#Leadership : How A 25-Year-Old CEO Leads A Workplace Full Of 20-Somethings…It’s Less about Age & More about Years of Experience in a Relevant Role. There are Some people Brand New to their Role [at WayUp] but have 4 Years of Experience in another Job, but I’m Going to Treat them Exactly the Same as someone who Just Graduated from College & Started Here.

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What can actually keep millennials at their jobs, with so many leaving within a year or two? Wessel says that’s the number one question she gets from businesses. Here’s why they want to move on in the first place: “One, they feel like they were promised something they didn’t get with the role. And two, they didn’t have the right information or transparency into the company regarding what they were going to be doing.”

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“I say to people, in the beginning, you definitely have to gain trust of your manager. I don’t want you going off and doing things on your own. Once you gain their trust, then do cool things.”

Picture this: College pennants cover the walls, there’s a fridge full of Red Bull , a poster of John Belushi in “Animal House,” and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Think you’re in college dorm room? Think again. Welcome to WayUp, a two-year-old startup that connects college students with internships and entry-level jobs, located in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

At the helm is 25-year-old Liz Wessel, WayUp’s cofounder and CEO. She oversees business operations and manages a team of nearly 40, most of who are fresh out of college themselves. Now running her third startup, she knows a thing or two about being the boss. But, unlike other leaders who ask themselves “How can I best manage my team?” or “How can I best work with millennials?” Wessel must ask both: “How can I best manage people my own age?”

Besides a few more senior staff members, almost everyone at WayUp is under 30; the average age is 24. How does Wessel, a millennial herself, manage people the same age? She says, “It’s less about age and more about years of experience in a relevant role. There are some people brand new to their role [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][at WayUp] but have four years of experience in another job, but I’m going to treat them exactly the same as someone who just graduated from college and started here.”

 

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Before launching WayUp with cofounder JJ Fliegelman, Wessel worked atGoogle GOOGL +0.41%, where she observed different managerial styles and, from that experience, determined how to shape her own leadership. She says one takeaway was how to build trust with new employees, especially those that are just starting out. “I say to people, in the beginning, you definitely have to gain trust of your manager. I don’t want you going off and doing things on your own. Once you gain their trust, then do cool things.”

What does Wessel wish she knew? “Turnover and firing is normal. Don’t take it personally and don’t [be afraid to] fire someone because of X, Y or Z excuses. It’s for the best.”

This time a year ago, Wessel had six or seven employees. She forecasts ending 2016 with around 50. With an ever-expanding team, Wessel says what she enjoys most as its leader is learning alongside her employees and figuring out complicated issues. What she finds frustrating is when a team member doesn’t understand something that comes naturally to her. “Sometimes when someone can’t figure something out and it’s so obvious to me…it gets frustrating,” she says. “It’s one of those situations where we’re the same exact age, I know this, you should know this, we have the same kind of experience. I just think overall I have to remind myself that I have two years more of experience at this specific company doing this kind of job than they do.”

On her personal leadership style, Wessel puzzles for a moment, “Maybe empowering? I’m a little more tough love than nurturing. I just want them to learn and figure it out.” Wessel, a 2016 30 Under 30 In Enterprise Technology, can relate to her industrious employees because she wants the same things out of her career. “The positives [of managing millennials] are that they aspire to do so many things, they want to achieve, and by ‘they’ I mean me, too. They want to achieve a ton, they want to learn, they want to grow, they always want to prove that they can accomplish great things.” Their enterprising nature, however, is also one of the largest downsides of managing them. “It’s definitely harder to retain millennials because they want to try out so many things.” Wessel explains that losing great employees to other companies is hard for her because she’s missing out on great talent, but she also personally understands why they want to try out new opportunities.

What can actually keep millennials at their jobs, with so many leaving within a year or two? Wessel says that’s the number one question she gets from businesses. Here’s why they want to move on in the first place: “One, they feel like they were promised something they didn’t get with the role. And two, they didn’t have the right information or transparency into the company regarding what they were going to be doing.”

She says the fixes are getting content out there about what specific roles entail and having internal mobility opportunities so employees can know where they’re headed. “That’s how they’ll know their way up (no pun intended) and get promoted,” she says. She also explains that giving feedback is imperative. Drawing on her own experiences as an employee, she’s implemented several layers of feedback for employees so they have a sense for how they’re doing and what they can improve on.

What does Wessel wish she knew? “Turnover and firing is normal. Don’t take it personally and don’t [be afraid to] fire someone because of X, Y or Z excuses. It’s for the best.”

But it’s not all business all the time at WayUp. Young employees enjoy a number of perks that keep them happy, like free lunch on Wednesdays, outings in the city, beer on Fridays, and quarterly “Thirsty Thursdays,” where they invite friends and turn the office into a frat house. Even so, in Wessel’s opinion, “The number one perk is that we’re always going to push you to learn more.”

 

Forbes.com | May 18, 2016 | Natalie Sportelli

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