Millennials

Who Are They

They are the children of the “Baby Boomer” generation. They are many times referenced as the “coddled” generation. There are seminars and training classes companies send their managers so they can hopefully figure out how to deal with them. Unfortunately the Baby Boomers are the managers that created this generation and many times have lost their relationships with their own children because of the way they dealt with them growing up, that resulted in the millennials wanting to find colleges and jobs as far away as possible from their up-bringing and that associated environment. So now we find millennials hopping from job to job in search of the perfect environment that will allow them to thrive, contribute and make a difference in a company.

This all began with the baby boomer whose parents had devoted their entire life to companies they believed would take care of them when they retire because of their devotion and loyalty. The baby boomers began to see when they became employed that the companies they worked for were more concerned with their own financial well-being than that of their employees and took away retirement programs and other benefits/compensation to improve profitability, and it became apparent that if you didn't look out for yourself no one else was going to help you. Thus, some baby boomers tried to teach their children or they learned from their parent’s experiences that they had better take control of their own destiny and not depend upon an employer to look out for their best interest.

Baby boomers also believed they didn't want to parent their children the way they were parented. They felt like their parents were too restrictive and “old school”and they wanted to give their children more input into their choices and freedoms they had not experienced. Then when their children got to the point they were old enough to choose their own directions baby boomers began to feel they were losing control and began to clamp down and be as controlling or even more controlling than their parents had been with them. This big dramatic change at home, with no explanation other than “you are going to do what I tell you to do” resulted in baby boomers losing control and pushing their children away and them moving as far as they can get from their parents. Then when the millennials go to work themselves working for other baby boomers who see them as their un-behaved kids, and try and control their new employees as they treated their own children; the millennials exit as quickly as possible in search for better environments and/or to start their own companies rather than be an employee. 

What Do They Expect

Millennials are well educated, many times much more so than their baby boomer parents, and are very passionate about wanting to make a material difference in their life as wells as the lives of others. They have grown up with the prolific growth of technical advances around the world and are much more informed because they grew up in the “Information Age” and quite familiar with how to get input about any question or difficulty they might encounter. They are significantly more computer literate than their parents and the older employees they begin to work with as they enter the job market. They are on the leading edge of technology today and want to stay on the leading edge of all advances in their chosen field. 

They see some of their friends advancing in companies that value their contributions, and where they are encouraged to do so. As they begin to learn from their employer’s historical experiences and come up with new ideas on their own, they truly desire to help the business function more efficiently and/or cost effectively, because they want to be a part of bringing about real change and improvement to the status quo. When they meet with obstacles such as “that’s not the way we do it here”, or “we have been doing it this way for 50 years,” rather than receive feed back and/or made apart of a collaborative group to work towards a better solution, they step back and question “why don't they value my opinion.” After repeated attempts to promote ideas with little encouragement to do so, then without any warning, it will result in a very disappointed employee that will very quickly make a change in search for a better environment wherein their contribution is encouraged and rewarded.

They Represent the Future of our Companies

This generation brings with it the opportunity for a company to advance technologically that will help the company do more with less at a significantly lower cost than how the business has historically functioned. They will help the company make material changes to dramatically ramp up exponentially its profitability and growth potential. Businesses today must find a way to attract and engage the millennial generation and see them as the future of the company, and encourage and reward them for their contribution and success. 

Businesses must also re-think the 8-5 workday with everyone in their seat “to be accounted for by their supervisors” style of work environment, and embrace a more collaborative and unconventional “work from home and office” environment, to give team members more control in how they chose to work and communicate with other associates. If you choose the right people, show them you trust them, then you won't have to worry about whether they are putting in their time, just expect results and reward them when they get the job done better than you expected. 

My experience has been people will always put in more time than you pay them for, they will greatly value being trusted and will outperform your expectations. If you treat them like children, they will act like children. If you treat them like adults and professionals, trusting them to perform their duties and responsibilities and holding them accountable for their results, they will amaze you with their achievements and value they being to the company.    

Businesses must learn to create collaborative multi-discipline work environments rather than the historical boss-employee relationships in silo groups that don't communicate with each other, if a company ever wants to attract and keep these progressive thinking minds that will change the world as we know it!

Mike Cherry is an oil and gas executive with over 35 years experience, in most basins in North America, with strong operations experience, and has helped numerous companies achieve exceptional completion results, that have resulted in top tier wells, in both the Eagleford and Haynesville plays, in implementing key strategies for best practices in drilling and completions as well as refracs. He is also one of the leading pioneers in the oil and gas industry, in the advancement of big data analytics to assist in maximizing performance of completions and hydrocarbon recovery in horizontal unconventional resource plays in North America.