I know I’ve written quite a bit about the youngest generation in the workplace , the millennials. I’m not trying to single them out or pick on them in anyway.  It’s just that there is quite a buzz about this generation of workers that seems to get louder.  Members of other generations , particularly Gen X and the Boomers , continually comment on the idiosyncrasies of the millennials. While they appreciate that generation’s ability to multi-task, its willingness to learn new things, and the techno-saavy it brings to workplace, the inability to accept criticism is what draws the most attention.  In fact, I recently received a request to develop a training module to help Boomer managers provide feedback to what has been dubbed “the praise generation.

For better or worse, the millennials are a product of an educational and parenting philosophy that holds that one should only give positive feedback because the greatest fear is damaging the individual’s self-esteem.  Now the millennial who has received all of this positive feedback comes face to face with a Boomer Manager who very simply , and not in a mean way, I might add , tells her that her performance is not meeting standards.  The feedback devastates the millennial who says something that is the equivalent of “I’ve never gotten less than an ˜A’ in my life.

A good way to provide feedback to this praise generation is to use the what’s working , what’s missing conversation.  The manager begins by saying here is what’s working well in the millennial’s performance (e.g., your written reports are always very thorough).  Then goes on to what’s missing , in other words, what is the element that needs to be present for the millennial to take his/her performance to the next level?  In this case, the manager might point out that what needs to be present is turning in the assignment on time.  Sometimes this approach will work.  However, be prepared for a “helicopter parent to request a meeting with you, the manager, if that parent thinks their little twenty-something adult has not received the exclusively positive feedback they so richly deserve!