As an HR professional, managers often ask for advice on how to best manage their millennial staff. Many of them express frustration that the traditional management methods used in the past are no longer effective. Why? It’s because millennials are unlike any other generation currently in the workforce. They work differently, think differently, and have different expectations from employees we have managed for years. First of all, who are millennials? Millennials were born from 1981-2000 and are often referred to as “Generation Next.” They are fiercely independent and value achievement, diversity, work/life balance and open communication. Millennials grew up with technology at their fingertips, had a best friend named Google, and received recognition not just for winning, but for participating. As for the workplace, they have very high expectations of company culture and see no value in negativity or conformity. Millennials do not just want to come to work, do their jobs and go home. They want involvement, a sense of purpose and belonging and personal development. They believe it is important that they mold themselves into socially responsible and compassionate people, working to make a difference in whatever they do. Millennials see the workplace as a venue to achieve their own individual goals. It is this millennial point of view that makes them so vastly different from the generations who precede them. |
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October 2024
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