EP 201: How agency owners can bridge the millennial employee divide with Chris Tuff

Millennials (people born from 1981-1996) comprise the largest and most diverse generation in American history. Most agency owners are either older millennials or Gen X or Boomers. When it comes to leading the team — sometimes those two worlds collide. They're coming at the world with completely different expectations, wants, needs and goals. Whenever I talk with agency owners, they almost always talk about the frustrations that come from that disparity. Who are these people and how do we manage and motivate them?

In this episode, I ask these questions of agency owner and millennial whisperer Chris Tuff. After living it, researching it, and then literally writing the go-to book on the subject, Chris has some wisdom to share.

The perception is that millennials don't have the same work ethic that we had at their age. However, the reality is we aren't from different planets, despite the fact that the world and the work environment today is vastly different from what many of us experienced when we were breaking into the business. Chris and I dig into perceptions and misperceptions of hiring and leading millennials with the goal of understanding what motivates them, the role of culture, and the fact that we are all people in different stages of life. Hopefully, this will give you some tangible takeaways to help you engage with, inspire, get inspired by, and work with millennials – to everyone's benefit.

Chris Tuff is a partner at the advertising agency 22squared in Atlanta, GA, where he successfully attracts, motivates, and whispers to Millennials every day. When Chris isn't working, he kiteboards, mountain bikes, runs and spends quality time with his wife and two daughters.

What You Will Learn in this Episode:

• Why managing Millennials doesn't have to be so challenging for older agency owners
• Why transparency is so important for Millennial employees
• The kinds of leadership that Millennials are seeking
• How to make promoting culture and company goals the job of everyone in the agency
• What to look for in Millennial candidates
• How to make a contract-to-hire "test drive" worth the risk for both the candidate and you
• The benefits that Millennials are seeking
• What the Millennial-owned company of the (very near) future will look like
• Why diversity and inclusion are not optional with Millennials

Ways to Contact Chris Tuff:

• Website: http://www.22squared.com/
• Millennial Leadership Assessment tool: https://www.theMillennialwhisperer.com/Millennial-leadership-assessment/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophertuff/