Don’t Chase Relevance – Find It!

by Dan Negroni

I am stoked about the debut of Chasing Relevance. It took two years of writing, research, content development, speaking, coaching, and training more than 5,000 amazing people by me and my colleagues at launchbox. But our systems, curriculum, and book are ready – ready to bridge the gap between non-millennial and millennial generations in the workplace and marketplace to help your business achieve real, BOLD results.

Here is what we learned: Houston, we have a HUGE problem.

• Thirty percent of organizations lose 15% or more of their millennial workforce annually.
• It costs companies $15,000 to $25,000 to replace each millennial.
• 71% percent of organizations report that the loss of millennial employees increased the workload and stress of current employees.
• Workload and stress combine with disconnection to breed disengagement: Seven of ten employees report being “disengaged” or “actively disengaged” at work.
• The estimated cost of this disengagement is $450 billion. 

Yes, millennials are a HUGE problem. They have taken over as the largest generation, and they don’t just want the power – they are the power.

They will decide what businesses succeed and which ones will be left behind. Those that want any chance of succeeding need to figure out how to win with millennials.

Yet only 22.9% of organizations have a plan in place to engage millennials and future generations.

 REAL PROBLEM?

Oh yes. But it isn’t a problem that needs to be solved. It’s a problem that needs to be embraced. Yes, I said it… we need to be bold and generous and embrace millennials. Because the way most managers are dealing with it now – mainly complaining – is not working.

What I find most curious is, how put-off and deeply frustrated many leaders from previous generations are by millennials. They paint a completely negative picture of “them,” as if millennials are a monolithic group of apathetic, disrespectful, unmanageable brats. They whine that millennials are spoiled, entitled, lazy, disloyal—all they want is power and all they think about is themselves.

Of course, complaining about the next generation is nothing new. But the way this millennial generation grew up? That is new. They had helicopter parents, got trophies for showing up, and had days filled with activities. They were encouraged to question, had a seat at the table for making decisions, and were told they could be anything they wanted to be, and are used to being connected to everyone, everywhere, every minute of the day.

And the world is different too.  Think of where we’ve been and the changes that have occurred in the last 30 years. We’ve gone from information in encyclopedias and microfiche to a crazy ass digital world where we can get any information, whenever and wherever we want. Millennials grew up “wired” and “wireless” and have never known a world in which technology did not impact, consistently change, and
 repeatedly shorten timelines of obsolescence. They know no other way.

Millennials came out of the #womb. And when they did, they disrupted all of the traditional timelines.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

We follow the patterns of previous generations. We complain or throw up our hands in frustration and do nothing. As a result, all we do is chase relevance with them, often never finding it.

My book, and our business, have a better way. Our solutions will change your life, their lives, and your businesses.  Guaranteed.

And here is how you start:

STOP … AND SHIFT

Stop doing what you are doing. Realize that the place where youth and experience meet is the best place on earth.

The combination of raw, unbridled enthusiasm, curiosity, questioning and unlimited perspective is pure MAGIC when combined the right way with knowledge, time served, learned failure, and history.

Chasing Relevance answers the question we get asked all the time:  You really think we can connect with the next generation with the huge differences? ABSOLUTELY.

We all need to shift our mindset and trust ourselves.  When we shift our focus to connecting and delivering value to others, we win with our clients, employees, spouses, partners, kids … we become guides and mentors of the next generation and ourselves.

We have a choice: Embrace the opportunity millennials offer by pushing ourselves to be better leaders and coaches, or continue to ignore and dismiss the generational divide. The answer is clear: embrace opportunity.

That’s what our book, our business, and this blog will help you do.

Let us help you stop chasing relevance and make it happen. To learn more about the topics in this blog, get your copy of Dan’s new book Chasing Relevance: 6 Steps to Understand, Engage, and Maximize Next-Generation Leaders in the Workplace TODAY.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Negroni, Esq and Author, is the Founder and CEO of launchbox. Dan is a business management and talent development consultant and coach. He addresses today’s critical cross-generational issues. He helps companies’ bridge the gap between managers and their multi-generational workforce. In turn, that bridge creates next generation leaders and increases employee engagement, productivity and profits.