Millennials are a growing force in today’s business world and ignoring the fact that they will be the next wave of managers and business leaders is short-sighted.

The difference between a great place to work and a company where you just punch the clock starts with workplace culture and, as the demographics of your workforce changes, your culture changes too. If you want to create an amazing workplace, you will have to acknowledge the importance and talents of Millennials

Who are the Millennials?

Pew Research defines Millennials as people born between 1981 and 1996. Gallup uses approximately the same timeframe and sys there are around 73 million Millennials in America today. It is estimated that by 2025, 75 percent of the global workforce will be Millennials.

The idea that society is divided into generations, with each having its own different characteristics due to being products of their own environment, is not a new idea. 

Human resource management takes generations into account all the time, both in the workplace as well as in the hiring process. Millennials, or today’s young adults, bring different perspectives and unique attributes and assets to the workplace. But these might not match easily with current management practices.

Engagement versus disengagement

Research has shown that Millennials are less engaged in the workforce than other generations. 55 percent of them are not engaged at work. 15 percent are actively disengaged! 

Studies found that 44 percent of Millennials would be more engaged if their manager held regular meetings with them. Millennials use technology more than any other generation. Gadgets like smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices bring about a different culture because they communicate, connect, and interact with people in the world around them differently from people of other age groups. 

They also change jobs more often than previous generations. 21 percent of Millennials said they switched jobs within the last year. They aren’t just disengaged - many of them are actively looking for greener pastures. 62 percent of Millennials are open to a new job or different opportunity. 

What Deloitte had to say

 Deloitte found that workers believe that businesses should consider other interests as well as profits. They found that Millennials had taught them that employers prioritize the bottom line and profit above any social conscience. They feel that their place of work doesn't care about society and the environment, but rather money at all costs and this leaves them with little sense of loyalty.

47 percent of Millennials think business leaders are committed to helping societies improve – down from 62 percent just a year earlier.

In 2017, 65 percent of Millennials believed the corporations they worked for behaved ethically. In 2022 that is down to just 48 percent.

43 percent of Millennials believe they’ll leave the job they currently have within the next two years. 28 percent want to stay beyond five years with the company that they’re at. This means that close to a third of Millennials would be open to growing with a company and learning more, while investing in their career, because the company probably aligns with their goals

Purpose

Purpose is one of the underpinning forces behind company culture as well as success. Your purpose defines the way you do things, and it gives you not only something to aim for but a reason to do it. 

Millennials, more than any other generation, are working for a purpose. In the past, a purpose might have given a corporation or company a corporate culture that reflected not only the times, but the type of product and corporation which had formed around the original purpose. 

People would still work there even if they weren’t aware of the purpose of the company. A workplace was seen differently. 

Nowadays people are looking for a great place to work. An amazing workplace has a purpose that is known and engenders a feeling of ownership and identification among the employees. 94 percent of millennials today want to use their abilities to help a cause. It might seem easy to discount millennials as lazy or self-entitled and certainly, those terms have been bandied about. The truth of the matter is Millennials care about the world around them and how they fit into it. They also care about others.

Development

Millennial managers are the future of business, both in America and the rest of the world. 

Motivating your employees and driving up job satisfaction with this generation can seem complicated. They want to feel cared for and valued and this includes the development of their career and workplace. Diversity, vision, principles and purpose all need to align with their development or they will leave. They want to learn and grow, not stagnate in an environment that offers them no way to better themselves or the world they live in.

Workplace culture is changing because the culture in a workplace is becoming more important to people. Millennials have been championing inclusivity in the workplace, as well as the benefits of an improved corporate culture. They are championing change and they are the generation that cares more about the environment than previous managers and bosses. 

As they move up the corporate ladder and begin to hold more senior positions, we will see corporate and workplace culture change for the better. Millennials are fundamentally altering the standard for the future and what we expect in the workplace and careers. Building brilliant teams that collaborate well together and communicate effectively within the millennial age group will be the key to the success of corporations in America in the future. 

The amazing workplaces of the future will be built by Millennial managers and their teams.