DS Cohen & Associates
Looking Beyond the Hype
Traveling the world to meet clients and speak at conferences, it’s interesting that one topic is almost always on the agenda: Millennials.
There’s power to millennials. They are desired and feared. In the eyes of the leaders I talk to, they are treated almost like a global force, a distinct nation of people who have more in common with each other than with the members of their own culture, free to do whatever they please.
The reality is very different. Let’s look at what shapes millennials and how to best retain them in an organization.Who are they and why do they matter?
There are many definitions, but roughly speaking millennials are those people born between 1980 and 1995. They matter because they are a sizable group and rapidly assuming roles as decision-makers and influencers in society. In the US, millennials surpassed baby boomers as the largest demographic segment in 2016. As 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day, millennials are taking over.Do they have different values?
Millennials get a bad rap for being selfish even as they are viewed as unbending idealists. They are labelled as self-interested, disloyal, lazy, overly dependent on their parents, overly protected, politically correct, and to have little concern for the future. On the other hand, they are also considered to care deeply about purpose, corporate social responsibility, social justice, and the disadvantaged.
If that sounds idealistic and narcissistic at the same time, you’re onto something. Remember what it was like to be a young person? When we are between the ages of 20 and 33, our motivational factors are very different than when we are older. When did you start saving for retirement? Did you even think about it before you were 30? Prior to having children and a mortgage, most of us think a lot less about money, career and the future.
We’re all socialized by our society and our parents. We all test the limits of what’s acceptable or right when we are young, but to an extent most of us come a long way back. Yet differences develop. Why?
What differentiates each generation the most is the conditions in which they were influenced by the world around them while they grew up. This view is backed up by the developmental theories of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg who suggest that personal values are established between the ages of 12 and 18, yet continue to evolve in the years that follow. To understand someone in the work place, you really do need to consider the times in which they grew up.
As Morris Massey so brilliantly put it: “What You Are Is Where You Were When.”Why Millennials are more like the silent generation
So how were the millennials impacted by the times they grew up in? In many ways, they resemble the parents of the Boomers, their own grandparents.
The parents of the Boomers lived through the Great Depression. They never had much hope of finding meaningful work. Despite the abundance of the Post-World War II era, they remained frugal and restrained. Their children, the Boomers, experienced a very different world.
Like those grandparents, Millennials live in a world in which they have less hope for the future than their parents. They have difficulty finding meaningful work. They are saddled with enormous student loan debt, can’t afford housing and have bleak expectations for their future financial worth. Their entrance to the professional middle class is delayed.
As a result, they have a different perspective on life than baby boomers and behave differently, too. This is not because the values between the two generations are so different but because the perspective on life, based on experience, are very different.
Like their grandparents they are just happy to have a job, any job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 14% of young adults are unemployed today and 23% are not even seeking work. This is the highest rate in more than three decades and reminiscent of the 1930s.Retention Tips
Given the forces that shape them, here are some tips for retaining Millennials:
- To understand what motivates people, you need to understand them as individuals. Ask people questions and listen with an open mind.
- Recent college graduates are always concerned about getting their first job. Millennials know there is a lot at stake. Don’t hold a lack of prior work experience against them.
- Every emerging generation gets labeled as self-centered and idealistic. Ignore sweeping generalizations. Hire for fit with your organization’s values.
- If the fit is good, the millennial will stick around. Like their grandparents they are not as inclined to change jobs at every opportunity.
- Work-life balance is not a function of being a Millennial. It is a function of where you are at in life with your responsibilities that go beyond yourself. Stop talking about work-life balance and start letting people know the ground rules for success so they can make a considered decision if they want to work there or not.
- All employees desire professional development. 20-years ago development was about helping people feel they’re employable. Today it is about helping them feel they are growing.
- Not everyone has the aspiration for promotion. Ask them first and find out if they do. Set realistic expectations. While people wish for development it does not mean solely for promotion.
- Everyone wants autonomy and no one wants to be micro-managed. This doesn’t mean that people don’t need coaching. Just as you needed supervision and feedback when you started working, so do millennials. Just because you didn’t get it doesn’t mean you should hold it back from them.
- We all want to fit into our new work place. Onboarding starts with how your current employees speak to others about working at your company even before the first day on the job.
- When you entered the workforce, you had lots of energy and ideas to change things and wished that your long-term employer would listen. Remember that when your millennials come to you with ideas you feel have already been tried.
We’re more alike than we are different
If you really want to understand what makes millennials stay in your organization, ask them. Turn to the talented people who have been with you for more than two years. What do they think is unique about your company environment that encourages them to stay? Then look for future employees who have similar behaviors and values.
If you do that, retention, productivity and engagement will no longer be your burning issue. You can stop throwing money and programs at something while missing the root cause.
The more we think of people as individuals and not in terms of generalizations the better. That’s when we start to see more similarities than differences. Ask your millennials what they need to feel good about themselves and about your company. They’ll be more likely to give you and answer that matters and a commitment to stay longer than the experts say they will.
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David is a globally recognized thought leader in the areas of talent management and corporate culture. If you want to learn more on the structured behavioral interview process a,
please read The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers. If your company is interested in a workshop on how to conducted Structured Behavioral Interview, how to write company specific and authentic behavioural statements, and wish to learn more about an anchored rating scale for more objective and accurate scoring of responses; please contact David directly at david@sagltd.com.
You can read more on David’s perspective on how strong corporate cultures drives passion, productivity, high engagement and pride in his book on values, culture and leadership: Inside the Box.
