For the past year, my company newmedia has been embarking on an ambitious growth plan to scale to 300 employees from 30 in three years. Given that a majority of these hires were expected to be entry to midlevel positions, I received plenty of concerned questions from colleagues regarding how we were planning to “deal with” the millennial generation. After hearing enough horror stories, I decided to do my own research. Surprisingly, I discovered that I was (technically) young enough to be labeled as one. You’ll have to forgive me for overlooking this, but I never felt I fit the profile. The same is true for the 50 or more people I’ve interviewed since joining the company.
This is not to deny that there are generational differences. Those who lived through World War II will have a different perspective from those that never had the possibility of being drafted for armed services. However, many of the accusations directed at the millennials — generally defined as people born from 1982 to 2004 — are not specific to them; they are the result of global trends in society and technology that get amplified in that age group.
For example, as Seth Godin predicted in his 1999 book “,” the expansion of options for both the creation and consumption of media has resulted in a seismic shift away from traditional mass media toward that which is highly fragmented, niched and individualized. It’s no wonder we perceive millennials to be more self-centered. The internet has lowered the barrier of entry to the point where everyone has a platform to share their thoughts. However, there is no advantage for specific age group, which is why we see strong adoption rates across the board for most social media platforms.
Another global trend worth noting is our society’s greater focus on positive social change that spans all age groups but for which millennials provide the energy and passion, according to . Millennials also put a greater focus on social change when choosing where to work: Ninety-two percent of millennials surveyed for the said they worked for a company that made a positive impact on the world.
Other insights emerged from that same report: Millennials engage with causes to help people, not institutions. They want to be personally involved in a cause. They treat their time, money and assets as having equal value. This supports what I’ve found to be true: Millennials are increasingly focused on their legacy. We wrestle with major global issues, such as social inequality and climate change, with an eye toward how we’ll leave the world to future generations.
All combined, I feel strongly that those who struggle to connect with the millennial generation need to change their overall strategy. For employers specifically, the mind-set of getting “butts in seats” will fail because it overlooks the drives, needs and aptitudes of each individual. A focus on motivating employees through their respective interests works much better.
For example, at newmedia, we encourage team members to align their work with what they feel passionately about, which empowers many staffers to seek training in new processes and grow beyond their current job descriptions. This is critical for keeping our team members engaged and our company thriving.
Yes, we want to make sure prospective hires have the technical competencies necessary to perform their jobs, but more important, I want to know what makes them tick and what gets them excited enough to jump out of bed in the morning and go full tilt. Life is not all sunshine and rainbows. There will be unpleasant tasks and situations to slog through, but there is usually a way to positively reframe and realign these situations — but only if you can connect them to a person’s values and goals.
To those who are not willing to put forth this effort, a word of caution: We’re not just millennials, we are unique individuals. If you take the time to get to know us, you’ll see the enormous amount of potential each of us has, waiting for the opportunity to show it.
