Why do young leaders leave organizations?

From Fast Company: The Young Shan't Lead Them 

Meanwhile, in the military services, the Army is discovering that more and more young officers are deciding to leave. While many people signed on in a patriotic outbreak following September 11 and the subsequent war, now that the realities of being in the business of warfare are becoming more clear, the young leaders aren't having it. So they're leaving as soon as they can.  What might the military do to slow this elite flight? And in a larger question, if your business is experiencing this -- or something like it -- how might your organization become more conducive to young leaders? (my emphasis added)

My response (I left it in the comments, and I'll share it with you here):

Keeping young employees is no simple task. There are organizations dedicated to this (see YPM for one really good one), and there are studies dedicated to this, and there are no simple answers.

A few thoughts though:
1) Offer more opportunities to those who crave it and don't reward fogeyism or people who just "hang in there." Meritocracy rules! The military is TERRIBLE about fogeyism. The longer you're in, the more you get paid. You cannot reach a certain rank until you serve a certain amount of time in a particular job classification. Some would call this rewarding the loyal, but I would call it a MAJOR demotivator.

2) Offer ability for some to stay at a post for longer than the prescribed time, and give a pay raise to those who go where others don't want to go. Yeah, it's not all about the money, but if you're sending me to some desolate Arctic Circle post, you better pay me more.

3) Ask those who stay in why they stay in, ask those who leave why they leave and make some changes if you think it fits your culture. If someone leaves the Marine Corps because they don't like the discipline or the uniforms, stop chasing this person. This goes against the core culture of your organization. But if somebody leaves because they didn't get something that they should have, find out early, and make it right. BEFORE they leave, preferably, not a last ditch gasp.

4) Pay people equitably. Granted, those who are in sales bring in the dough, so they should get paid more, but if the gap in pay between your CEO, your top sales guy, and your lowest employee is like 400%, you've got something wrong in your compenstation structure.

5) Don't be afraid to take risks, and reward those who fail. Too often, we see younger employees afraid to "take the shot" for fear of screwing up and costing the company money. Set aside money in the budget for some (not a ton) of calculated risk taking, and encourage managers to spend it. REWARD managers who spend it would be even better, especially if the 1 failure leads to 1 HUGE idea.

Not easy, to be sure, but these are a few simple ways companies can attract and retain their younger leaders. I'm sure there are other ways, and I'd love to hear them, because as a manager, I'm always looking for an edge to keep the best and brightest on my team.

What do you think? Got any great ideas you're willing to share with me and the readers of Make It Great! Please leave them in the comments or send me an e-mail (off-the-record if you'd like) to makeitgreat@gmail.com

Make it a great day!
Phil

Phil Gerbyshak
http://makeitgreat.org

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