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Welcome to your first lesson on Millennials, the generation that likely resulted in you picking up this book to help you navigate any pent-up generational frustrations. We know that Millennials can be a challenging, complex, even sensitive subject, and we aim to be the professors who drive you to think differently. This is Millennials 101, after all, and our mission is to give you “Understanding Millennials” CliffsNotes so you can better understand the later courses (or sections of the book). For this course, we start with the basics.

Our objectives are as follows:

❯❯ To give you a cursory understanding of Millennials

❯❯ To aid in your ability to bust stereotypes about the youngest generation at work

❯❯ To highlight the need-to-know information about Millennials

To prepare for this course, start viewing the world through the eyes of Millennials. When you do, imagine the following:

❯❯ You have never known a world without the Internet. Whether at school computers or work computers, you learned how to master the search line and chat box from a young age. Since then, tech upgrades have been the norm. Your world is in a constant upgrade cycle.

❯❯ You received participation awards and trophies from a young age and now everyone makes fun of you about that. But you didn’t give them to yourself. And why should you feel ashamed for the celebratory fifth-place ribbon you got in pre-ballet at age 4?

❯❯ Your teen years were marked with homeland violence, whether watching 9/11 in eighth-grade homeroom or empathizing with every national and international shooting, riot, or terrorist attack since then.

❯❯ You want to work hard, but everyone claims you’re lazy. No matter what you do or say, most leaders and older adults have a Millennial lens on when they speak and work with you that is less rose-colored and more of a brown hue.

Can you see it? Are you truly imagining growing up in a world like the one we just described, while at the same time facing the harsh stereotypes of the other generations? If you have your Millennial lens firmly fastened, read on.

Identifying common traits

The Millennial generation, just like Boomers and Xers, has a long list of traits associated with them. In the nature of KISS (keep it simple, stupid), these are the traits most commonly associated with the generation born between 1980 and 1995. Note: We don’t think you’re stupid.

Collaborative

Millennials grew up with “There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’” posters in every classroom and teachers encouraging a group mentality to do great work. Social networking fostered informal group gatherings.

❯❯ How it manifests: Open workspaces, whiteboard walls, brainstorming sessions, working together in one room even if they’re working on different things, regular check-ins, and valuing team goals and team decisions over those of individuals.

❯❯ How others view it negatively: Other generations can view Millennials as needy, uncomfortable working independently (or unable to do so), constantly distracted, or unfocused.

Tech savvy

Millennials can’t remember a time without technological influence. Even if their computer or video game hours were limited, they still had time dictated by how many hours they could spend with a screen. They were the first generation to use the Internet when it went social and the first to get cellphones, and later smartphones, in their youth.

❯❯ How it manifests: Striving to use the latest digital devices; seeking tech solutions to streamline work; finding more comfort in text or instant message communication than the phone; and demanding upgrades in their work lives and personal lives, whether in the form of promotion, workspace, or process and procedure.

❯❯ How others view it negatively: Other generations can view Millennials as distracted, Facebook-obsessed, or unable to have a face-to-face conversation. They can also be intimidated by Millennials’ forceful request to use tech platforms that make other generations feel isolated, archaic, or uncomfortable.

Adaptable

Technology upgrades serve(d) as a catalyst for change. Since Millennials’ whole world growing up was constantly changing, they learned to be malleable with any future shift. To Millennials, change and disruption – in a broad sense – are critical to success.

❯❯ How it manifests: When change occurs at work, they are the most comfortable. In fact, most times, they embrace it or seek to make it happen themselves. In the social world, they are progressive like any young generation before them and fight for progressive societal changes.

❯❯ How others view it negatively: They have no loyalty to structure or tradition if they can so easily adapt to a new environment. Adapting is good, but demanding that others adapt at the same pace is not.

Identifying common values

Exploring what Millennials value (outside of family, friends, and fortune) can give you extra credit in your Millennial education. For any generation, values drive decision-making. For Millennials, the following three values drive it the most.

