Managing millennials
Young workers can be great workers!
by Claire Raines

The millennials are here. Millennials are workers who were born between 1980 and 2000, a generation nearly as large as the baby boom, and they're charged with potential. As a baby boomer or a Generation Xer are you ready for them?

Variously called the Internet Generation, Echo Boomers, the Boomlet, Nexters, Generation Y, the Nintendo Generation, and the Digital Generation, these individuals are a solid part of today's workforce.

Just as all generations are programmed from the moment of birth, the millennials began a series of programming experiences when they were infants. These experiences created the filters through which they see the world — especially the world of work.

GENERATIONAL PERSONALITY TRENDS

Eight key trends of the '90s and '00s have had a profound effect on their generational personality.

• Focus on children and family. In the decades right before and after the turn of the millennium, Americans moved the spotlight back onto kids and their families. That spotlight has swung like a pendulum over the last 60 years. During the post World War II era, children were all the rage.

Then, when the Gen-Xers were growing up, the spotlight shifted. Latchkey kids, children of divorce, and kids with two working parents found themselves growing up on their own, in the shadow of the baby boom.

The early '90s saw the spotlight swinging back. Las Vegas and Club Med went "family." Parents and grandparents took the kids along on trips across the country and to destinations all over the globe. Eating out — once an adult thing — became a family matter. Ninety percent of fathers attended the birth of their children. Older parents — the average age for moms was now 27 — brought more maturity to their roles as caregivers, teachers, and coaches.

• Scheduled, structured lives. The millennials were the busiest generation of children we've ever seen in the United States. They grew up facing time pressures traditionally reserved for adults. Some started carrying Day-Timers when they were in elementary school.

• Multiculturalism. Kids grew up in the '90s and '00s with more daily interaction with other ethnicities and cultures than ever before. The most recent data from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute shows that interracial interaction among college freshmen has reached a record high.

• Terrorism. During their most formative years, millennials witnessed the bombing and devastation of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the Columbine High School killings, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

• Heroism. Emerging out of those acts of violence, millennials watched the re-emergence of the American hero. In the 10 months following Sept. 11, for instance, the word hero was heard more than it had been in the entire 10 years before.

• Patriotism. During the post-Vietnam and Watergate era, patriotism was at an all-time low. Sept. 11 changed that. Stores that carried flags sold out within 24 hours, ordered more, and sold out again. The UCLA freshmen survey reported signs of renewed political interest. The percentage of students who reported discussing politics represented the "largest one-year increase since the 1992 presidential election year."

• Parent advocacy. The millennials were raised, by and large, by active, involved parents who often interceded on their behalf to ensure their children would grow up safely and be treated well. Their payoff? Millennials actually like their parents. In the Generation 2001 survey, conducted by Lou Harris on behalf of Northwest Mutual Life Insurance, Mom and Dad were most often named when young people were asked whom they admired.

• Globalism. Millennials grew up seeing things as global, connected, and open for business 24/7.

COMPELLING MESSAGES

Growing up, millennials were bombarded with a unique set of consistent and compelling messages — many of them so imbedded in the culture that adults, let alone children, were barely even aware of them. The school system reinforced a distinct set of values. Parenting patterns unique to the era molded a new generational perspective. The era had its own mood that pervaded the developing perspective of youth. These messages had a profound effect on the generation as a whole. They include:

• Be smart — you are special. They've been catered to since they were tiny. Think Nickolodeon, Baby Gap, and Sports Illustrated for Kids.

• Leave no one behind. They were taught to be inclusive and tolerant of other races, religions, and sexual orientations.

• Connect 24/7. They learned to be interdependent — on family, friends, and teachers. More millennials say they can live without the television than the computer. Many prefer chatting online to talking on the phone.

• Achieve now! Some parents hired private agents to line up the right college; others got started choosing the right preschool while the child was still in the womb.

• Serve your community. Fifty percent of high school students reported volunteering in their communities, many of their high schools requiring community service hours for graduation. On one Roper Survey, millennials said the major cause of problems in the United States was selfishness.

MILLENNIAL CHARACTERISTICS

This generation of employees has a different work ethic from any other. They are:

• Confident. Raised by parents believing in the importance of self-esteem, they characteristically consider themselves ready to overcome challenges and leap tall buildings. Managers who believe in "paying your dues" and coworkers who don't think opinions are worth listening to unless they come from someone with a prerequisite number of years on the resume find this can-do attitude unsettling.

• Hopeful. They're described as optimistic, yet practical. They believe in the future and their role in it. They expect a workplace that is challenging, collaborative, creative, fun, and financially rewarding.

• Goal- and achievement-oriented. Just a day after she won an Olympic gold medal, skater Sara Hughes was talking about her next goal — scoring a perfect 1,600 on her SATs. Many millennials arrive at their first day of work with personal goals on paper.

• Civic-minded. They were taught to think in terms of the greater good. They expect companies to contribute to their communities — and to operate in ways that create a sustainable environment.

• Inclusive. Millennials are used to being organized in teams — and to making certain no one is left behind. They expect to earn a living in a workplace that is fair to all, where diversity is the norm — and they'll use their collective power if they feel someone is treated unfairly.

6 PRINCIPLES OF MILLENNIAL MANAGEMENT

So, what do today's young employees want? Here are their six most frequent requests:

1. You be the leader. This generation has grown up with structure and supervision, with parents who were role models. Millennials are looking for leaders with honesty and integrity. It's not that they don't want to be leaders themselves; they'd just like some great role models first.

2. Challenge me. Millennials want learning opportunities. They want to be assigned to projects from which they can learn. They're looking for growth, development, and career path.

3. Let me work with friends. Millennials like being friends with coworkers. Employers who provide for the social aspects of work will find those efforts well rewarded. Some companies are even interviewing and hiring groups of friends.

4. Let's have fun. A little humor, a bit of silliness, even a little irreverence will make your work environment more attractive.

5. Respect me. "Treat our ideas respectfully," they ask, "even though we haven't been around a long time."

6. Be flexible. The busiest generation ever isn't going to give up its activities just because of jobs. A rigid schedule is a sure-fire way to lose your millennial employees.

Claire Raines is a speaker and consultant, as well as the author of Connecting Generations and Generations at Work (Crisp Publications, 2003). She can be contacted through her Web site, www.generationsatwork.com.