August 2007 | Small Business News
The Millenials: A New Breed of Worker Payment Increases
By Geal Fukumoto Talbert, CFP
Have you ever wondered why young workers never seem to care about work? They may come to work one day, go to lunch, and never come back. Or they may work with their iPod in one ear, answer the phone with the other while text messaging someone else. Before you let that raise your blood pressure too high, consider some of the work of Social Network Architect, Scott Degraffenreid, whose research on the Millennials will get you to appreciate, if not necessarily embrace, their seemingly quirky ways.
This is the generation born between 1982 and 2001, aka GenY, who have seen during their lives: the Tiananmen Square massacre, four wars, eight major hurricanes (including Andrew, Katrina and Rita), Rodney King and the LA riots, the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine High School massacre, the Y2K bug, and 9/11 to name a few. And unlike generations before them, thanks to news 24/7, they knew every detail of those events as they were happening. They've grown up with 300 stations not three, 24/7 everything, personal computers and the Internet, MTV, sophisticated graphics and computer games, cell phones, instant messaging, DVDs, iPods, and digital cameras. This is the generation that will make up 40% of the work force in 12 years.
The one thing Millennials know is that change is a given, and stability is unnatural. Their ability to adapt to very rapid and constant change is higher than any generation before them. Degraffenreid actually coined the term "Crash Test Geniuses" to better describe their learning patterns: They are not averse to failure. In fact, they don't see "losing" as a bad thing or a set back. It's just being able to start over with new information. Hitting restart is their natural response to many unpleasant realities. Also, they are "simultaskers", adept at using both sides of the brain at the same time, which is not the same as multitasking (having several tasks on the desk but doing one at a time).
For instance, one of Mr. Degraffenreid's clients, a tech support center, was frustrated with Millennials playing video games under their desk during work hours. Scott suggested they challenge ten Millennials against twenty of their most experienced call center employees. The owner confirmed that what was important was the number of successfully completed calls. At the end of the two week period, the ten Millennials completed twice as many calls as the twenty experienced call center staff, which means they completed four times as many calls while playing video games!
As employees, what annoys them the most include being taken for granted, being handled as if they weren't very smart, and being subjected to ungrounded assumptions. What appears to the rest of us as a lack of commitment or work ethic is to them, a lack of tolerance for unacceptable or unsatisfactory situations. Leaving a job that isn't meeting their expectations is no different from hitting CTRL ALT DEL when the computer locks up. It is not that Millennials don't like work as much as they don't like the way they're made to work.
Here are a few things that won't work: Increased compensation / retention bonuses, raising the hiring age, screening for loyalty, forcing compliance of rules that have no effect on the end result.
If you want to retain your Millennials then here are a few things that work in the workplace: Take advantage of their electronic literacy and desire for constant challenges. Ask for and respect their opinions, provide choices, supply options and alternatives. You may want to consider giving them a "well" day off so they have an alternative to quitting. It may save you the week to find a new employee plus two more to train them. Take advantage of their electronic literacy and desire for constant challenges.
If you have any questions about the Millennials in your workplace, watch for his new book on the subject, or contact Scott Degraffenreid at:
www.NecessaryMeasures.com.
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