders with the tools and skills they need to lead with honesty and build emotional intelligence.

Knowing that, how do you build a successful succession plan that resonates with your millennial team members? The Inspire Software platform was built to develop next-generation leaders by providing them with a transparent view into the company’s big-picture strategy, individual goal-setting style — with the ability to align those goals to company initiatives — and better communication between leaders and their employees. We approach leadership with empathy in mind, and our cutting-edge, proprietary research within our software is the future-minded strategy you need to build a succession plan your Millennial leaders can buy into — and enhance the workplace culture along the way.

Setting A Timeline
But even the best-laid plans need to be managed. Once you’ve laid out your succession plan strategy, the next step is laying out expectations and setting them to a timeline. There are a lot of moving parts when a transition happens. You know the how, but what about the when? A good timeline will put the pieces of the puzzle into a linear context so you can see when each phase of the transition takes place in order, and where any overlap occurs.

Before You Get Started

• Identify: Who exhibits the temperament and personality traits of a future leader?
• Get aligned: Do the individual and organizational growth goals match and are they compatible?
• Examine your business growth plan: Can both the individual and organization achieve their goals in the desired time frame?
• Align with developmental needs: Determine the amount of time needed to accomplish developmental goals to meet individual and business needs.

Without changing your strategy and seeking out modern leadership methods, you risk missing out on the great leaders of tomorrow. 

This article was originally published on the Inspire Software Blog by Beth Thornton.

About Drea Zigarmi:                                     

Dr. Drea Zigarmi is a highly respected and experienced management consultant, best-selling author, powerful trainer, and motivational speaker.                                     

Drea is the coauthor of Leadership and the One Minute Manager, the third book in Ken Blanchard’s best-selling One Minute Manager Library, and various chapters in Leading at a Higher Level. In addition, he has co-authored The Leader Within, Achieve Leadership Genius, and The Team Leader’s Idea-A-Day Guide. Drea has coauthored numerous Ken Blanchard Companies products, including the widely used Situational Leadership II, DISC, and Optimal Motivation programs.