Millennials favoured over Generation X for leadership roles

Millennials are taking the lead in companies across the country despite having less experience than their Generation X colleagues. Here’s why older workers are being snubbed.

As the traditional concept of leadership loses popularity, executive roles are being passed straight from Baby Boomers to Millennials – side stepping Generation X altogether.

Leadership has become less about paying one’s dues and more about the skills and behaviours a person can bring to a senior leadership team.

Millennials may not have as much experience as Generation X workers but are often considered to be more agile, digitally savvy and willing to take risks.

New research from organisational consultants Korn Ferry found 68 per cent of Australian investors expected leadership roles to skip Generation X workers (born 1961 to 1981) and go to Millennials (1982 to 1995).

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Millennials are seen to have more leadership qualities than Generation X. Picture: iStock

Korn Ferry senior client partner Nick Avery said current directors and c-suite executives were typically more concerned with protocols and processes than affecting change, whereas future leaders would be “natural self-disrupters” who would not accept conventional wisdoms.

“Many future leaders occupy lower-level roles in their respective companies and will rise to the top through non-traditional paths and means, as specialised skillsets become a more valuable commodity than simply experience,” he said.

Avery said companies needed to focus on how Millennials were treated early in their careers. If they held down workers with self-disruptive potential, they would either stifle talent or lose good people to competing organisations.

“Today’s leaders need to encourage future leaders to learn from mistakes and view constructive challenges as a positive, rather than drill home processes and practices that seem perfected, but may not be productive in a world characterised by change,” he said.

Novita general manager of therapy and family services Danielle Hanisch and Behind Closed Doors founder Donny Walford. Picture: Supplied

Behind Closed Doors founder Donny Walford said Millennials brought specific benefits to organisations, such as understanding of technology and data and the ability to engage with customers and clients through social media.

“They take more risks because they don’t even think failure is failure – if something doesn’t work they just try something else,” she said.

“They are very optimistic.”

She said Millennials were also more educated and mobile than past generations, with double and triple degrees increasingly common.

“They are also more community and team-minded than probably the Generation Xers and the Baby Boomers because they have grown up in a lot more flexible relationships,” she said. “They are more interested in team and culture so they make good leaders because they are more in touch with the emotional intelligence side of business, not just the economic side.”

Still, Walford said there were plenty of Generation X leaders in large corporations as their level of risk exposure – higher than Baby Boomers but lower than Millennials – and willingness to work beyond an eight-hour day suited that type of employer.

Leadership is being passed from Baby Boomers to Millennials and skipping Generation X. Picture: iStock

Millennial and member of Behind Closed Doors Danielle Hanisch landed her leadership role as Novita’s general manager of therapy and family services after committing to a plan of professional development.

Within three months of attending networking events and mentoring sessions, Ms Hanisch had a new role with a new company and 10 months later she was in her first general management position.

Over two years she almost doubled her salary.

“I bridged the gap (in my experience) by acting in different positions, for example I took up senior management positions while other people were on leave,” she said.

“I made an effort to network, not just stay in my comfort zone, and I built a lot of relationships that served me well.”

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