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Without experience or in the face of limited work experience, refined expectations for what it means to work or what to expect in terms of communicative role behaviors from a manager may largely be composed of desires. Therein lies the tension; if young adults are unable or unwilling to see work processes and managerial behavior the way that they are, they may reorient their attention from realistic expectations to a focus on their individual desires and preferences. Through a sequential-explanatory mixed-method design (focus groups and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), prominent managerial archetypes are explored, categorized, and validated. The archetypes are composed of sets of corresponding communicative and relational behaviors that encompass common approaches to managing. Conversation regarding the overlap and divergence of desires with actual manager communication behaviors may better prepare matriculating students as they transition into the workplace.

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Purpose While Millennials are the most educated generation to date, the unique contributions of higher education as a source of vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) for organizational success remains unknown. Thus, this paper aims to establish a formative understanding from the student perspective of how faculty help ready the youngest of the Millennial generation for industry. This also allows for a comparison to their older counterparts. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online mixed-methods survey with nearly 400 Millennials (n = 353). Findings Two prominent themes emerged including the professor as a socialization agent, where Millennials report learning from faculty as they are “managers of the classroom.” Additionally, the data indicate that many Millennials doubt the strength of the connection between higher education and career socialization, though a smaller cohort reported using the university environment, and more specifically, their interactions with faculty to practice and refine future workplace behaviors. In contrast to parents and peers, faculty nearly always ranked as the lowest source of VAS information. Research limitations/implications Some Millennials demonstrate a keen awareness of the importance of relational communication, boding especially well for their relationships with future managers and for their leadership skills as they transition into positions of management. Practical implications Faculty should consider how to address three concerns: a potential lack of perceived relevance, workplace inferences based on college experiences and leveraging interactions to strengthen student practice of professional communication. Managers would be well served to anticipate how to address newcomers’ expectations that stem from interpreting communicative experiences in the college classroom as analogous to workplace interactions. Originality/value The data indicate that traditional ideas about the impact of vocational anticipatory socialization sources and messaging need to be rethought, and instead, it appears some of the most fruitful socialization experiences faculty can provide is in giving students space and opportunity to practice and refine future workplace behaviors.

Although meta-analyses provide clear evidence of which leader behaviors result in outcomes such as employee performance, commitment, and intent to leave, qualitative approaches are necessary to understand how managers perceive and enact their roles in situ. In this mixed methods study, in-depth interviews with managers are considered in tandem with open-ended responses from managers. By soliciting metaphors from both managers and members, we can better exemplify the interdependent nature of this relationship. Data indicate metaphors describe powerful, empowered, or powerless managers, where these categories are then mapped and put into conversation with classic and contemporary approaches to enacting leadership. Findings help to explain the perceptual gap often reported between leaders and members, and pragmatic findings are offered for employees of all ranks and HR managers.