Recruitment Innovation Summit 2011 Interview - Eric Meerkamper, President, DECODE

Recently, Joe Minaudo, Social Community Manager of the upcoming Recruitment Innovation Summit spoke with Eric Meerkamper as part of a dynamic line of speakers that will lead sessions on October 26 and 27th 2011 in Toronto. The theme of Eric’s presentation will be, “6 Ways to Engage and Retain Tomorrow’s Leaders."

JM: What are some of the common mistakes organizations make in grooming young people to become leaders?

EM: A major mistake is not clearly and openly defining the leadership value proposition. Organizations often assume that the benefits of a leadership role are both natural and evident to the employee, though often they are not. They are then puzzled when a younger employee decides not to pursue a leadership position. This reinforces perceptions of younger employees as un-ambitious, entitled, weak etc.

JM: Is it typically the case that younger employees are less interested in pursuing leadership positions?

EM: Perhaps surprisingly, DECODE’s work has shown that young employees are more interested than older employees in becoming the leader of an organization (40% of Gen Y vs on only 19% of Boomers), so the motivation seems to be there.

JM: So what is the challenge?

EM: Young employees are concerned that the “price” or trade-off in assuming a leadership role is undesirable or unclear. For example: Does leadership mean more administrative work and less of the work that you enjoy? Does it mean more office politics and less real interaction with your colleagues? Do you have to essentially become a jerk to be a successful leader?

In the absence of a clear and honest leadership value proposition, which outlines both the benefits and the trade-offs, some of the best potential leaders-in-waiting may decide to either not step up or just take their talents elsewhere.

Eric Meerkamper is President of DECODE (www.decode.net) – a global strategic consultancy with offices in Toronto, Canada and London, UK that merges research and innovation to solve challenges specifically related to younger generations.  Eric is a frequent speaker on attracting and retaining young employees and the co-author of DECODE’S Top Campus Employers Report (www.topcampusemployers.ca), an annual national study on campus recruitment.

You can contact find Eric at [email protected] or follow him on twitter @ericmeerkamper