As every new generation enters the workforce, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly their generation is labeled with "attributes" that are common to young people. These attributes tend to stick, and they quickly become inaccurate as the generation ages (assuming they were even accurate in the first place).
Nowhere is this more evident than with Millennials, who by 2020 will make up more than 50% of the US workforce.
That's why it's so great to see that
Here's what they found:
Myth 1: Millennials have unrealistic career goals.
Fact: As it turns out, Millennials are just like everyone else in the workplace. They're after financial and job security, first and foremost. And who can blame them? That's a big part of why we work in the first place. So don't expect your younger workers to make unrealistic requests of you and your company.
Myth 2: Millennials expect endless praise because they were raised in a culture of "everyone gets a trophy."
Fact: Not only are Millennials not after endless praise, their #1 preference in a boss is the same as Boomers. Both want a fair boss who freely shares information. As it turns out, it's Gen Xers who believe that everyone involved in a successful project should be rewarded, and members of this generation are in their early 30s-50s. Sounds like they are the ones misappropriating their inadequacies onto younger workers.
Myth 3: Millennials are so addicted to technology that they lack boundaries between their work and private lives.
Fact: This one is quite the opposite. Millennials are actually much less likely to blur the boundaries between their work and personal lives because they've been raised with technology. Hence, they've been bred on the nuances that older workers fail to understand. In fact, they are 4X more likely than Boomers to keep their work and personal lives separate when it comes to technology. It's the old dogs that are having trouble learning new tricks.
Myth 4: Millennials are afraid to make decisions for themselves.
Fact: Millennials are no more likely than Generation X to seek group consensus when making decisions. They simply aren't as timid about making decisions as everyone thinks they are. And, contrary to the mistaken assumption that Millennials have a tendency to buck authority, more than 50% of them trust their company's leadership to make decisions that are sound.
Myth 5: Millennials will quit if their job doesn't fulfill their passions.
Fact: When it comes to changing jobs, Millennials are actually just like everybody else. The #1 reason they leave is for money. And just like Boomers and Generation X, Millennials are 2X more likely to leave a job for money than they are because it fails to fulfill their passions.
Bringing It All Together
You are making a grave mistake anytime you allow generational stereotypes to affect how you treat employees. Even worse, companies often make wholesale changes based upon what they assume younger workers want.
Just as we learned from the IBM study, there's a tried and true method to ensure this never happens to you. Talk to your Millennials and find out what they want, because it's likely a far cry from what you'd expect.
