David Silver is a entrepreneur and executive recruiter based in Minnesota. In this post he provides valuable insight; examining Millennials from a different generational perspective.
Entitled, unreliable, unrealistic and lazy. Millennials are frequently given overly simplistic labels by many people in attempts to understand, deal with and market to them. Millennials are the second largest generation in American history. They are the children of the largest generation, the Baby Boomers, and are often called Echo Boomers. Our world is increasingly becoming theirs.
To be effective with someone, it’s useful to really understand
their commitments and values. I lead an
Executive Search firm and have found certain values to be the guiding lights to
the Millennial Generation. This list is by
no means complete! Furthermore, these
values are often conflicting and lead to stress and hard choices. How Millennials deal with these conflicting
values will determine their and our future.
The Millennial values I see are:
Mission DrivenMany members of the Millennial Generation feel that one of the single most important things in life is for your work to have meaning. It’s fundamental to them to be a part of making the world a better place. It’s critical for their own self-respect to do something that they feel is ethical and matters. This sense of purpose can be found in an industry, a company, products, services or a cause that one believes in. As an example, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of for-profit companies with a not-for-profit component. Tom’s, the “one-for-one” company is perhaps the best known example. Other compelling purposes include sustainability, locally made, authenticity, artisan
products, hand-crafted products, disruptive technologies & business models, products & services with a human touch, and anything that gives people some sense of power and a degree of control in an uncertain, chaotic world.
Experience Centered
Many millennials place a much higher value on meaningful experiences and vitality than previous generations. Anything that makes life full, rich and cuts through the clutter of day-to-day ordinariness is in demand. Millennials want to learn, grow, be challenged and to become something and someone. They want to make a difference. This is much more important to this generation than playing it safe. This drive for vitality can show up in the sports, travel, food, entertainment, relationship and ethical choices they make. Millennials are far less content with monotony. This is a generation that believes in disruptive technology and disruptive business models. This willingness to dislocate the status quo on behalf of what’s possible is often a flag flown with passion. Millennials are far less willing to settle and they will make choices that are counter-intuitive to preceding generations. Like many of us, they want a life of meaningful experiences, professional and personal challenge, growth, prosperity, work/life balance, ethics, integrity and freedom. These are often conflicting and how these conflicts are resolved will shape the world.
Many millennials place a much higher value on meaningful experiences and vitality than previous generations. Anything that makes life full, rich and cuts through the clutter of day-to-day ordinariness is in demand. Millennials want to learn, grow, be challenged and to become something and someone. They want to make a difference. This is much more important to this generation than playing it safe. This drive for vitality can show up in the sports, travel, food, entertainment, relationship and ethical choices they make. Millennials are far less content with monotony. This is a generation that believes in disruptive technology and disruptive business models. This willingness to dislocate the status quo on behalf of what’s possible is often a flag flown with passion. Millennials are far less willing to settle and they will make choices that are counter-intuitive to preceding generations. Like many of us, they want a life of meaningful experiences, professional and personal challenge, growth, prosperity, work/life balance, ethics, integrity and freedom. These are often conflicting and how these conflicts are resolved will shape the world.
Free Agency
The Millennial Generation has come of age during a period of intense and rapid globalization. They’ve seen the boom years of the late 90’s and the global recession that started in 2008. They see the lack of company loyalty and the ongoing, pervasive global uncertainty. They’ve witnessed disruptive technology and disruptive economics first hand. In such an uncertain and chaotic world, an intelligent response is to operate like a Free Agent. That means approaching any job or career choice with the question “What am I going to get out of this?” While they may have a long term plan, millennials do not assume that they will be with a company for longer than 5-7 years. In many industries, it’s now common to stay with a company for only 2 years. Unfortunately, one response to the uncertainty many Millennials experience is to be unwilling to commit or apply oneself. This is a common complaint from other generations who hire or work with millennials. When you can’t trust a system, you look out for yourself.
The Millennial Generation has come of age during a period of intense and rapid globalization. They’ve seen the boom years of the late 90’s and the global recession that started in 2008. They see the lack of company loyalty and the ongoing, pervasive global uncertainty. They’ve witnessed disruptive technology and disruptive economics first hand. In such an uncertain and chaotic world, an intelligent response is to operate like a Free Agent. That means approaching any job or career choice with the question “What am I going to get out of this?” While they may have a long term plan, millennials do not assume that they will be with a company for longer than 5-7 years. In many industries, it’s now common to stay with a company for only 2 years. Unfortunately, one response to the uncertainty many Millennials experience is to be unwilling to commit or apply oneself. This is a common complaint from other generations who hire or work with millennials. When you can’t trust a system, you look out for yourself.
What does the future hold for
millennials? How will turning 30, having
children and career ambition impact the Millennial Generation? What’s predictable is that many aspects of
human nature will repeat themselves.
Human beings will sacrifice for their children and crave prosperity for
their families. Simultaneously, millennials
see that everything and everyone can be authentically re-invented. The future is likely to be a blend – there
will be the choices to get ahead and get by; combined with new ways of living
and working that were unimaginable and make life richer, better, more
meaningful and more human for all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment