Tomorrow’s leaders have arrived!  The largest generation in American history is rising in the ranks of the workforce.  At 92 million strong, Millennials will make up 50 percent of the U.S. workforce by 2030. Their arrival represents the first time we have seen three complete generations together in our Nation’s workforce – with improved healthcare Baby Boomers are working into their 70s right alongside Generation X (1965-1979) and now Millennials, born between 1980 and 2000.  One of the challenges, however, (and our biggest opportunity) is that Millennials are joining the business world with a very different point of view and skill sets from their older colleagues.

The Drexler/Sibbet team performance model (A comprehensive tool for understanding the stages of team development developed by Allan Drexler and David Sibbet) identifies seven stages which teams move through to be highly productive. Two of these stages which I often reinforce in my corporate training deal with trust and renewal. We focus on trust in Stage 2. This is learning to trust yourself (your own inner wisdom) and trusting others. Trust in the workplace is critical to being engaged and feeling good about the work environment. Another important stage which is often overlooked in the workplace is Stage 7, focusing on renewal. We identify how we evaluate and renew after a project is completed. How well organizations plan for this aspect of each work strategy and outcome is a good indication of how well they nurture team member. Without renewal, we push employees to burnout or shut down and ultimately low production.

It’s bad enough to pay penalties by not meeting the requirements of the PPACA, but imagine if you had to also pay excise tax penalties for not following the rules. It could happen and impact a small or mid-size company’s bottom line significantly. I feel the following explanation with excerpted material from Danielle Capilla,Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors (UBA) for which our firm is a Charter Member, would be useful to many Hampton Roads businesses.