MILLENNIALS 101

Entitlement and Other Millennial Myths

Millennials have a stereotype far from the truth, as stereotypes generally go. They are said to be entitled and described as lazy, but what is the truth? They have the highest participation in volunteerism since the Greatest Generation (those born in the 1930s and 1940s). Millennials are highly educated, service oriented, and hopeful. The real question is: Why do Millennials have a negative reputation in the corporate world? They are perceived as being less motivated and productive than their parents or grandparents. Marriage, full-time employment, and fleeing the nest are not on the priority list anymore.

Those twenty-somethings aren’t getting married nearly as young as they used to.  Only 26 percent of Millennials are married compared to the 48 percent of Gen X and 65 percent of the Baby Boomers. It’s not that they don’t want to get married. The generation most certainly has aspirations of a good family life. But the truth of the matter is, marriage is more likely if couples have a higher learning degree. Not to mention, the older the couple, the more successful the marriage. So Millennials aren’t getting married at a young age because they aren’t finished with their education. Nor are they making the money they feel necessary to get married because employers are not entirely willing to hire fresh college graduates.

Millenials aren’t as fully employed as their parents, or even their grandparents. Only 60 percent of people between 18-31 years old are working, and only half of those are full time. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t working. Volunteerism runs deep in the young generation. “Surveys show people born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the generation of the 1930s and 1940s.” The total dollar value of Millennial volunteerism is estimated at $22 billion. That’s right, $22 billion. Most college students believe helping people in need is essential—70 percent to be exact; the most since the 1970s.

Recent graduates aren’t getting full-time jobs right after commencement. Why? Well, many companies are unwilling to hire recent graduates because of the stereotype they just happen to fall under. Without that pretty penny that comes with a full-time job, it is unfair to expect a recent graduate to flee the coup right out of the gate. Instead of the typical 9-5 office jobs Western culture has come to know so well, they have opted for freelance work. A survey including 3,000 independent professionals revealed 26 percent of them do freelance work in addition to a regular full-time job.

It’s funny Millennials are described as lazy and unmotivated. When asked, a twenty-something will say the most important thing is to be a good parent, followed shortly by a successful marriage and helping others in need. So how exactly are they entitled? A high-paying career is low on the list; so, there is no real reason to believe they feel entitled. College students are not only far from entitled, they are 40 percent more interested in keeping up on political affairs.

Millennials aren’t lazy, they are just misunderstood. It’s not that they don’t want to work, they do. It just takes place as unpaid work as they are the most civically involved generation since the 1930s. Calling Millennials entitled and unmotivated is like saying everyone growing up during the 1960s and 1970s were flower children thriving on drugs and alcohol. Which, while there are some individuals who live up to that stereotype, not everyone does. Millennials are highly educated, extremely volunteer oriented, and aren’t necessarily in a hurry to get a jump-start on a full-time job. They see helping those in need as more important.

source: recruiter.com I april 17, 2014 I sarah duke

12 “Must-Adopt” Recruiting Techniques for Hiring Millennials

TIP #1: Engage in social media.

Engage with Millennials on the platform they use the most: social networks. By creating and maintaining Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ company profiles, you open the door to new potential employees by giving them an opportunity to easily get to know your company, its products, and services. Also, it provides them a way to interact and network with your company’s employees.

TIP #2: Have a “why”
This catch-all envelops an entire corporate brand, philosophy, and attitude toward staff and others that extends well beyond a paycheck. Ultimately, a Millennial wants to know why they should take this job. How will it help them with their overall goals?

TIP #3: Make sure your website and social identities are up to date
One of the old maxims of job searching is make sure your resume is up to date.  The same holds true for organizations looking to attract talent at any and all times. If your company plans to have a blog and be on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, then you need to keep them and your corporate website up to date.

TIP #4: Keep selling your company and follow up
The old mantra that the company holds all the cards in the employment landscape is rapidly deteriorating. We now have a candidate-centric market on our hands, which means that companies must: sell Millennials on why they should join, what their career progression will be, and most importantly, translate how they’ll make an impact on not just the company, but the world.  All of this company selling has to be done with rapid-fire communications. Adapt their communication style and respond quickly, or even an excellent employment opportunity can “slip through the cracks.

TIP #5: Be respectful of all recruits, including the ones that didn’t make the cut
It’s particularly important that you maintain good relationships with Millennial recruits – regardless of whether they get the job or not – as they’ll be the first to tell their friends and family about their experience. Make it a good one, and you can turn recruits into recruiters.

TIP #6: Build relationships with Millennials before they enter the market
Identify the good technical students in their freshman and sophomore years and provide them with summer internships until they graduate. You may have some additional training or ramp-up time but they will more than likely prefer to take a permanent job at a place they already know. Creating this up-front relationship will ‘secure’ a future hire.

TIP #7: Live the company brand and culture
Culture, which could be discussed in a book of its own, is critical for Millennials. If your corporate culture is suffering, unfortunately one simple tip in an article isn’t going to change anything.  Regardless, whatever your company brand or culture is, you must be honest and genuine about the employer brand that you present to them. If the employer doesn’t live up to those presented brand values, they just simplyquit. Loyalty comes only with living by those brand promises.

