Millennials are surging on to the job market and disrupting generation old company cultures with their differing attitudes and expectations. And this tension is set to grow as millennials build towards accounting for more than half of the working population by the year 2020.
A closer look at millennials reveals a group which has very different expectations to their predecessors. This is a cohort who want a job that is attractive and meaningful, but they are not comfortable compromising their private life and personal viewpoints.
The majority of 18-to 33-year-olds don’t see company loyalty as important and they take employer flexibility for granted. They want home-office working, variable hours, plenty of personal freedom and a sense of togetherness in their workplace.
You might expect these plucky young upstarts to be forced into adapting once they feel the same economic constraints and social imponderables as other employees. But they are resisting in numbers.
They are sceptical about colleagues who climbed the career ladder via traditional means and determined to build a different life to their mothers and fathers.
With such a large cultural change taking place, organisations need to listen carefully to what their younger staff have to say if they want to optimise productivity.
Ultimately millennials are well educated, perfectly willing to make compromises if the underlying conditions are acceptable and digital natives. This is a group that, to name just one example, could be an effective driving-force behind social business and the ongoing development of companies toward Enterprise 2.0.
And, to be honest, who wouldn‘t want to work in an environment which meets the expectations of millennials, perhaps they can benefit us all?
Flexible working hour models, greater transparency with regards to career development, attractive salaries, an honest and more intensive exchange of information and opinions between management and employees, team spirit and a sense of togetherness – these are all factors which make a pleasant working environment and lift the sights of everyone.
Perhaps it‘s time to see the world though different eyes?
Need help navigating the world of millennials? Let us help you out. For more information on this age group, please feel free to reach out to Sarah Unger at [email protected].
