Why millennials managing millennials is a good thing for agencies

Millennials are no longer just your interns. Nor are they only the juniors you hired to give you some insight into the “most influential generation of consumers ever”. You may immediately think of fresh graduates and youngsters with their fingers on the pulse of social media when you picture millennials, but that’s not the case. Sure, the youngest of this generation may still be entering the workforce. In fact, some of them are even finishing high school at present. However, they’re the last of their kind. The first batch of millennials, the so-called “ageing millennials”, are now your senior team members and, if you’re taking full advantage of them, they’re even leading teams. Which means millennials are managing millennials. And this could be a very good thing for agencies. And that’s why you look for millennial team leaders when you’re considering making use of an agency for your business.

Millennial leaders aren’t about hierarchy
Millennial team leads aren’t “bosses”, they’re “mentors”. They don’t just want to hire some intern to churn out the grunt work while they take all the best jobs for themselves and other senior team members. They want to invest in the newbies. If they can’t grow with the team, what’s the point of hiring them? And yes, they’re not the first generation to feel this way. They didn’t invent hiring entry-level employees with the aim of integrating them into the agency and raising them to be the future of the industry. They do, however, have a more linear approach to team dynamics. Millennial managers don’t want to put their younger team members “in their place”. And they don’t want to make them wait for their junior years to be over before giving them a chance to have their say. Sure, the newbies have to prove themselves, but they’re given the opportunity to do so. Not once, but over and over again. Millennial leaders are happy to listen to crappy ideas and explain, in a constructive way, how those ideas could be improved.   

These leaders understand the need for “purpose”
Despite common belief, millennials aren’t only concerned with fun work environments where they can play pool and video games, and Facetime their friends while compiling social media reports. What this generation really wants out of a job is purpose. They want to believe they are part of something. They want to see the big picture and the results they can help produce. Most importantly, they want a reason to get out of bed in the morning and face the day with a goal in mind. And millennials in leadership positions understand this, which means they know how to introduce that purpose to their team members. They will explain why they’re doing the work they’re doing, what the results will be and why their work matters. These managers will ensure that their team members are not left wondering what happens to their work after they’ve completed a task. They will see what effect their work has on the agency and the clients they service. 

Ageing millennials want to create relationships inside their teams
When people spend the majority of their waking hours at the office, they tend to create relationships. This is nothing new. However, millennials want to create meaningful relationships within the workplace. If their jobs are going to be a big part of their lives, they want the people they work with to form part of their lives as well. ageing millennial team leads understand this and actively encourage it. They don’t mind chatter among their team members. They may even join in themselves, especially since they don’t hold hierarchy in high regard. As long as these employees are producing good work and meeting deadlines, they’re free to discuss their hopes and dreams and weekend plans while sitting at their cluster of desks.