Millennial Employees in the Workplace

Friday, December 14, 2012

In 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reported on its survey of 4,364 university graduates in 75 countries releasing a study on Millennial employees at work in its analysis titled “Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace 2011”. PwC perceives that Millennials are expected to be an influential cohort of employees. It is believed that Millennials who process the correct talents and skills will be in extraordinary demand for those talent and skill sets. Millennials are expected to command both significant remuneration and direct how, where, and when they will work. Lastly, PwC envisions Millennials may very well be a challenge to manage for many of their employers.

According to Pew Research, Millennial employees are those born between 1977 and 1992 and are now entering the workplace. So what is significant about this generation? For one thing, they have grown up in a digital domain online real-time world encompassing an explosion of PC’s, Internet, WiFi, Cell and Smart Phones, laptops, tablets, and a propensity for 24-7 connectivity.

Pew Research notes, the Millennial generation is:

     • The most ethnically/racially diverse group in the nation's history.

     • The most politically progressive group in modern history.

     • The first cohort to regard digital behaviors as commonplace.

     • The least religiously observant cohort.

     • They are inclined toward trust in institutions.

Why are Millennial employees important to employers? They are the second largest segment of the population after Baby Boomers, 30% vs. 34% respectively. Generation X comes in a distant third at 19%. So as Boomers reach age 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day, many vacated jobs will be filled with Millennial cohorts. And since we know that many Boomers are planning to work beyond their normal retirement age, this could be a source of conflict in the workplace employers will have to address.

Michael A. Olguin, writing for Inc 5000 on April 13, 2012, identified five motivational characteristics of the Millennial worker:

“1. Reinforce the positives

Millennials need constant affirmation and positive reinforcement in order to feel like they are doing a good job.

2. Recognize that each person is different ...

Like any group, not all millennials are the same. Therefore, it's important to not implement a "one size fits all" approach to managing them.

3. Be flexible

Millennials by nature don't really like rules. They grew up in an environment where parents asked their opinions, allowed them to make decisions, and rarely pushed something on them that they didn't like.

4. Allow as much ownership as possible

The best way to handle a Millennial's feelings of entitlement is to provide them with a lot of responsibility.

5. Don't be vague

Millennials are not good at interpreting what you meant and rarely succeed when put into a situation to "wing it" themselves. Though they want responsibility and authority, they are uncomfortable without having some sort of framework for the task at hand. “