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The New Generation of Millennials

on January 22, 2011

By now, it’s common knowledge that the new generation “Y” also known as Millennials  (those born between 1980 and 2000) are arriving in the corporate world and unlike any of the generations before them (Generation X and Baby Boomers), they have quite a unique take on life and on career progression.

Millennials are worthy of consideration for various reasons including that there is a significant number of them, over 75 Million and they will have a significant impact on the workplace over the next few years. These are the future leaders of the corporate world. They are also consumers and therefore have a significant impact on the economy. Any progressive company that plans on staying in touch with the changing times needs to understand this younger generation and be prepared to make some changes to accommodate them.

To begin with, Millennials have been raised by parents that are intimately involved in all aspects of their lives and are generally determined to ensure they succeed in life. This includes intervening in their lives as necessary, even in the workplace. These parents taught their kids that success is a given for them. Coming into the workplace, this generation assumes that they are special and will be treated accordingly. This is juxtaposed against those who have had to fight hard for their success and therefore acquired the drive and determination to work hard.

Luckily, Millenials are a bright generation that is tapped into the latest technology available and unfazed by a fast paced environment. They absorb information at an alarming rate and multi-tasking is ingrained in their psyche.  One of their greatest strengths is the ability to connect quickly and widely. Social networking and texting have opened up them up to sharing everything about themselves and they bring this philosophy into the workplace. This is already having an impact in the workplace as companies implement new types of interactive software that allows employees to share their work and status in real time. This fosters an environment where collaboration is the norm.

Leadership for Millenials is also an area of some disconnect with the realities of the business world. Millenials do not have the same sense of automatic respect for leadership as previous generations for several reasons including that they believe that they will soon be the leaders and do a better job. This comes from a self-centric sense of entitlement. Another reason for the inherent lack of respect is that they know that they won’t be in the same job for long. In fact, as they arrive in the door, chances are they are already thinking about their next career move. They don’t need to have a sense of loyalty and they won’t be living and breathing the company.  In fact, they will be looking at what the company can offer them and if it’s not to their liking, they will move on. They can afford to do this because they have their parents to rely on for help including moving back home if necessary.

The biggest challenge for employers will be how to keep this generation motivated and interested. Mundane or tedious work assignments will send them packing because they are big thinkers that are used to a fast pace with constant stimulation.

Some of their priorities include flexible and mobile work environments and management that treats them as born special. They will be looking for supportive managers that replace the role their parents played – mentors and coaches that are vested in their success.

Millenials were born into a period of of generally healthy economic conditions but now the unemployement levels in the U.S. are at 9%. Some foresee that recovery from the current recession will will take years and therefore unemployment will remain high. Millenials think that they need to be appreciated or they will just move on to a better job; perhaps this is true, but it can easily turn around when the the job market starts to dry up.

But Millennials will soon be learning their own lessons about the corporate word. Business is about the harsh reality of meeting the financial bottomline and ultimately everything is geared around that premise. When times are good and companies need to attract good employees they will implement retention programs, like basketball courts and video game rooms.  But as soon as the economy goes into a slump, the first thing to dissappear are employee perks. Suddenly, everyone is just concerned with keeping their job.

If employees don’t meet their performance objectives, they won’t survive in the business world.  They are also being managed by Generation X which was a driven generation with an incredible work ethic. To compete with that, Millennials will have to show they can do things better and more efficiently. And as Generation X is busy attending seminars on how to mentor Millenials, they will also need to be convinced on how Millenials add value.

Copyright  © 2011 The BlackJag Executive All Rights Reserved



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