Leading Millennials & Gen Z: How to get them to stay and perform

You hired them because they were good. You trained them. You answered every “why?” You made time for the feedback they kept asking for. And just as they stopped needing their hand held, they handed in their notice for a role with “more growth.” Code for: "I want to progress my career, develop my skills, and do something that aligns with my long term goals." Up to 18 months, 2 years tops. That’s how long many of the best young staff stay. Then it starts again: the job ad, the interviews, three months of training someone new, while their work lands back on your desk. Stopping you from doing what only you can do. Gallup estimates that replacing an employee costs between half and two times their annual salary. On a $65,000 role, that’s $32,000 to $130,000 for one resignation. If two leave this year, you’ve lost the cost of a new hire, a ute, or your profit margin on a good contract, and all you have to show for it is a gap in the team. The worst part is that you’re doing everything you were taught to do. And it’s not your fault. Most of us were led one way: turn up, work hard, don’t ask questions, and you’ll get ahead. It worked, and it built your career. So you lead the way you were led. But the people in front of you now want something different. Nobody taught you how to lead that. Not in your degree, your trade, or your management course. That’s what this workshop is for. Same generation, completely different results I’ve seen the same young people be described as “lazy” in one team and as high performers in another. The difference was the leadership, not the people. When I was 23 I led a ministry of more than 200 people, with a team of 20 leaders who were all Millennials and Gen Z. They were volunteers, so there was no salary, no contract and no reason to show up except the work itself. They owned their outcomes, they performed, and most of them stayed longer than two years. I’m also from that generation. I know what’s going on behind the “why?”, and it’s almost never what it looks like from the other side of the desk. What we’ll do in a couple of hours • What your young staff mean when they ask “why?”, and how to answer it once so they stop needing to ask • The real cost of the 18-month resignation, and the one conversation that gives your best people a reason to stay • The difference between handing someone a task and handing them an outcome, and why only one of them creates an owner • A five-step framework for transferring responsibility so it doesn’t land back on your desk a week later • How to tell where each person on your team sits right now, and the one move that lifts them to the next level • How to give the weekly feedback they’re asking for in ten minutes, without lowering your standards Why this and nothing else Because the generation gap isn’t really about age. It’s about how people want to be led. You don’t need a separate rulebook for every age group. You need the same standard with a different delivery. What works for your 24-year-old works for your 50-year-old too. Your younger staff are just the ones who’ll leave if you don’t get it right. When people can see where they’re going, they stay. When they stay, they take ownership. When they take ownership, you get your time back. And somewhere along the way, your next generation of leaders starts to appear. Who should be in the room Business owners. General managers. Operations managers. Team leaders. Anyone who leads people and has ever thought, “I don’t understand what they want.” It doesn’t matter whether your team is mostly under 30 or a 50/50 mix. If you’ve lost a good young person in the last two years, or you’re worried about losing one, this is for you. Who shouldn’t Anyone looking for a session on what’s wrong with young people. This isn’t one. And anyone hoping to be told they need to change who they are. You don’t. You were promoted because you’re good at what you do. This is the part nobody taught you. Facilitated by Oswald Mungwazi, Founder, Modern Leadership I was a first-time leader who got promoted into a role because I was good at what I did. But nobody taught me how to deal with the people I was leading. I learnt the hard way that being good at the job and leading people are two different skillsets. Since then I’ve led a generation I’m part of, and now I coach leaders across construction, property, legal, finance and education to do the same. This is what I wish someone had told me then.