Motivation In Millennials

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

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).

There are many challenges facing managers and leaders in current workforce. The variety of cultures, races and generations in today’s environment is making work harder. “Managing will also get even more difficult because of globalization, multi-generational workforce, dependency on technology, unethical behaviors and practices.” (Kaifi,2013,pg.217). In this paper I will talk about the three generations that we have had over the past sixty years – the Baby Boomer Generation, Generation X and the current Generation Y, known as Millennials. This rich mix of generations in the workforce can be attributed primarily to labor shortages experienced in many industries and the rising average age of retirement.

Today, four generations of Americans are represented in the American workplace: the so-called "Matures" who were born between 1900 and 1945, "Baby Boomers" who were born between 1946 and 1964, Generation Xers, born between 1965 and 1980 and the Millennials whose cohort began in 1981 and continues to the present. The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of an individual from the Baby Boomer generation, in order to explore the patterns and markers that are significant to this generation. In addition, a discussion concerning a common conflict that occurs in the workplace between members of the Millennial Generation and the Baby Generation is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Gen X, Baby boomers, and Gen Y are the different generations who work side by side in today’s workplace. According to Ann Hewlett, the President for Work-Life Policy Gen Y and Baby Boomers generations are a large chunk of the workforce, around eighty million each. Whatever those generations value, they have the power to drive to get the results (Hewlett, Sherbin & Sumberg, 2009). Baby boomers and Gen Y have similarities in what they value and there motivates them in the workspace. They tend to share some attitudes and behaviors. At work, Baby Boomers and Gen Y are motivated by not only money and making a pay package. They both desire a bunch of other stuff in life. Along with strong title, recognition, and respect. They are drawn to crave

Baby boomers like work and they have a strong work ethic. This generation group have a positive attitude towards work and are not afraid to toil hard in the workplace. The baby boomers obtain their satisfaction and self-worth directly from career and professional achievements. Due to the dedication and positive attitude that this group has towards work, it may be challenging for them to establish a working balance between home and work. On the other hand, the generation Xers lack the workaholic attitudes that their boomer parents have. They do not prioritize work and the Xers tend to have a negative attitude towards work and may change jobs frequently. Generation Xers are treated as the slacker generation. Their diverse attitudes towards work are attributed to the concept of developing a life/work balance. Generation X question the authoritative figures in the workplace (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). The millennials or generation Ys are the current groups of workers regarded as a global-centric generation. The millennials are predicted to make approximately half of the workforce globally by 2050. The millennials are lazy and see work in a slightly different way compared to the earlier generations.

As successive generations enter the workforce business leaders and managers continually face one challenge, “how do we motivate the next generation of employees?” The transition from Baby Boomer to Generation X, was considered a minor shift for businesses since they’re classified as the “me” and “individualist” generations. The Boomers and Generation X respected both authority and the traditional hierarchal structure, compared to the Generation Y more commonly known as Millennials are considered individuals who respect yet challenge authority and the traditional hierarchal structures. Within this article we’ll review “Gen X Is From Mars, Gen Y Is From Venus: A Primer On How To Motivates A Millennial” by Rob Asghar and “7 Surprising Ways To Motivate Millennial Workers” by Jenna Goudreau, two articles published by Forbes Magazine. After reviewing what Forbes’ Professional writers have to say about Millennials, we’ll hear what Millennial’s have to say about Forbes. While Generation X Lives to work, Generation Y works to live is the driving theme behind Rob Asghar’s article, he uses four mains point to explain what this means. He covers how Millennial’s concept of authority vastly differs from previous generations since Millennials were raised in an environment where their opinions mattered. Asghar discusses how the shift away from Generation X’s individualistic characteristic to Millennials global sense of community affects their motivation. In the second half of his article

More than ten thousand Baby Boomers retire every single day (Gurwitt, 2013). Combine that with the fact that there are currently four generations are in the workforce and managers of today have their work cut out for them. These leaders must ensure the knowledge from the retiring baby boomers is transferred to the remaining workforce, while simultaneously managing the retention of the disloyal, self-centered Millennials. Many leaders in this situation are finding it difficult to create and develop an organizational culture that supports this and conflict is manifesting in many organizations (Carpenter & DeCharon, 2014).

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)

As a millennial, I do not consider myself to be “special”, yet, I am confident and optimistic about my future. Personally, I believe that being confident and optimistic is a positive trait to have when entering the workplace. “They have also been described as being less loyal, more difficult to retain, more desirous of meaningful work, more “entitled,” more casual, and less “work-centric” (O’Brien 2013; Thompson and Gregory 2012; Wesner and Miller 2008)” (2014). This is a generalization, not an accurate statement about all people born in those generations; this is a fair statement regarding

Generational evolution, the difference from one generation to the next, does not give right to either generation to behave in certain ways. However, in order to bridge the generational gap, each generation needs to learn and understand the other one. In his statement regarding millennial retention at a certain company, Jeff Fromm expresses that the millennial generation does not stay long at a certain job. The question we must ask ourselves is not if they are loyal, but if there is an underlying problem that causes loyalty to be lost. In his article why millennials leave organizations and 3 keys to solve it, Ryan Jenkins makes an argument which could explain why millennials leave the workplace as fast as they do. He states, “63% of Millennials believe their leadership skills are not being fully developed; and yet the #1 most important driver for Millennials to evaluate job opportunities is the ability to progress and take on leadership roles” (2). One could argue that every workplace has their own way of rank progression and millennials just have to accept this as it has always been. Analyzing the statement it shows that the reasons millennials choose to leave an organization cannot truly be seen as solely a generational trait which cannot be overcome, because within the statement, a possible solution to the millennial retention problem is

The main objective of the article is to examine the causes of high turnover rates in business organizations and the major reasons behind job dissatisfaction among the millennial workers. Also, the author offers some solutions to the causes of dissatisfaction among this group. The presence of the millennials in the workforce come with several advantages and disadvantages. The high level of enthusiasm to work is regarded as the advantage, while the disadvantages were the disloyalty, neediness, being entitled to a certain reward, and being too casual.

Although many millennials are too absorbed in technology to work efficiently, the younger generation is a vital addition to any workplace. The modern society of advancement has raised millennials to believe that a higher education and a successful career are essential early in life. Society expects millennials to complete their education and pursue bigger aspirations, such as a successful career, without taking a pause for more philosophical actions. A fast-paced world has created a societal standard of hard work and long, conventional careers in most of the previous generations. However, the increasingly advancing world around the millennial generation pressures the job-seeking recent college graduates to live at a high societal standard and obtain success through a stable career. Due to the advanced society of high career-oriented standards and the effects it has had on millennials’ aspirations, the younger generation is determined to become successful soon after graduating from college, creating a strong work ethic that is beneficial to any company despite the generation’s saturation in technology and weaker endurance in the cutthroat world of modern business.

The strategies to engage Generation are quite different compared to baby boomers. So creating such strategies has become one of the management’s goals. Jay Gilbert (2011) writes from his experience that there are few generational differences do exist between millennials and baby boomers. The social characteristics, the way they bring their bodies, and mind to work are the key differences when compared to baby boomers. Employers must trust the belief that to attain prolonged employee engagement, they must understand the engagement drivers for the Generation Y. Thus, Setting up goals for the Generation Y encourages them to produce desired results.