Starting with this article, I’m beginning a series highlighting each generation in the workforce. With this first one, highlighting Millennials, I have a guest writer that is very close to me and also a Millennial, DJ Bond. Having his Bachelors in English and his MBA concentrating in Marketing, DJ currently manages social media content and designs publications.
Why Millennials Aren’t Awful
By DJ Bond
So I’ve heard a lot about my generation over the course of a few years. Ever since the term “millennial” came out to describe people born between 1980-1997, I’ve heard it used more as a negative term than ever as a positive. People mistake Millennials strength for flightiness or a hipster trend, but the real strengths come from the lessons that Millennials learned from their parents and what life they want.
Millennials Multitask Like It’s Their Job
Everyone hates multitasking Millennials but you can blame computers and video games for that. Every Millennial that is texting, listening to music, and writing an email at the same time was taught this way. One of the most common misconceptions out there is that multitasking means you aren’t paying attention. I was at a seminar where the speaker called me out while I tried to schedule social media posts for my job saying, “ok Mr. Millennial, l know you can multitask but let’s not distract everyone else”. Not only did I automatically disconnect from the speaker, but I felt like they only saw me for my generation and didn’t try to know me. Many studies have shown that things like doodling actually help you to retain information better, so don’t assume multitasking means they don’t care. Multitasking isn’t for every situation, but for smaller tasks that can be tedious, this keeps people motivated to finish the task.
Millennials are not Workaholics
I think a common trend in the business world in the past was the idea of the workaholic. The people with their Blackberries who sent their work email at 9:00pm during their child’s soccer game, which prompts a phone call at 11:00pm with their boss about the 8:00am meeting tomorrow. Millennials are not about that life. Now don’t mistake that for laziness, Millennials are known to give more time and effort on the job if it’s not forced, but Millennials value social time with family and friends more than work.
Millennials Want It All
Does anyone remember those participation trophies that people started getting to make everyone feel like a winner? Well that’s how Millennials feel. We were told that we can do anything if we put our minds to it and the crazy thing is that we believed it. As a result, Millennials will not like jobs where they don’t feel appreciated. Millennials want to hit their goals, which means that they are going to find ways to work more efficiently, especially using technology, and take advantage of professional development opportunities.
Millennials are not Focused on Money
Millennials are not running to companies paying the highest rate. They are looking for jobs that are doing things that they believe in and have good work/life balances. Millennials will leave jobs, taking pay cuts for jobs at companies that offer these things. Many employers are shocked by this, but it means that their core values are more important to them and they don’t want to be miserable for money.
Overall, many of the generalizations about each generation are just that. Generalizations. Each individual person is unique, which means that not everyone is going to fit the profile of a Millennial or Baby Boomer or whatever generation you speak of. So make sure you don’t paste your judgements of one person onto another because you assumed that was a generational trait.