Do You Have a Middle Child on Your Team?
You’re a leader. You have your senior team members. They’ve been with you for a while now. They’re experienced, maybe leading their own teams. They’ve found their place in your organisation and are well-known. They have built a strong reputation and are happy doing their ‘thing’. They’ve achieved success and have been rewarded and recognised. They’re respected and trusted and as such experience a high degree of autonomy, responsibility and flexibility.
You also have your recent recruits. Your newbies who have just joined your team. All bright and shiny. They’re enthusiastic, optimistic and eager to learn. They’re discovering a new role and finding their feet in your organisation. They tend to have less responsibility as they go through their onboarding process. Everything is exciting and new. You welcome them warmly. Through their induction, they are reminded of why this organisation is the place for them. They hear success stories and it seems like there is endless opportunity and potential.
And then you have your ‘middle children’. Your team members who have been in your organisation for over a year or more but are not yet part of the furniture. For these people, the honeymoon phase is over. The new job feel has well and truly worn off. The optimism and excitement of the first year or two is now forgotten. Reality has well and truly set in. They now know what they don’t know. They’re often working long hours, dealing with clients demands on a daily basis and it’s hard work. They feel neglected and overlooked.
As a leader, every hour is rush hour. It’s go, go, go and when you’re busy, your middle children can be the first to be forgotten.
It’s easy to connect with your senior team members; you probably attend meetings with them, ask them for a second opinion and attend functions together. And similarly, with your new recruits. There’s meet and greet events, the onboarding process and induction training. There are lots of touch points for both your senior and new team members but not so many for your middle children.
Research from Friday (a company that tracks employee happiness) and the staffing firm Robert Half found that employees are typically their happiest and least stressed during their first year in a new job. Their study found that happiness levels drop, and stress levels increase significantly in the second year with an employer. Those levels rebound in the following years.
Similarly, data from the Legal Firm of Choice Survey 2019, found that – on a scale of one to five, lawyers with less than one year of experience have a satisfaction rating of 3.91, which drops to 3.41 a few years later. “When graduate lawyers enter law firms, their satisfaction levels are relatively high, but this drops off significantly once lawyers have one to three years of experience under their belts, says Momentum Intelligence head of research Michael Johnson.”
As a leader, if you neglect these critical people in your team, you run the risk of them walking out the door to find the next new shiny opportunity. A new workplace where they will be appreciated and valued. Think about this: all that time, money and energy; recruiting, onboarding, training, culturally immersing and building relationships, only to have them leave your team for another opportunity.
So, how do you keep your middle children engaged, excited and productive?
Create a peer squad. Work friends can make their days more fun. To deepen these connections, make a concerted effort to promote social and professional events to build camaraderie with this group of team members.
Promote proactivity. Build a culture where instead of waiting for you to assign them new projects, they will be proactive and talk to you about taking on assignments that will build their skills. Maybe mentoring a new recruit or working with a senior leader on a client project.
Show appreciation. Reward and recognise their hard work and dedication. Take the time to give positive feedback and make sure they know that their efforts are being noticed.
Dive deeper. Get to know them on a deeper level; more about who they are, their values, their purpose.
Set goals together. Find out what they want to learn next; the skills and knowledge they want to develop and help them achieve it. Set a plan of action.
I remember that when I was middle child working for a law firm, there were times when I felt invisible and unappreciated. I felt that 'mum and dad' didn't care about me about more. I believed that one of the senior leaders would have to retire or die before I would get a promotion. (a little extreme, I know! Ha-ha)
I had big ambitions, but it was tough to stay motivated and engaged year after year. I remember it was a couple of leaders in the firm who invested in my learning and development who kept me on track and working hard.
Your middle children are such a valuable asset to your team. If treated well, they will lift the morale of your entire team, be employee brand ambassadors for your organisation and go above and beyond for your clients. Sounds like a win-win, right?
Midja x