Building Resilience in Your Early-Career Talent
The number of generations in the workforce is colliding with the intensifying pace of change. Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z are already working side by side. Gen Alpha will begin entering the workforce within the next few years. Early-career talent is absorbing the impacts of that change with less experience to draw from, which makes resilience essential to how they adapt and grow. Leaders who build resilience in their early-career talent from the start are building the future leaders who will carry the organization forward.
Resilience can be measured by an individual’s capacity to withstand high-stress environments. Data from the Deloitte Gen Z and Millennial Survey reveals younger workers are experiencing peak burnout at earlier ages.
Deloitte’s research also shows these generations care strongly about purpose, flexibility, mental health, and belonging, which makes the Four Pillars of The Deliberate Path a good fit for building resilience. By tying day-to-day work to meaning, stability, growth, and choice, leaders make resilience more practical and accessible for their early-career team members.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the former Managing Director of National Emerging Company Services for PwC, Rev. Claire Hayes. We specifically talked about building resilience in early-career employees. She said, “One of the reasons I loved working at PwC was inviting people to live to their highest potential and encouraging them to play to their strengths.”
“Leading early-career team members boils down to maintaining open communication, and being honest about sharing difficulties you’ve had and how you overcame them. Then, by helping people connect to their purpose and align their heart, mind, and soul, they come from a very authentic and resilient place.”
Keep your North Star in sight.
Your challenge is to help your early-career team members stay clear-headed. In other words, don’t let the organization’s confusion confuse them. Knowing their purpose and revisiting it regularly helps these employees maintain balance and well-being amid uncertainty and change.
Encouraging early-career talent to align to their purpose helps them stay grounded and make meaningful contributions. It reframes stress and makes it easier to persist through uncertainty. This is especially true when work is framed around impact, values, or customer needs. Leaders can reinforce this by explaining the “why” behind decisions, rather than just delegating a list of tasks.
Share the prosperity of resources.
Leaders who understand the importance of prosperity in their organizations give employees the support they need to handle change and uncertainty. For Gen Z and Millennial workers, this usually means opportunities to grow, investment in their skills, fair compensation, and job security. These efforts help lower anxiety and strengthen resilience. This helps employees feel confident that the organization is building a future they want to be a part of.
During our conversation, Rev. Claire shared, “As a leader, I work to ensure resources are available for everyone to do their jobs, and often the resources people need most are emotional ones.”
Add Joy to the work.
Joy supports resilience by reducing burnout and making work more sustainable. According to Deloitte, Gen Z and Millennials care deeply about mental health and work-life balance. Leaders can strengthen resilience and create a more humane workplace with more opportunities for celebration and lightheartedness. When leaders bring their own joy to work, show empathy and emotional intelligence, they help maintain joy and steady performance.
Rev. Claire is a steadfast proponent of building joy in the workplace. She says it’s about “understanding their own personal values and what motivates them, and what brings them joy in their work and in life. This, in itself, builds resilience by fostering strong relationships with the people around you. Just knowing that you support one another in the best and highest way.”
Make room for more freedom.
Leaders can improve resilience by fostering the freedom to experiment, encouraging problem-solving, and giving employees room to adapt. More autonomy and chances to make personal choices help employees feel less trapped when conditions change. This kind of freedom strengthens resilience by giving employees agency to create their own path forward. As Rev. Claire illustrated in her work at PwC, nurturing resilience in early-career employees is not only rewarding personally but it’s a smart strategic move.
Introducing Tech Life by Design
Over the past few months, several early-career professionals have reached out to me for guidance navigating the complexity of work and the resilience it takes to keep showing up. I saw a need for coaching. I also saw a need for connection, a space where peers could grow together. This inspired me to launch Tech Life by Design, a 14-week program that gives early-career women in tech the tools to navigate that complexity and build resilience, plus a community to grow their careers authentically.
Applications are now open for the inaugural group of 10 early-career women in tech (3-10 years). If you, or someone you know, is interested in joining this supportive community, visit the Tech Life by Design page to discover more.
I would love to hear your stories, comments and questions about leading early-career talent. Reply to this email with your thoughts.
In future issues, we’ll provide more practical strategies and insights, along with real-life examples from leaders I’ve worked with, to help you lead in today’s complex world.
Stay tuned!
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