Purpose

Most Millennials believe that if you aren’t working to make the world a better place, then you aren’t an exceptional global citizen. Their parents told them to follow their passions, and the media highlighted what happens when your decisions aren’t motivated by those passions (corruption, lies, the disasters of Wall Street and big business, and so on). In purchases they make and places they work, they want to know that their decisions serve a higher purpose – not in a religious sense, but in a “make the world better for those who live in it” sense.

Authenticity

To gain respect with a Millennial, the worst thing to do is construct a façade of non-truths. What were pillars of business etiquette to one generation (three-piece suits, politically correct language, and hiding in an ivory tower) now alienate another generation. Given the media’s outreach and social media’s exposure of issues and psyches, the world is too transparent to hide behind a suit and tie.

Choice

The rise of customizable everything, from phone cases to sneakers to design-your-major undergrad programs, has instilled in Millennials the justified desire to choose their career paths, office environments, and work environment.

Gaining insight into what Millennials think of themselves

We’re going to let you in on a not-so-secret secret: Millennials hate being called Millennials. In 2015, Pew Research Center asked each generation how they felt about themselves. The result: Millennials were the least proud of belonging to their generation, with 60 percent not considering themselves part of the generation. You may wonder why, but ask yourself who would want to see themselves as a generation that is self-absorbed, wasteful, and greedy? (FYI, those were the top traits they used to describe themselves in the survey.)

This is just one survey, so if you’re wanting to challenge the report’s findings, we’re with you. It’s much more complex than one study. Over the years, we have always relied on qualitative research to support statistics, and writing this book is no exception. Throughout the rest of the pages, you’ll see quotes from managers of Millennials and Millennials themselves. To support this notion that Millennials are tired of their stereotypes, here’s a sample of what we heard:

“Everyone says we are lazy, entitled, we get bored and just switch jobs for the sake of switching jobs, and that we are impatient.” – Michael S., Millennial

“We want to be CEO day one is the most obvious thing I hear about Millennials. We have a sense of entitlement and need to be in charge.” – Kara F., Millennial and Manager

The good news? Millennials also view themselves as idealistic, tech savvy, and socially accepting. These are great traits they’ll bring with them as leaders who will have their own work to do accepting a younger generation of workers.

Ask the Millennials you manage whether they like being associated with their generation. Then keep asking questions to uncover the reasoning behind their answer. It’s also helpful to tell them what you have loved or admired about the Millennial generation. That may make them more likely to feel proud of the moniker rather than cower away from it. Remember that just because a generation sees themselves one way doesn’t mean that others view them with a similar lens.

GEN X AND BOOMERS HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT THEMSELVES, TOO

In Pew Research Center’s 2015 survey, the older the group, the more positively they saw themselves. Maybe you become more generationally proud with age. Maybe the younger generations are more self-critical (we hope this isn’t the only case). For your purposes, here are two things to know:

1. Fifty-eight percent of Gen Xers embrace their generational label. We find that if Gen Xers learn more about their generation, they are more willing and prouder to align themselves with their own cohort (Pew Research Center, 2015).

2. Boomers love being Boomers. They did in their youth, and they continue to love it today. To them, Baby Boomer does not equal old or out of touch. Unfortunately, other generations can view them that way.

"Most Millennials Resist the 'Millennial' Label" Pew Research Center, Washington, DC (September, 2015) http://www.peoplepress.org/2015/09/03/most-millennials-resist-the-millennial-labe1/9-2-2015_01/

Steering clear of stereotypes

The Kryptonite of understanding generational differences is stereotyping. As best you can, avoid thinking about or focusing on any common stereotypes that Millennials are

❯❯ Narcissistic

❯❯ Lazy

❯❯ Entitled

❯❯ Trophy-obsessed

❯❯ Needy

❯❯ Impatient

❯❯ Overly sensitive

❯❯ Distracted

Don’t let us be the only voice; hear from some Millennials themselves about what they really think is true about their generation:

