Icame across an executive summary recently, published by the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University. The opening paragraph reads, “Challenges lie ahead for companies looking to retain and advance the newest generation of workers, but companies willing to meet those challenges can expect big payoffs in the form of a well-educated, hardworking and loyal workforce.”
Consider that by 2020, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of millennials. Also consider that there remains an undercurrent of negative stereotypes about this generation.
Let’s take a look at the outcomes of this study involving 1,000 college-educated respondents. Darshan Goux is the primary author of this study for the Center for Women and Business. An executive summary of this study can be found at www.bentley.edu/centers/center-for-women-and-business/millennials-workplace.
Below is a summary of findings (statements taken directly from the full study):
- Respondents to this study share in a mostly negative assessment of their generation’s work ethic.
- Nearly half of respondents “are not willing to sacrifice control over their own personal fulfillment just to achieve success at a job.”
- Though members of the millennial generation have a different set of priorities than previous generations, what seems like laziness is really evidence that they aren’t willing to sacrifice control over their own personal fulfillment just to achieve success at a job.
- This generation isn’t lazy. It is questioning the rules of the game. They have learned firsthand that too often honest, hard work is not rewarded. They have watched their parents lose their pensions or get stuck with homes that are worth less than they paid for them.
- Millennial respondents say they feel driven to create a career that allows them to work according to their own rules and definitions of success; a majority say their personal values outweigh their need for professional accolades. Eighty-four percent agree with the statement: “Knowing I am making a difference in the world is more important to me than professional recognition.”
- Career success is important, but personal values take precedence over professional goals.
- While career success is important to millennials, family life is central to their long-term aspirations.
- A majority of college-educated millennials say they would be interested in working for a corporation someday. And, despite the high value they place on their private lives, respondents are eager to commit to a company for the long run. More Millennial respondents say they would like to work for only one or two companies in their lives than other options provided. 15 percent of respondents say their ideal career would include working for many companies.
- Millennials indicate that flexibility is a high priority for them. A majority of respondents say the ability to set their own hours, being able to work from home and being able to take time off for emergencies is somewhat or very important to them.
- Beyond financial rewards, millennials say they value a job when their skills and talents are fostered and utilized.
- Despite their negative assessments of their generation’s work ethic, most millennial respondents indicate an individual willingness to work hard and make personal sacrifices to ensure their career success. A majority of respondents are very or somewhat willing to travel frequently, to relocate, to work long hours and weekends, to place their children in daycare, to take a low paying or unpaid job for experience. Millennials are much less willing to endure unpleasant conditions on the job.
- The majority of college-educated millennials hope to become a leader at work someday. Seventy-eight percent of millennials “aspire to a leadership role in whatever field I ultimately work.” The opportunity to advance their career is a key motivating factor.
At this point in time, a tremendous amount of research exists related to millennials, their approach to work, the changing world of work, and the manner in which companies need to be positioned to attract and retain the future workforce. My encouragement is that every organization take personal responsibility to be well-versed on this issue from a research and data perspective.
-Aleta Norris is a co-founding partner of Brookfield-based Living As A Leader, a leadership training, coaching and consulting firm. You may send her your ‘Leading Generation Y’ question to anorris@livingasaleader.com. To read all of her columns, visit the knowledge portal at www.livingasaleader.com.
