Give Millennials the Promotions They Want

What?  Fast track a new grad to the C-suite in 5 years?  Are you crazy?”

Promoting a new grad to the C-suite in 5 years likely is crazy.  I get it.  But asking a new grad to wait 5-7 years for a promotion is just as crazy.

Promotions bring internal and external affirmation that we are doing good work and that the company values us.  Even for the more shy and reserved employees, activities like calling our family to share the news and posting our new job title on LinkedIn are just plain FUN.

When was the last time you had a promotion?  What kind of boost did that give you?  Did you give yourself a chance to bask in it, at least  a little?  (I hope so!)

Our historic model of giving promotions was that they were sparse.  An employee received a handful of promotions during their career and often even one-step promotions came with notable increases in responsibility and compensation.  This was the model everyone has known.  If you wanted to climb the career ladder, you may have to get the promotions by taking a new job with a new employer because there weren’t many opportunities for promotion in your company.  So, some employees left in order to get the promotion elsewhere, but the risk of loosing seniority, retirement benefits and more were powerful to keep people where they were.

That was then.  Today, it’s a different game.

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Employees today see many more opportunities thanks to the Internet.  Companies don’t provide as much financial incentive like pensions to keep employees tied to them. Younger employees especially do not give loyalty a lot of value.  After all, where did loyalty get their family members and parents of friends recently? Many Millennials had close ties with people who lost jobs, homes, retirements and more during the turbulence of the past 15 years.  Understandably, Millennials are not interested in loyalty for the sake of loyalty.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, younger employees (20-34 years old) have average tenure of 2.3 years, which is half of the average tenure of the total workforce (4.6 years).

Millennials are especially sensitive to needing demonstrations from their company that they are valued.  Promotions can help demonstrate this.  You can achieve delivering more promotions  by looking at the natural growth of employees and assigning titles, performance requirements, and promotion opportunities that support more frequent promotion.

Here is an example.  Let’s say that you run an accounting firm and you hire a couple of new grads every summer.  The current standard progression is Staff Accountant for 5-7 years,  Senior Accountant (managing projects) for 3-5 years, Manager, Director and perhaps Partner.  Thinking about this career path for a new hire, they’re looking at 5-7 years before a promotion?  That likely feels like a lifetime to them.  How does that influence motivation and enthusiasm?
It may be perfectly reasonable that someone needs 5-7 years to be ready to manage projects.  But how could those 5-7 years be subdivided in authentic ways that reflect that natural growth of people during this time?

• What if the first position was Associate Accountant, with the expectation that someone in that role focuses on norming to your culture, demonstrates focus on customer service (internal and external) and demonstrates basic skills.  If this happens in 12-18 months, they can be promoted to Staff Accountant with a $1,000 raise. This may reflect reality in your company: if someone isn’t demonstrating these performance requirements during this time, there are interventions required or possibly dismissal.
• So, the second step is Staff Accountant.  At this level, one is expected to demonstrate higher accounting skills and increased customer service.  This stage is usually 18-24 months. When you see that one has these skills at a level strong enough to be an informal mentor and role model for others at the Associate and Staff Accountant levels, they ascend to Senior Staff Accountant with a $1,250 raise.
• As a Senior Staff Accountant, the individual is a role model for other Staff Accountants and is expected to be a formal or informal mentor.  They start participating in problem-solving on client matters and demonstrating sound judgement.  One is usually at this stage for 2 years.  They are preparing for the next step: Senior Accountant, which had originally been the first opportunity for promotion.  This now brings a $1,500 raise.  Cumulatively there has been a $3,570 raise, on par with the $3,500 raise that had been given previously when one was promoted to Senior Accountant.

A potential new grad you are recruiting can be shown this early career path.  The expectations at each level are clear.  There is opportunity for promotion every 1-2 years. They can join your company with a clear picture of what they are working toward.

​This won’t work necessarily for every role in your company, but start with the positions where you most frequently hire and grow employees.  See how you can subdivide those roles and show the career path that you likely know in your head.  And watch your new hires work with higher commitment and enthusiasm, and watch them stay and bring other great hires to your door.