Working with Millennials

My son recently started his first post-graduation job.  On the way to that job he interned and Skyped and networked and conference-called like a pro.  He worked hard to get the chance to work hard.  My son is a Millennial.

My daughter has worked the whole time she has been in college.  She has worked during the summers and is one of the hardest workers I know.  She takes on physically grueling tasks without batting an eye.  She volunteers, tutors and is involved in numerous committees and projects at school.  My daughter is a Millennial.

The friends and acquaintances of my daughter and my son, as well as my nieces and nephews, and the children of several friends and neighbors, are following similar paths that involve work, college, graduate school, entrepreneurship or some combination of those.  They are all Millennials.

According to Wikipedia, authors William Strauss and Neil Howe were the first to coin the term "Millennials," which generally refers to people born in the late 1970s or early 1980s through the early 2000s.  Millennials have also been called Generation Y, the ME generation and the echo boomers. By next year, Millenials will be more than a third of the work force.  By 2020, they will be almost half of all workers.

A lot has been written about this generation.  Many authors have written about their sense of entitlement and their lack of commitment.  That does not sound like the Millennials I have had the pleasure to know!  Based on what I have seen from my son and daughter and their friends, there is no lack of initiative or drive. Based on what I have personally observed and experienced, Millenials as a whole are no more or less inclined toward hard work, commitment and team work than any other generation.

There are a few "differences" that make this generation unique.

• Unsurprisingly, this generation is very comfortable with technology.  They utilize technology more often and in more ways than their parents, especially social media.  For a generation that grew up with PCs in the home and cellphones in their hand since they were young, how could we expect less?
• Millennials are not tied to a location.  71% would like to work abroad at some point in their careers.  I suspect the same could have been said of Baby Boomers when they were young, especially if working abroad for so many didn't mean being drafted to serve in Viet Nam.
• This generation is highly entrepreneurial.  More than 90% of Millennials in their early 20s feel that entrepreneurship education was "vital in the new economy and job market."  This may explain why more than a third of them have started side businesses.  In an economy when computing is inexpensive and common and jobs are rare, new technology-based businesses are likely to spring up.
• This generation likes to get real time feedback on the work they are doing, a work environment that encourages them to "contribute without fear of being criticized," and to collaborate, especially when the group's goals and purpose are clear.  Who doesn't?

This generation came of age as concepts of job security and company loyalty were dying.  They came of age in this new economy and are more comfortable with the concept of mobility in the job marketplace.  Almost half expressed confidence that they could find another job easily and more than two thirds plan to switch jobs or careers when situations improve.  This generation is tech savvy and mobile.  This generation is more diverse and more tolerant than any that has come before them.  They are not as motivated by long term benefits as their parents, the Baby Boomers.  

In the end, every employer will need to work with this generation.  But it seems to me that the "challenges" of working with Millennials are really, in fact, the same challenges that an older generation ALWAYS has when it is time to start integrating the younger generation into the workplace and especially into the management of the workplace.  I do think that there are differences between Millenials and Baby Boomers, just as there were differences between Baby Boomers and the Greatest Generation.  

In the end, there are Millennials that work hard, and those who are lazy.  There are those who will work with one company their whole career and those whose resume will be much more varied and colorful.  There are tech-savvy, entrepreneurial Millennials and those who won't own a cellphone or laptop.  

In the end, we don't end up working with a generation.  We end up working with people.  Individuals.  While some of the countless articles and blogs like this one on how to work with this up and coming generation may provide useful insights, my advice is look at the individual in front of you.  Hire, fire, motivate and promote based on the people on your team, not the generations to which they belong.  

And if you happen to be the current or future employers of my kids, let them call home every once in a while.

Related articles

• The Truth about Millennials
• Millennials In The Workplace
• Insights That Lead Nowhere