Attracting and Retaining Next Generation Leaders

With the emergence of a next generation of leaders whose values, mindset and behaviours are markedly different from those who have come before, an updated people and culture approach is needed to create talent strategies for attraction and retention.

This upcoming generation of leaders is a confident, purpose-driven generation of change agents. They are a fully digitally native generation who are virtually connected to the world and want to have social impact. They expect more from their jobs and want to work for companies with a defined purpose, and as a result, can be more challenging to attract and retain.

Our recent conversations with people and culture leaders highlight the need in 2024 for a markedly different approach to successfully engage and retain future leaders. While this new environment needs to first be understood, there lies an exciting opportunity for Chief People Officers to influence the people and culture landscape by adapting to the unique characteristics and motivators of this workforce.

Here are the top 5 emerging talent strategies for attracting and retaining this next generation of leaders.

Offer enticing, tailored employee benefits

This generation of employees not only wants perks tailored to their interests, they have come to expect them. They want their company to care about them, as well as the world, and reflect this in employee benefits such as wellness and mental health programs, corporate discounts, social clubs specific to their interests and maybe even a great snack bar, as well as initiatives that benefit the wider community, such as sustainability programs and other purpose-led social initiatives.

Work/life balance is crucial to this generation, so offering flexible and hybrid work environments is essential to entice them. Employee benefits also need to extend to creating a workplace design to foster a collaborative environment that makes employees want to come in to the office. Instead of the stale adage, “if you build it, they will come,” let’s work towards, “if you build it to excite them, they will come.”

Mentoring and reverse mentoring programs

Another key to exciting and engaging this workforce, is offering them opportunities to not only be mentored, but to mentor others. Reverse mentoring, which pairs younger employees with senior ones, is catching on as a way for the younger generation to not only feel their importance and be given an equal voice, but also allows them to transfer their unique knowledge to an older generation while being respected and valued for their contribution.

By being given the forum to showcase their unique skills and viewpoints (on topics such as social media, technology, sustainability, etc), they see the meaningful impact they can have within their organisation and are more likely to be engaged for longer, hopefully leading to longer retention.

Formalise faster promotional cycles

Another avenue for helping engage and retain this generation of leaders is to show them a clear and timely pathway to career progression. Instead of the traditional annual performance review, which can be a slow and cumbersome way of addressing issues and seeing career progression, quarterly reviews and faster promotional cycles could help incentivise a generation that values constant learning and development.

Value the importance of ERGs

While Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are not new, their importance in recent years has increased due in part to this generation’s interest in issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Having voluntary, employee-led groups designed to improve working conditions, foster a diverse, inclusive culture in which people can bring their authentic selves to work, and inform the business of what is important to them is meaningful to this generation.

Prioritise exit discussions

Even with all these considerations in place, of course you will still have employees that leave. In this age of social feedback and reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed, it is essential that you prioritise having a purposeful and transparent exit interview. The way an employee feels when they leave a company is just as important as how they feel when they are working there.

Ensuring you look after them when they leave by taking the time to have an exit discussion, can do wonders in helping both parties not only take key learnings away from the experience, but can help safeguard your company’s reputation.

While some of these talent strategies are new or increasingly important, essentially what we know now in 2024 is still what we have always known. The key to good people and culture leadership has always been in reflecting the values and culture of the workforce and creating strategies to adapt to that workforce’s unique motivators. By first knowing and then prioritising what motivates, engages and matters to our next generation of leaders, there lies an enormous opportunity to tailor a P&C blueprint to create a committed, empowered and motivated workforce that is enabled to do their best work.