Characteristics Of Millennials

“After a century of trying to control people, processes and information, we have come to a point in organizational history where we need to recognize that what worked before just simply isn’t enough anymore.” This goes to prove that over time just like everything else evolves our behaviors towards our colleagues has to evolve as well. And management has to learn the new behaviors of his/her employees. The Millennials and generation Z needs to know that they are appreciated and need to be challenged before they get bored, hence the reason why managers need to learn

Millennials have a different point of view on what they expect on their work experience. Most

Today, the workforce is made up of many different generations, which is affecting and effectively changing the workplace culture as a whole. The major generational differences between millennials and baby boomers can be either positive or negative depending on whom you ask. Boomers may categorize millennials as lazy and entitled, while millennials may call themselves innovative. No matter what they call themselves or each other, they all have to work together now as simply as that. This topic has sparked a lot of discussion as to how it’s best for each generation to act and deal with their other generational coworkers.

To start, this shift towards a shared economy is giving Millennials a bad reputation. Instead of focusing on their spending habits, Huffington Post blogger, Tim Urban, targets the work ethics of the younger generations in his article, “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.” In fact, Urban believes that younger generations were too spoiled in their childhood, so by the time adulthood hit they were destined to be failures. In addition to

Many employers are challenged with handling the millennial due to the lack of proper understanding of this generation since there is plenty of myths, propagated through anecdotes and assumptions. However the separation of the myths and the facts is important for an organization so as

Upon reflecting on the three main generations that comprise the workplace today, a few differences emerge. “Baby Boomers” grew up in a time when movements were prominent, the Vietnam War occurred, key figures were assassinated, the Watergate Scandal occurred, and television was introduced (Twenge et al., 2010; Schullery, 2013). Overall, “Baby Boomers” seem to exhibit a distrust of authority, value hard work, and want to enjoy their achievements (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2010). As such, they are results driven and give their utmost effort (Robbins & Judge, 2015). “Generation X” grew up in a time of computers, divorce, two career parents, MTV, and economic uncertainty (Twenge et al., 2010; Robbins & Judge, 2015). For the most part, they seem to exhibit the workplace behaviors of independence and a lack of commitment to employers (Twenge et al., 2010). They value a balance between work and life and place more focus on extrinsic rewards such as monetary compensation (Twenge et al., 2010). “Millennials” grew up in prosperous times with technology dominating the era and over-protective parents (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Schullery, 2013). Generally, they seem to place a greater value on employee benefits, leisure time, teamwork, and open communication (Society of Human Resource Management, 2004; Twenge, 2010; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). In addition, they have also been given the labels of “self-centered” and “entitled” (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010).

They deplore the fact that a post-secondary education is no longer an automatic ticket to the perks of a middle class lifestyle. They also demonstrate distaste for institutions and labels, and feel that freedom of expression and liberation of self is fundamental for positive change. On that token, one of the most controversial topics of comparison between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials is that of work ethic. Boomers are often thought of as being hard-working and industrious. They often tie much of their self-worth directly to their professional achievements. They are often competitive which drives them to take on a host of professional responsibilities. This keeps them motivated and self-assured. Millennials have a tendency to want to start at the top, side-stepping the entry level positions and the upper rings of corporate ladder that Boomers dedicated decades of their time to

Over the next decade, it will be a challenge for employers to attract, keep, and develop a skilled work force for numerous different reasons ranging from the evolution of technology to fewer foreign students coming to America for work. Adding to the problem, companies are finding themselves managing four generations of workers. Based on their generation’s life experiences, each group has its own diverse characteristics, standards, and attitudes towards work. The four generations are as follows: Silents (1925-1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation Xers (1965-1980), Generation Ys or Millennials (born after 1980). It is up to management to relate and motivate employees of different age groups. The purpose of this paper is to inform readers

Before we look at any issue, any good psychologist will first evaluate their own bias. Although it is impossible to eliminate bias from any situation, it is important to, at the very least, identify the source of said bias. So before this essay considers the question of millennials in the workplace, let it first be known that the authors are, if not millennials, riding very closely behind millennials’ coattails.

In a work environment everybody wants to climb the totem pole. For Millennials, they want to rise to leadership without working too hard for it. They are trying to reach the leadership positions as fast as they can and at times they are unprepared for the position they enter because they have not experienced enough along the way. Where Millennials are too fast to rise to leadership, people considered to be Generation X, who are known for their hard work ethic and experience are often complacent in the workplace. Though they gained their experience (unlike Millennials) by working their way up the chain of command and gradually paying their dues and though they also do not expect to be handed a higher position, like Millennials who feel entitled to higher positions in the workplace, they are also not as motivated as Millennials. (Bresman)

Millennials tend to be technologically advanced and eager to learn. They also value social responsibility and team-work. They are often seen as impatient and quick to express opinions without having all of the data. Millennials are quick to jump-ship if they do not feel if they are progressing fast enough, often at speeds that might be seen as unreasonable. Dayan (2005) says that about 5.6 million Millennials are about to enter the employment market. Millennials are said to be the most challenging generation for employers.

Many changes are happening in the workforce today. Our labor environment consists of multiple generations, which creates fundamentally differing approaches to everything from work ethics, business management, and co-worker cooperation. The most recent generation, commonly known as “Generation Y” or the “Millennial” generation, is slowly taking over the workforce. Because they bring with them a radically new mindset and opinion of labor, the global business infrastructure should be modified to not only accommodate “Millennials,” but also to remain sympathetic to the business practices characteristic of previous generations. Doing so will provide more harmony and productivity among co-workers of different generational backgrounds.

In an interview of 2016, Simon Sinek analyses and discusses the topic of Millennials within the workplace. Throughout Sinek’s speech in his interview, he explains the disadvantages which Millennials have faced while growing up in their generation. Now, Sinek claims that the reason why Millennials have been dealt such a “bad hand” in life, is a result of failed parenting strategies, and an imbalance of technology along with social media (which has advanced like never before within the adolescence of Millennials). Therefore, the imbalance of the internet and real-life interaction results in millennials being unable to form deep and meaningful relationships, in order to carry out happy and meaningful live in comparison to previous

The upcoming generation, millennials, are a new type of generation. They have proven to be the most educated generation, despite the hard times in the economy. Yet they still face criticism from their elders on their work ethic. Although they seem to all be lazy and not interested in working, not all millennials are like that. They just have different values in life, and balance work life with free time. Millennials have faced a lot of criticism on their work ethic, which has many questioning do millennials have a strong work ethic. They are said to be lazy narcissistic tech addicts, who don’t take any job seriously and slack off. What most don’t know is that the economy hasn’t been in the greatest of shape, this makes work ethic hard to

Many people have the belief that millennials are lazy and do not have the potential or the capacity to be an asset to an organization. All these stereotypes give millennials a very bad image. It is important to understand the connections between the level of satisfaction millennials get from working at a certain organization, the loyalty they show to the organization and how committed they are to their job. It is also important to understand how Millennials’ interconnected values and potentials have a possible effect on coworkers, as well as how workplace collaboration may transform Millennials. It is said that by 2020, 46% of the workforce will be composed by millennials. (Bursch, 2014)