WE ARE THE GENERATION “WHY”

Life has a subtle way of nudging and reminding you that you’re getting old – like your favorite childhood movies or TV shows getting a remake. In case it has not sunk in yet, we’re a few months short until 2020 arrives. What makes it a headliner for me and most of my contemporaries is the fact that this year marks a decade since we earned our college diploma, marched our way towards the corporate life, and got welcomed into the real world (funny how we keep on using the “real world” reference when we talk of life outside the university, as if there’s an invisible border that separates the two). Upon graduation, we’ve been warned that life on the “other side” is nothing short of a civilized jungle where every day is a continuous “Darwinian” battle only to be survived by the strongest and the fittest.

Back in 2000, there was a new wave of workforce coming in, but it was not until the later part of that decade when their generation was recognized to cause a major disruption in the world of work. Generation Y, more popularly known as “Millennial,” now shares majority of the pie in the employment demographics. This generation, whose behavior and culture have been the subject of various studies, researches, and criticisms, includes people who were born between the years 1981-1996. I happen to belong to this generation, which is not only labeled as tech savvy, creative, more open, and expressive but also stereotyped to be narcissistic, entitled, lazy, and indecisive. On being indecisive, we’ve heard how millennials keep on jumping from one ship to another at an average of 1-2 years of tenure, causing an alarm among employers and prompting them to design retention programs, just so they would not lose their talents. Millennials have been christened as “job hoppers” and likened to a bunch of kids who are difficult to manage. To some extent, being a millennial has become a default explanation for every miss and wrong turn — “It’s a millennial thing, that’s why.”

So, are we the generation that your Baby Boomers warned you about?

In my senior year in college, I was so eager to land a job right away that I have already farmed out my resume to reputable companies in anticipation of our graduation ceremony. Management Traineeship program, which promises a fast-tracked career development, was a common entry point for fresh graduates. June 1, 2009 was a red-letter day; I debuted in the corporate world as part of, in Marx’s language, the proletariat. That was the starting point of my career, which eventually brought me to the discipline of Human Resources (HR), a profession I’ve been practicing and honing for a decade now. That means being exposed to different facets of HR. That means having multiple roles and moving at different levels. That means having to deal with diverse leaders. That means moving from one company to another, and then to another, and to another, at an average tenure of 2 and a half years each. Do we need further proof that millennials are hoppers? Let my story speak for itself.

When I was in Recruitment, I would always mark a red flag on résumés bombarded with short-term stints with different employers. Needless to say, we want someone who is loyal, someone who will stay long. Employees have always been the company’s most expensive resource and we want a sure return on investment. If we consider the cost of hiring, it makes it even more compelling for us to weed out hoppers from the shortlisted candidates.

However, the landscape is changing and the profiles of the workforce have evolved. What used to be our measure to predict an employee’s success may no longer be valid. We should accept that we have to review our standards, embrace the realities of the present and prepare for the future. The more we resist, the more difficult it becomes for us to win in the talent war. There’s value in understanding the behavior of the millennial generation, or any new breed of workforce that will barge in the coming years. What seems to be unattractive at face value may have a deeper cause if only we allow ourselves to scratch beneath the surface.

I take exception to being labeled as a “job hopper” because the more appropriate term being “self-driven career manager.” We are in-charge of our careers and are not helpless victims of the conditions we got ourselves into. We are presented with a multitude of options and would take on every opportunity that would help us discover who we really are, and what we really want, whether it be be within or outside the organization. Inevitably, companies that allow individuals to explore and discover themselves are attractive to the millennial workforce.

We don’t just look for jobs that would feed us or pay our bills; we are searching for an extension of ourselves, where we can showcase our respective passions while at the same time, be able to contribute to the achievement of the company’s goals. We'd love to understand how our work adds value in the greater scale of things. It is not money that makes us stay but the sense of purpose and fulfillment we get in doing what we love to do. It’s not always about us. Organizations and employers must likewise check how clear their visions and purposes are, and how they will translate across all level. We always ask: “What is my WHY?” And in the pursuit thereof, we are prompted to join the rhythmic pace of moving in and out.

In my line of work, I am lucky to have the privilege to interact with different kinds of professionals in the field. One of the things that I learned from a conversation I had with a former boss was his unconventional take on talent attraction. On an employer’s perspective, self-driven career managers must be welcomed into the organization albeit them having moved from one organization to another. “It is the ability to continuously add value, and the value they create which then will add exponentially because of the learning and development they will get along the way.”

In the end, this is not intended to justify whatever stigma the society has attached to the millennial generation with respect to work behavior and culture. I recognize that we have our own share of demerits rooted from our presumed ways and means of adapting to the world. Like any other generation that has come before us, and that will come after us, the key is to extend a good amount of understanding, and know the forces that shape who we are in our quest to find our “why.” Because after all, we are the Generation WHY.