What does it mean to be a leader for the new generation of professionals? - Interview with Nikola Miličić

When your teams are made up of Millennials and Gen Z, leadership starts to look a lot more like listening, adapting, and creating space for growth. So what does modern leadership really mean today?

A leader stopped being a boss the moment we realized that “control” without understanding leads to turnover, not results.

In our team, Division 2, we are spending more time listening than giving orders.

Our job is not just to understand what needs to be done, but why it matters to the young professionals we work with. Today’s leadership in the BPO sector is about unlocking potential, not locking down procedures. We believe that a true leader creates space for others to grow, speak, and shine. We are trying to lead with empathy, not authority, because we have seen that the best outcomes come when people feel heard, not commanded.

Young professionals aren’t showing up just for a paycheck. They’re looking for purpose, growth, and recognition. What truly motivates people to stay, especially when things get tough?

Salary is just the entry ticket. What truly keeps young people engaged is purpose. When you show them that their ideas don’t just land in a suggestion box, but actually get implemented the next day – that’s when you win them over.

Motivation in the outsourcing industry comes from recognition, a supportive team, a healthy work environment, and a sense of belonging. We value healthy competition and we believe that every meaningful idea deserves space to be tested.

In essence, Gen Z in our team doesn’t have to choose between their job and identity as they’re encouraged to build both. We also offer flexible employee benefits, tailored training programs, and space for personal projects, because there is no universal recipe for growth.

Most training sessions fade by morning. But some stay with you, not because they were packed with information, but because they felt real.

So the question is: How do you design training that doesn’t just inform, but transforms?

The best BPO training program we ever created, looked more like an escape room than a training session. No slides – just a challenge, a team, and a time limit.

They learned through play, through mistakes, through laughter. People don’t learn when watching PowerPoint, they learn when they feel part of a story.

Candidates are spending a full live day with future teammates, so they can experience the energy, the challenges, and the real faces behind the job. It’s one of our strongest employer branding strategies.

And then there’s always that one person. The one who walks into a training as part of the group and walks out thinking, acting, and leading differently. Do you know someone like that? We’d love to hear their story.

My story is one of the many. This is my first job since moving to Belgrade from Slovenia. I didn’t expect much, just a paycheck and a way to survive. But what I got was the experience of a lifetime. After 8 and a half years, I’m in one of the company’s leading roles. And most of our BPO leadership team shared the same story. The secret? Hard work, persistence, discipline, a bit of talent, some luck, and above all – love for what you do. Leadership development in the BPO industry isn’t handed over. It’s earned. And if you work genuinely, your path will reveal itself 100%.

Internal promotions can be the strongest tool for loyalty, but only if they’re real.

Once someone’s mindset shifts and they’re ready to grow. How do you keep up with that momentum? More specifically, how do you balance between creating real opportunities and managing the team’s expectations?

In Silver Bell Group career advancement in BPO doesn’t happen to ‘fill a gap.’ If someone gets a new opportunity, it’s because we’ve recognized their growth. We always make it clear: ‘This isn’t just a title. This is trust, and it comes with responsibility.’

When people see their ideas get recognition, when they feel their input matters, they stay not for the contract, but for the meaning.

That’s why we hold monthly performance evaluations. We track results, but more importantly, we highlight individuals who consistently stand out. It’s through those evaluations that we identify talent and make informed decisions when choosing future leaders.

What happens when the team scales quickly, but leaders don’t have time to grow with it? How do you lead in moments when expectations are high, but the tools aren’t fully there yet?

Rapid growth can be managed but only with intentional planning and structured support. My team and I don’t believe in reactive leadership. We stay several steps ahead by identifying emerging BPO leaders early on and tracking their progress through regular performance evaluations and hands-on experience.

We monitor patterns, not just results. Through monthly evaluations, we’re able to spot not only current high performers, but also those showing consistent growth and leadership potential. This gives us time to prepare them, support them, and give them the tools they’ll need before they step into new roles.

We treat leadership development the same way we treat client growth, with forecasting, scenario planning, and even case studies from past promotions. You’re only as strong as your Plan B.

Ambition can build a team, but it can also quietly drain it. How do you spot the moment when even your strongest people start to burn out?

The first sign of burnout? When your most engaged people go silent. Literally. Burnout in the BPO workplace doesn’t show in performance, it shows in attitude.

My first solutions to preventing burnout aren’t revolutionary.

I start with regular 1:1 conversations. Not only when something’s off, but especially when everything seems fine. Because I’ve learned the hard way — “fine” is often the quiet before the storm.

I also actively encourage people to take their vacation days. Time off isn’t a luxury; it’s part of how we recognize and reward effort. We even build bonus time off into our recognition system -  not as a perk, but as a necessity.

I don’t believe in glorifying overtime. I believe in 8 fully focused hours of work, followed by 8 hours of real rest. That’s what makes the difference.

Dedicated work without dedicated rest isn’t sustainable.

Sometimes, the biggest lessons don’t come from those who stay but from those who leave. Is there a “goodbye” conversation that changed the way you think about leadership?

One colleague once told me during his resignation: ‘Nikola, I didn’t leave because of the salary. I left because I no longer knew where I was going here.’

That moment changed me. It taught me that people don’t stay too long in the same chair – they stay too long without a clear map. Since then, I make sure everyone knows not just where they are, but where they could be in six months.

As Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations: “A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.” That stayed with me – because leadership isn’t just about managing the present, but about helping others imagine and reach their future.

The BPO world will keep evolving. AI will change workflows. Expectations will keep rising. Young people will keep asking for more. As someone shaping the next generation of leaders, what kind of workplace do you hope they inherit from you? And what are you doing today to make that future possible?

I want the young leaders coming after me to never have to fight for a voice. It should be given to them from the start. I want them to build teams with heart, not just with KPIs.

My team and I are building a culture where feedback is welcomed, mistakes are part of the process, and AI in BPO operations is a tool, not a judge. I want to leave behind a place where people don’t work for the company, but with it. Motivation in the outsourcing industry depends on trust, autonomy, and a shared mission. That’s exactly what we’re committed to shaping.