What Employers and Marketers Have Wrong About Millennials
Share
Millennials have been in the workforce for well over a decade and over the years employers — and society in general — have developed a lot of complaints about them. In my work, though, I’ve found Millennials have a lot of positive qualities and aren’t as different as many people like to think.

This week, I found some great articles about what employers, marketers and society as a whole have wrong about Millennials. Read on to get a better understanding of this generation and the great value they have to offer employers and the marketplace.
  • Millennials Aren’t Inflexible at Work — You Are. Marketwatch: “Millennial workers often get a bad rap as the ‘me, me, me’ generation, made up of people who want things their way, when they want them. But new research shows that reputation may be undeserved. According to a survey released Wednesday by real-estate firm Coldwell Banker Commercial, ‘Millennials are the most flexible generation in today’s workforce.’ Fred Schmidt, the president and COO of Coldwell Banker Commercial, says there isn’t a clear reason why Millennials were more flexible than Boomers and Gen Xers, but that this could be more age-related than generation-related. Millennials, for example, might be more willing to travel longer distances and share a workspace with someone else because they are just starting out in their careers and feel like this is the price they have to pay to move their careers forward.”

  • Employers, Stop Labeling Millennials. U.S. News & World Report: “The bigger factor at play in the Millennials’ work style is about age and experience level. While it’s certainly true that Millennials are less likely to have a skillful command of office politics within a hierarchical structure than people in their 40s, for example, that was true of 20-somethings 30 years ago as well. The traits and behaviors commonly attributed to Millennials are about being inexperienced – not about being born between 1982 and 2004. Moreover, if anything, much of this generation is precisely the opposite of entitled when it comes to their workplace expectations. They graduated into one of the worst job markets in recent history, they’re often saddled with crippling student loan debt for educations that they were assured would help them pay off that debt quickly and they had to quickly adjust their expectations to a fairly devastating new economic reality. Many studies show that they’ll never catch up, given that graduating into that market will permanently depress their lifetime wages.”

  • How to Turn Millennial Staffers Into a Competitive Advantage. Entrepreneur: “Entrepreneurs who want to take advantage of Millennials’ strengths should adapt their workplaces to allow for the blurring of home and work boundaries. This might mean allowing flexibility in hours and dress code and providing the creature comforts of a Millennial living room. Entrepreneurs can take a page from the Silicon Valley playbook and provide mental distractions such as ping-pong and video games and relaxed meeting spaces.”

  • The Crucial Fact Most Marketers Miss About Millennials: Big Changes for Gen Y Marketing. Forbes: “This data serves as a reminder to marketers and researchers — don’t assume the stereotype. Millennials are a racially diverse group that cut across wide swaths of American life. This political data is the perfect embodiment of that very diversity. Church and faith play a vital role in the majority of minority households, and with the introduction of children, we are starting to see Millennials cleave to their roots. Yet, there is still a large group of Millennial parents that support gay marriage equality and legalization of marijuana. While they may seem to contradict themselves, one thing is certain — Millennial parents are thinking about tradition now more than ever. They’re simply redefining what it means to be ‘conservative.’”

  • 6 Secrets to Millennials’ Workplace Happiness. Mashable: “Make structures transparent: Millennials are an entrepreneurial generation, which is why transparency is so important. If you allow workers to see how the company operates, they’ll feel closer to the driver’s seat. Your Millennial employees don’t just want to be a cog in the machine; they want to know what direction your company is going and how they can help you get there. Look at companies like Buffer, which allow employees to see salaries and exactly how pay is calculated. Take away the layers of mystery from your organizational hierarchy, and you’ll have more highly motivated employees.”