New Generation Of Workers Doesn't Play By The Old Rules
Morley Safer reported on the new breed of American workers, the “millennials,” the generation of 80 million people born in the United States between 1980 and 1995 who are entering the workforce now. Some of the details encouraged me; others sent me reeling.
The point of the story was the attitude shift that American employers will deal with as they hire these bright young minds. Are they smart enough? Sure. Are they ready? Maybe. Are they up to business as usual? Definitely not.
This is a generation, according to Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal, that has been told that they are “special” by everyone from doting parents to Mister Rogers. They weren’t allowed to be winners or losers — everyone got a trophy for participating. They only take “yes” for an answer. Before you go pointing fingers, remember, if you are a parent over 50, chances are you helped create this situation!
They are tech-savvy, which virtually every business needs, but not necessarily prepared for a demanding workplace, which many businesses are. They also will own the job market before too long, a dilemma born out of the fact that there are more jobs than young people to fill them.
Right Fit
A stunning fact: More than half of this generation moves back home after graduation. This allows them the luxury of opting out of a job they don’t like because they don’t have the financial responsibility of paying for housing and all those other pesky expenses.
“They may have traveled to Nepal or speak flawless Japanese, but they might never have punched a time clock,” says generational expert Lynne Lancaster, founder of the consulting firm BridgeWorks. “They are going to look for work that has meaning and they are not going to settle for just any job because they have options.”
Human resource departments are finding more and more resumes noting multiple jobs in a year because the applicants keep looking for the perfect fit. Employers are frustrated with the parents of some of these prospective employees who even check out the jobs for their kids first. Wow! How things have changed!
So where does that leave the manager who needs to hire, train and retain these workers?
A smart boss will focus more on coaching than bossing. As the “60 Minutes” report put it, today’s manager must be half shrink, half diplomat. That will require a major attitude adjustment for most of us who paid our dues the old-fashioned way. We worked long hours for seemingly ungrateful bosses who really didn’t care about our lives outside the job — and finally achieved our brand of success.
I’ve often told the story of how, when I bought a failing envelope company, I kissed my wife goodbye and jokingly told her I’d see her in five years.
These workers, however, put friends and family above work. They know that if one employer doesn’t value them enough, there’s probably a better one waiting for them — on their terms.
Important To Reward
Bob Nelson, a motivational consultant known as the “guru of thank you,” suggests that the littlest rewards can reap big dividends: awards, plaques, any kind of reward for a job well done, above and beyond a paycheck.
Don’t think that’s necessary? As Safer said, all this prodding, praising, peddling, cajoling and psychobabble has grown into a $50 billion a year industry. Perhaps it’s just a continuation of the participation trophy from their childhood, but if it helps you keep a good employee on the payroll, it’s probably worth looking into if you aren’t already doing it.
There is nothing wrong with a happy workplace. We’ve rewarded our employees in various ways for years at MackayMitchell Envelope Co. and so has every other business that wants to stay on top. We’re all going to have to turn it up a notch as we compete not just for customers, but also for employees. A dwindling workforce shouldn’t equate to lower productivity.
I have faith that this intelligent generation will find better and faster ways to get the job done, just as earlier generations have done.
My only concern is how they will deal with failure, since we haven’t really taught them how to do that. Maybe that’s the most important lesson a good manager can teach this next generation: that sometimes the greatest successes come out of the greatest failures. And you don’t need a trophy to prove it.
Mackay’s Moral: The best coaches keep changing the playbook to match the strengths of the players.
Harvey Mackay is president of Mackay Envelope Corp. and a nationally syndicated columnist.
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