“I think our generation is so global. We study abroad, we travel, we grew up in a very global society with the Internet, so many things are at our fingertips. I think our perspective is open-minded.” – Alexa S., Millennial

“[I think we’re] tech savvy [and] eager to do well. I think it’s naïve to say we want to be a manager without doing anything. We know what we want and … are more realistic than other generations.” – Kara F., Millennial and manager

Combating Millennial fatigue

Millennials are a hot topic. Google the word “Millennial” and 12 articles will pop up from the past hour – or at least it’ll feel like it. The challenge is that the media hasn’t really decided how it feels about Millennials. Does it hate them? Love them? Think they’re the corporate plague? Or the corporate miracle? Regardless, the word “Millennial” has oversaturated media’s conversation.

Have you fallen victim to the Millennial fatigue epidemic? Take this quiz:

Do you cringe every time someone says the word “Millennial”?

Do you groan when you see your organization has decided to conduct a generational training?

Are you tired of reading information about Millennials that doesn’t align with the people you work with?

Would you rather hear nails on a chalkboard for 5 minutes than sit through a 90-minute presentation on Millennials?

Are you wondering when you’re going to hear any information about Generation Xers or Baby Boomers?

If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, we feel your plight. Consider how you can cure your fatigue:

❯❯ Seek out information and articles that avoid negativity, lack bias, and tell the story behind the statistics.

❯❯ Ask the Millennials you manage to lead the Millennial conversation.

❯❯ Spread your generational reading to Gen Xers and Boomers.

❯❯ Hire BridgeWorks to do a generational training that’s actually entertaining and helpful (a little self-promotion never hurt anyone, right?).

❯❯ Read this book in chunks, as it’s intended to be read.

Recognizing that not all Millennials are the same

Sociology is a powerful way of viewing the world, if you can find the right moments to separate sociology from psychology. There are usually two reactions to studying Millennials:

1. “People all must be looked at as individuals, not as the masses.”

Rebuttal: That is true! That’s why there are millions of people dedicated to the study of the individual. However, studying the masses in turn can influence the masses. Arguably, you will have a broader reach and more sustainable lens with which to view the world if you have a scope of how a mass demographic acts and reacts at work or in times of change. It’s not the be-all and end-all, but it is the foundation with which to view those around you.

2. “This doesn’t describe me or the Millennials I work with.”

Right. As the previous point mentions, generational theory is a study of the masses. Furthermore, we don’t believe that all Millennials are the same. Segmentation is at times critical to understand the generation for certain purposes – see Chapter 13 where we split the Millennial cohort into two: Old Millennials and Young Millennials. Further segmentation can be done for whatever market information you’re attempting to uncover, but this is a good start. Mass trends are still a helpful tool to serve as your control in the science experiment of “What kind of Millennial are you?”

Differentiating a bad employee from a Millennial

Are you sitting down? We have some big news … sometimes, Millennials aren’t good employees. Just like every other generation, there are good eggs and rotten ones, but the challenge at times can be separating your own bias and stereotyping from the truth about the Millennial employee whom you work alongside. If you answer yes to two or more of the following questions, there’s a good chance that you are dealing with a bad employee, not just a Millennial:

Yes/No Do you keep making excuses to keep him there?

Yes/No Do you find your greatest challenges to be with just one Millennial versus many of them?

Yes/No Do his Millennial colleagues struggle to work with him?

Yes/No Does he fulfill one too many stereotypes of the Millennial generation?

Yes/No Is he oblivious to the way that he fulfills those stereotypes? Even after you’ve spoken to him about it?

Yes/No Has he been given the honest conversations and tools to change, but you still don’t see a difference?

If you circled yes to two or more of the questions in the list, it may be time to put a plan in place and have a tough conversation.

The key here is that just because you have one bad Millennial, it may not say anything about the generation as a whole. Resist the urge to take one bad egg’s bad behavior out on all of your young employees.