TIP #8: Show what it’s like to work in your office
One way to promote your company brand and culture is to simply show what it’s like to work in your office. You can do that one of two ways:

1-Invite potential hires to spend time in your office: At Asynchrony, they invite potential candidates to spend anywhere from an hour to half a day just to sit with their developers. It gives them a good idea what the working environment is like, and gets them excited about working there

2-Shoot a “day in the life” video of your office: Create something very professional like what Rackspace does or hand out Flip cams to hiring managers and ask them to shoot short videos of people doing their job.

TIP #9: Accept failure
Millennials are attracted to entrepreneurial environments that have a culture that accepts failure as part of the learning and innovation process.

TIP #11: Offer flexible work options
Millennials don’t want to fit their lives into an inflexible job. They’d much rather have the ability to blend their work and personal lives together in a way that makes sense for them.That flexibility can take on many forms such as telecommuting from home, a flexible schedule with non-traditional hours, or a Results Only Work Environment.

TIP #12: Build a community
This last tip bookends the very first tip in this article – to actually engage on social channels like Facebook and Twitter. Once you’re comfortable with social engagement, the next big step is to create a community where those interested can have open and frank discussions in a comfortable online/offline space with hiring managers and employees.

CONCLUSION: Millenials want the same things as other generations, but prioritize differently
While we do talk about Millennials being unique and demanding more, overall they truly want the same things as previous generation, they may just prioritize differently.
While this group grew up during a time of almost unprecedented technological achievement, what makes this group more special is the fact that they have watched their parents and loved ones in their careers as they grew up and internalized some valuable lessons. This generation will not be married to the firm, as with the previous workforce, but rather spend more time with their family or in pursuits which bring them personal satisfaction. This is the reason work-life balance takes center stage, as opposed to money.

source: https://resources.dice.com/ I may 23, 2012
 

According to Roshini Rajkumar, a communication analyst and coach and the author of Communicate That, Your Toolbox for Personal Presence, "Despite earlier reports to the contrary, millennial workers are increasingly recognized as eager, ambitious, and genuinely talented. Because their communication styles, expectations, and even work habits are different from those of other generations, however, integrating millennial employees into your company's culture should be done carefully."
Roshini suggests the following nine tips that will help leaders of all ages communicate successfully with millennials and gain their respect in the process.
1. Keep it brief, but meaningful
Millennials have mastered the art of saying something meaningful in 140 characters or less. The more concise your own message, the more likely they are to relate to or appreciate what you say.
2. At the same time, provide detail
Just because you're concise doesn't mean you should skimp on the important information. Most millennials prefer to receive a detailed plan or instruction before jumping into a project. Present everything they need to know to do the job well, but skip flowery prose.
3. Choose the best medium for communication
Face-to-face meetings and conference calls are not as effective with millennials. Reach the younger generation where they already spend the most time--on their mobile devices. Try an online team portal for collaboration with a mobile app, or get used to Skype.
4. Understand the 24/7 communication cycle
Nontraditional schedules are becoming more common in business, and millennials are prepared to work after they leave the office. Schedule digital communication to keep things moving outside of the 9-5.
5. Communicate the path to career growth
According to a Harris Interactive survey for CareerBuilder, 61 percent of 25-34 year olds surveyed believe they should be promoted within 2-3 years if they're doing a good job. Communicate performance assessments frequently and make sure your younger workers understand their own career path within your organization.
6. Don't condescend or make jokes about age
Millennials want and expect to be taken seriously at work. Respect them, and they'll respect you. And forget the "This is what I was doing when you were born," jokes, which are tiresome and annoying for anyone.
7. Demonstrate fairness in the workplace
Millennials support equality of all kinds. As such, leaders and coworkers must behave in a way that can never be perceived as prejudicial or biased toward or against anyone or any group of people. It's not political correctness as much as it is a genuine concern for equal rights.
8. Commit to a social bottom line
Charitable giving and corporate volunteerism are very important to the millennial generation. Make sure you are communicating your company contribution to the greater good on a regular basis.
9. Most important, nurture their passion
This generation more than any other wants to feel as though their lives and what they do mean something.  Use mission-driven terminology to communicate the overall purpose of your company, and their role in achieving those goals.

 source: inc.com I published on : sep 24, 2015 

 Ask the APS Recruiter:

Glass Door Said, My Network Said,  I Heard this at a Party…..

An old customer service message stated that a bad experience will be shared with 10 people and a good experience might be shared once.  Today with social media, this explodes exponentially.  All the comments aren’t out there publicly but things like grueling hours, compensation that doesn’t meet up to work load, management that doesn’t keep their word, favoritism, new hires being paid tremendously more than loyal staff, everyone that works there has been there forever and they are unfriendly to new people, and the list goes on and on. 

Millennials use social media more often when making a decision than previous generations.   The availability of information gives them the chance to learn more and use that in their decision making process.  Another important fact is that millennials are much more apt to talk with people they respect in their family and amongst their friends to gain knowledge.  This is very important to them when making decisions.
Do you know what the buzz is about your company?  Is it important to you?  How do you sell your organization?  Are you able to find people that fit your criteria or are you struggling?  

  If you have a question that you would like Sheryl Huhn to answer please send to: [email protected]