The Problem With Experience

It can be a problem when it comes to developing younger, more purpose-driven staff. They want to learn and grow, and they need your guidance. Giving them that guidance requires you to think differently about their learning. For one thing, it will happen differently from what you went through. Much of that difference is generational.

Your younger staffers are not looking for a hand-out, but they are looking for a hand up. And that’s not necessarily the “check-list” you might think it is. Sometimes it can seem like they expect to be handed the roadmap to guaranteed success when, in fact, all they want is to know what forward progress looks like and how you measure it.

Once you share that with them, they want to know if they are measuring up. You don’t have to set up a full-blown performance review. A fifteen to twenty-minute appointment once a month is plenty. You get the opportunity to offer applause or correction. Your employee gets the feedback that signals they are on the right track.

The more you know, the harder it is to remember what you had to learn to get where you are. Couple that with changes in the way young staff learn and grow, and you can’t afford not to think differently.