Millennial Employees Are Coming, Is Your Organization Ready?

Friday, March 14, 2014

 

Boomers revolutionized the world.  Art, civil rights, consumerism, family, government, music, recreation, society, and work were radically changed by millions of the post-WWII generation, aka, the Baby Boomers.  They represent approximately 77 million or 25% of the current population.  But wait, there is an even larger generation out there, no not the Gen-X’ers, it is the Millennial generation.

 

Millennials are estimated at some 80 million and projected to make up 46% of the US workforce by 2020 and like their Baby Boomer cohorts; they are already reshaping the world and the workforce.  And the tool they are using to reshape the world is digital, from smart phones to tablets to social media, it is all about mobility, instant access to information, and constant connectivity.  For the Millennial, the mobile device is their life line to reality.  The defining characteristic for Millennials is the extent that digital technology is integrated into their very culture.

 

Millennials are expected to have a profound impact on the workforce.  Born after 1980, over half have already entered the workforce.  From the Millennials’ viewpoint, employer loyalty is not that important, personal development and work-life balance are important, financial rewards only go so far for Millennials, and the expectation of rapid advancement is their normative expectation.  One striking finding is that over half of all Millennials perceive that organizational diversity promises have not been kept by their employers.  Millennials prefer their own digital and mobile devices rather than some standard provided by their employer.

 

As daunting as this may sound, there are opportunities out there for the organization that can incorporate the Millennials’ expectations into the company’s business goals and objectives.

 

Personal Development: Provide greater opportunities to learn and grow personally and professional in both formal and informal modes.  Provide mentor programs, in-house training, paid educational leave, and teaching opportunities.

 

Work-Life Balance:  Permit greater flex schedules, work from home, work from remote or satellite locations; provide opportunities to volunteer in schools and the community.

 

Non-Financial Rewards:  Identify high visibility project assignments and leadership roles, provide travel opportunities, temporary assignments, fast-track advancements, paid sabbaticals to do research, study or volunteer.

 

Personal Digital and Mobile Devices:  Accommodate a wide range of employee owned digital and mobile devices in the workplace.

 

While many hi-tech organizations have integrated a high degree of flexibility into their organizations, more traditional legacy employers may find it difficult to accommodate such elasticity in their daily operations.  From a strictly business perspective, employee development works only if there is a direct line between the employee’s skill development and the needs of the organization.  Not every position or employee is suitable for flex schedules or working remotely.  Organizations still must maintain a competitive compensation package, even in the face of any non-financial rewards.  Any attempt to accommodate the current and future assortment of employee owned devices is likely to raise security and supports issues with an organization’s IT management.