What Millenials Teach Us

As I took the test “how Millenial are you”, I was intrigued by the high score (96%) I got without clearly understanding its meaning through the questions asked (do you play video games at least once per day: no, do you read the newspaper everyday: no... Hint- Millenials are born between 1980 and 2000).

So who are the Millenials, apart from the Cliches we made “the Generation Y ?”, those who put themselves first, don’t stay in a job for long, first ask about the working hours and the possibility for promotion in the Company during interviews instead of the challenges and supposedly want to work only for Companies like Google where they have all kind of facilities to “play hard” when they “work hard” ?

This is a restrictive way of looking at this generation that has much to teach us about what we forgot and stopped believing in.

Millenials remind us what’s important

As we speak about diversity and inclusion, and my clients are wondering how they can lead teams with Baby Boomers, X Gen, and Millenials, without leaving anybody behind, I found the confirmation that throughout all generations, the one thing in common is about fulfillment and how it expresses at work and in life.

What is new is what the Millenials dare expressing and standing up for : purpose and meaning of work, and work being part of life. When they ask about potential promotion and working hours they don’t mean they will not invest time into the organization. They only mean they want to ensure proper foundations are set to be able to deliver and get in return the reward for the achievements. Who can blame them for this ?

In other words, they are the generation that :

• helps us reconnect to our core values and purpose : 60% of Millennials said a sense of purpose is part of the reason they chose to work for their current employer. Source : Unlocking Millenial Talent
• asks for solid foundation to invest energy to make things happen, and asks to clarify what needs to happen : understanding of goals, alignment, transparency to build trust and resources for efficient implementation.
• reminds us how rewards are an important part of the fulfilling process when they ask if there is room for them to advance in the organization

This is all highly overlooked by other generations that take it for granted “no organization is perfect so let’s keep our head down and work hard to make it happen, even if we don’t really know what needs to happen, and oh well, there are still good things about this job…”)

What their message is : "I am happy to be part of the change with you, if you tell me what the change is about, where we are heading towards and provide me with enough resources. And... my contributions and efforts can be rewarded as I grow, as we grow together".

They remind us that a meaningful goal, connection, transparency and teamwork is what will make us grow, faster. This shows through what motivates them to take a job :

Question : "When you think of your strategy to motivate Millennials—and every generation—do your efforts align with the intrinsic insights we uncovered? How can you tell if your Millennials feel motivated to deliver their best performance at work? (source : unlocking Millenial talent)

 We all ARE Millenials – so what’s next for you ?

Thanks to them, we revise the way to work together for more efficiency, performance and meaning. Thanks to them I changed my perspective and can identify myself as one of them (96% - yeah !).

It is certainly time to change perspective and stop considering Millenials as “the WHY ? generation” that "questions it all with no sense of realization".

Instead, let’s see the opportunity to revise what we want and what we need at work so that we can really focus on the goals and grow ourselves and the business with peace of mind and a sense of fulfillment. Millenials are our best allies when we provide them with support to grow on their journey and be successful on purpose !

Some companies understood it by working on their “employment branding” to attract Millenials. The question is how do they retain their employees, how do they keep their promise, what actions have they implemented inside the company to ensure the foundations are set ?

Coaching provides tools and ressources to :

• empower employees, from young leaders, high potential to senior managers and executive,
• fill the gap between generations, by working on shared vision, purpose and goals,

Coaching is all about going from where we are to where we want to be. Millenials teach us that we all ARE Millenials. It is time to provide support in return, join them for our common purpose to become a reality and meet in our profound desire too often not expressed, to be successful – on purpose at work and in life.

Embrace your Millenial now, because the next generation (i Gen) is already on its way !

And you ? What do you need at work to feel more Millenial ? What will you do about it ?