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

Monday, Monday

"Monday Monday, can't trust that day, Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way"             

The Mamas and the Papas

Why are there so many songs celebrating the weekend and lamenting Monday?  Why are so many of them country songs?  Why does Monday have such a bad reputation?  Why is Wednesday known as "Hump Day"?  Why does the weekend go by so fast?  These are questions I have.

In November 2013 issue of Inc., there is an article titled "29 Skills Every Founder Needs to Master."
Number three on their list is "How to Love Your Own Company."

According to Brooks Bell, CEO of the eponymous technology company, not even founders always look forward to coming into the office.  "Everyone assumes the company's CEO is fully committed to the vision.  The truth is, a lot of CEO's aren't."

She goes on to talk about how her company had become opportunistic and were chasing after every customer and every sale instead of being focused and strategic.  The company she started, HER company, was no longer fun to work at.

Ms. Bell refocused the company so that it was more in line with her vision.  While the transition was painful ("...the most difficult moment I've ever had.") it set the company back on track.  It made the company, and her job, more exciting and rewarding.

Most of us do not have the opportunity to refocus our companies to make work more enjoyable.  But we have some influence on how our jobs are focused.  And how we focus on our jobs.  If you find yourself not loving what you do, not having fun, find something that you DO love, and chase after it.  Whether its in your current job, or your next one.

For those of you who have people working for you, it is important to think of this from their perspective.  Doesn't it make sense to operate your department, division or company in a way that makes employees excited about Monday?  Doesn't it make sense to engage your staff so that they have the opportunity to help you keep the company focused and with a clear vision?  Doesn't it make sense to help your staff learn to love their jobs?

Wouldn't it be nice to hear a happy song about Mondays?

"Most of my life I have done what I wanted to do.  I have had fun on the job." 

 Walt Disney

The Poetry of Immediate Feedback

In a poetry slam, a poet gets up in front of a live audience and a handful of judges who have numbered cards and reads his or her poetry.  The poetry slam I have been to was a loud raucous event, fueled by alcohol, a rock band and an emcee with a sarcastic sense of humor.

The appeal of a poetry slam for the audience is easy to see.  You get to cheer and jeer as the spirit moves you.  You get to hear short creative works, presented by their creators and pass certain and swift judgement on their creation.  It has a bit of a Roman Coliseum feel to it.

It had me wondering, however, what the appeal was to the poets who participate.  The prize money is small and the venue is obscure.  The crowd can be downright hostile.  What would drive a poet, presumably a soul sensitive enough to create poetry worthy of performance, to step in front of the verbal firing line of the poetry slam.

Then it occurred to me.  For the poet, the appeal of the slam was the feedback, immediate feedback.  Audiences at slams hold little back.  If they think something is funny, you will hear belly laughs.  If something touches them, they don't hide their tears.  And if they don't like what they are hearing...well, let's just say the poet finds out about it!

Employees are no different than the poets at the slam.  They are hungry for feedback.  They are willing to stick their neck out, if means getting feedback.  Especially if its immediate feedback.

Feedback is a powerful and often neglected management tool.  The things about feedback is that it has a fairly short half life.  The power of feedback diminishes as the distance increases between the situation/action/event being critiqued and the feedback of that situation/action/event.

Too many managers see that annual evaluation process as a time for feedback.  If the first time your staff member is hearing about what you thought about something they did is during the annual evaluation session, you might as well save your breath.  Because unless the thing you are talking about happened on the way into the meeting, it probably won't have any impact.

At a poetry slam, poets almost always know if the audience likes their poem long before they finish reading their three minute creation.  If it is bad enough, the poet won't even get to finish.

I am not suggesting that we start providing managers with numbered cards and encourage them to cut people off in mid-sentance.  I am, however, suggesting that managers should connect their feedback as closely as possible to the situation being evaluated.  Otherwise it is a bit like someone saying, "I like the haircut you got last April."

If you ask most employees about what they lack, 

My estimation is they will say feedback.

It is easy and cheap to address that need

In a timely and forthright manner, indeed.

I am ready to be booed off the stage!

Recognition vs. Ceremonies

In this tough economy, many companies are driven to eliminate any extraneous expenses.  Gone are the company cars, a good chunk of the expense account, the Christmas bonuses, Free Lunch Fridays, the "extraneous" raises, and so forth.  For the record, I have never worked anywhere that actually had a Free Lunch Friday.

The point is that as companies eliminate these expensive "perks," they would be wise to replace them with other low cost recognitions.  Even in tight times, especially in tight times, employees crave the emotional boost that recognition provides them.  In times of budget cuts and belt tightening, employees get nervous.  Recognitions can alleviate or at least mitigate their anxiety.  Recognition also helps to communicate and reinforce company values.  The company values what it recognizes and rewards.

The thing about employee recognitions or celebrations is that it is MUCH more important that they be sincere and timely than that they have a price tag of any significance.  A recent study suggests that the three things that workers want is interesting work, appreciation for the work that they do, and feeling as if they are being adequately communicated with.

If staff members have to wait until the annual Staff Celebration Breakfast to get the bronze plaque for the good job they did, they will value it much less than a sincere thank you from a supervisor that they get at a staff meeting immediately after a successful project.

So cut out the Annual Staff Recognition Awards Banquet if you must, but make sure that you redouble your efforts to give staff true recognition and genuine thanks when they go above and beyond.