Does Gen Y Respond to a Teaching-Style of Management?

A recent post on the Harvard Business Review blog by Michael Fertik noted “The best managers of younger employees are people who would otherwise love teaching for a living.”

Do you agree?

We know that Gen Y seek praise and affirmation; they appreciate guidance and mentorship in the workplace. They are perceived as being sensitive to criticism and negative feedback, so many managers find that they need to be extra delicate when correcting Gen Y employees.  Fertik suggests that a teacher-type manager personality is more likely to appeal to Gen Y as the manager carefully explains tasks to Gen Y employee. This will engage Gen Y more, although it also risks being pedantic and condescending. So find the balance for your individual employee.

He offers a series of suggestions for “teaching/managing” Gen Y employees; the most helpful are:

–          Throw them into the deep end immediately (show them you trust them and encourage them to take responsibility)

–          Publicly acknowledge a job well done

–          Ask questions (show that their opinions matter; be sure to act on the good decisions)

But does this approach, as he suggests, teach them how to think in company terms, making them more valuable assets to the firm in the long run?  That’s the real question.

The entire list and his worthwhile blog post is here:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/01/managing_employees_in_their_tw.html