Millennials or “Snowflakes”, as they are now being referred to, are getting a bad press. Millennials are anyone born between 1980 and 2000, so I myself would be included in this category. I have read many negative articles over the last few months referring to this generation as being lazy, self-entitled and over sensitive but with around one third of our workforce made up of Millennials; we need to look at what we can learn from this generation.
Value Work Life Balance
Flexibility and work life balance are two important factors for many Millennials when looking for a new role. They are likely to have entered the job market during or just after the recession. They have probably seen people from their parents’ generation be made redundant from lifelong jobs, without a moment’s thought. They want a comfortable lifestyle but aren’t willing to sacrifice everything for a job. This attitude to work-life balance can relive stress and promote health and productivity. Employers should consider encouraging holidays, shutting off outside of work hours, and focusing on smarter ways of working.
Challenge the Status Quo
Many Millennials are of the opinion that they could teach their boss a thing or two, which can come across as arrogant. However it is important to remember that many revolutionary business ideas have come from people who were not afraid to challenge the status quo.
Embrace Change
Unlike their parents, who were likely to spend the majority of their career with a single company, Millennials may have two or three completely different careers in their lifetime. They have grown up during a time where if they want to learn a new skill, they can find an online tutorial to teach them. Millennials are much less likely to get stuck in a career or job they aren’t happy in and there seem to be far more entrepreneurs emerging from this generation, with many Millennials wanting to set up their own business.
Embrace Technology
Millennials have a bad rep for taking constant selfies and obsessing over their social media accounts but with Facebook alone, having billions of users worldwide, social media has become a great marketing platform for many businesses. There are also other new technologies emerging that we should take advantage of if they can improve businesses by streamlining operations and controlling costs. If there is a more efficient way to do something using technology, we should do it.
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Edited by Red Squirrel Digital.
