The Top Three Millennial Stereotypes and How to Address Them

STEREOTYPE #1 - They need to know why

I’m a Gen Xer or even more specifically, a “Latchkey Kid," a subset of the Gen Xers that was defined by working parents who left their children alone after school. Like the baby boomers before us, we feel like someone told us what to do, and we did it - all with a smile on our face.

The millennials are quite different in this aspect. They like explanations. Tell one of them to do something, and they want to know why. What’s the purpose? Well, let’s be honest, what’s wrong with explaining the purpose of a project, task or assignment? Makes sense, would you agree?

THE SOLUTION

Are you sure you know why you’ve asked them to do something? If you are, take a minute and explain the purpose up front. You will likely get that five minutes of productivity back later in the day. Just stop playing Fantasy Football or shopping online, and you’ll pick up all kinds of time that you can use to explain stuff to millennials.

STEREOTYPE #3 - They want too much accommodation and flexibility

What’s wrong with accommodation and flexibility? Maybe the additional work/life balance, or as we call it in our company, life/work balance, is a great thing?

Maybe granting more flexibility in schedules helps people feel more balanced and therefore able to be the best version of themselves at work. We call our additional flexibility “schedule shaping.” We ask our representatives to be in community, in the office, 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time can be flexible. If there is an ongoing road construction project, come in early and leave early to miss traffic. If you want to be home earlier with your family in the summer months, come in early and leave early. If you don’t like your kids – author’s note: I ADORE our daughters, and this is a judgment free blog – as I was saying, if you don’t like your kids, come in after you drop them off for school and go home later. What’s wrong with accommodation and flexibility? Maybe millennials were right to ask for it, and maybe we were right to provide more.

THE SOLUTION

The truth is that we all want flexibility in our jobs. Both employers and employees benefit from flexibility, and because millennials are so connected to technology, it’s no surprise they gravitate toward remote employment options. A study by Bentley University indicated that 77 percent of millennials believe that a flexible schedule would make them more productive. You can start to explore flexibility options by first evaluating the tasks that employees perform and decide if flexibility can be incorporated into operations. This will no doubt make your company more appealing to millennial jobseekers.

Several flexible working arrangements you may want to consider include alternative work hours, a part-time schedule, telecommuting or freelance status.

With the growing number of millennials in the workforce, it is crucial for employers to get creative with perks and benefits when it comes to employee attraction, engagement and retention. Read more about ways you can do this in our company benefits and retention blog found here or go a step farther and take our talent management assessment to gain insight into the five primary talent management areas your organization may need to improve. Includes a free results report!

Interested in building a strong multi-generational culture at your organization? Listen to Kevin talk about servant leadership, company culture and the generational workforce on the Leadership Excellence podcast.