Understanding Millennials 101
Are Millennials Difficult To Work With? Not Really.
Dispelling the myths about millennials in the workplace and how to deal with them correctly.
When I was working in an advertising agency a few months ago, I still remember my Executive Creative Director, who had a 20-something-years of experience working as a Creative Director, said,
“I hate millennials, they’re so spoiled and ‘working hard’ is never within their working dictionary.”
Maybe, he was forgetting the fact that he said that sentence in front of me, who is (also) a millennial, or maybe he was just being sarcastic as he always did. Was I being offended by what he said? Not really. In fact, I was a little bit agree on what he said as maybe, I was one of the people who believe the myth about how spoiled a millennial could be.
This might be a cliche issue as you will find hundreds of articles on Google which are explaining about millennials’ working behaviors from A-Z, but I want to (literally) curate all of those myths and opinions about millennials’ behavior in the workplace and spill out the truths. From the data that we’ve got here and there, here are some myths and facts about millennials in the workplace;
Myth #1: Millennials are lazy workers
Many people said that the millennial generation is one of indolences where they offer their bare minimum yet still expecting the maximum return, is it true? According to Statistics Indonesia’s survey in 2018, 41.79% of Indonesian millennials were working 45–59 hours in a week which means that their working hours were more than the average working hours in Japan (39 hours), Afghanistan (38%), and Australia (33.6 hours) per week.
A research by IPSOS MORI which analyzed the average working hours by different generations when they were 27 years old in Britain and the US showed only a little difference; millennials’ average hours worked in a week was 39.3 hours and the Generation X’s mean hours worked when they were 27 years old was 40.4 hours. Indeed, in this research, millennials’ average working hours were decreasing, but that doesn’t directly related to the trait of being lazy.
The number of hours worked per week are highly influenced by the development of the world that we’re living in. One of the reasons our working hours were decreasing was because of the development of technology and skills of the workers. Furthermore, working longer hours is not related to improved productivity and in fact, the shorter our working week, the more productive our time at work is.
Myth #1: Millennials are lazy workers → FALSE (Need more evidence)
Myth #2: Millennials are job-hoppers
Millennials are not only like to change destinations when they’re travelling, but they are also likely to change job four times by age 32. Gallup released a poll suggesting that millennials were the most likely generation to switch jobs and 60% of them were saying they were “open to a new job opportunity”.
Aligned with the research from Indonesia Millennial Report 2019, the ideal length of working period in a company for millennials was only 2–3 years. Yes, this is such a nightmare for companies seeking a stable workforce.
But, relax. We, the millennials, similar with other generations, will also stay longer in your company if our needs will be fulfilled; what are they? Not much. Our needs are most likely revolving around self-development areas.
A research revealed that 35% of millennials plan to leave their current organizations in the next two years because they didn’t have enough opportunities to advance and 28% felt they lack of learning and development opportunities. Aligned with that, according to our survey, the first reason they wanted to change jobs was because of self-development.
In sum, yes, millennials are job-hoppers, but they will definitely stay in a company which offers them a great opportunity to grow in terms of self-development as millennials are keen to learn new things.
Myth #2: Millennials are job-hoppers → TRUE
Myth #3: Millennials (always) feel entitled
Many people say that millennials are a generation with a huge sense of entitlement; they want to be treated special and most of the times, always want to achieve an instant gratification. Thanks to social media (like Instagram) which influences our behavior to get an instant-like from that ‘like’ button. But, seriously though, do millennials always feel entitled?
According to our survey, millennial generation has three unique characters; connected, confident, and creative. Working with creative freedom was becoming their first priority when it comes to a workplace. We can’t deny that millennials are willing to speak up and express their opinions, even to their superiors, than their elders. Millennials are also not afraid to take the risk to move on when necessary and not afraid to ask for a raise or promotion.
Instead of feeling entitled, more often than not, millennials actually just want to be heard. But, many research results about millennials as the ‘Entitled Generation’ have been published anywhere which became the stereotype of millennials in general now. But, actually with millennials’ high interest in self-development, they’re actually redefining the sense of ‘entitlement’ as something different.
According to Popsugar Insight, instead of viewing entitlement as a sense that the universe owes them something they may not have earned, many millennials view entitlement as the right to go after big goals and aim high- which is actually potentially be a positive attitude in the workplace.
In the same research, it explained that millennials were labeled as entitled was because of the fast development of technology, which made them get everything in an instant way,
“That expectation for fast results- and rewards — might explain why millennials get labeled as entitled, especially when a millennial’s expectations don’t match reality.” — Popsugar Insight
Myth #3: Millennials (always) feel entitled → PROBABLY TRUE (depends on the point of views)
Myth #4: Millennials are prioritising work-life balance more than anything
A study found that millennials in UK were prioritising work-life balance over job security when they applied for work. They were considering how their profession will impact their personal life before they chose a company to work for. One third of 1000 respondents said work-life balance was the most important factor when selecting a job, second only to pay.
The length of working hours, daily commute to work, having friends, and the work environment of the company are some of the aspects of work-life balance for millennials.
According to our survey, from 9 factors which influenced Indonesian millennials’ decision to choose a job, 6 of the factors were the aspects of work-life balance; working hours, location, passion, working environment, facilities, and having vacation opportunities. Indeed, millennials are pushing for greater work-life balance.
But, what is actually the meaning of having a work-life balance according to millennials? I asked some of my friends, who are millennials, about the meaning of having a work-life balance and these are what they thought;
“Having a work-life balance is when both leaving from work and going to work are exciting, when people [to] whom you talk are not [just] your co-workers, and when you still have so much fire on the weekends!” — Runny, 25
“Instead of work-life balance, work-life integration is more suitable [for] reality. You do your ‘Me-Time,’ yet you keep checking Whatsapp and replying to emails, even through your phone. As for my case, I’m trying to keep my workout routine in-between my work because I feel like this is the best way for me to relieve my stress and to keep being healthy.” — Audrey, 26
As millennials have high standards of maintaining their ‘healthy lifestyle’ inside and out, so yes, they are prioritising work-life balance more than other aspects when they chose a job or a company to work for.
Myth #4: Millennials are prioritising work-life balance more than anything → TRUE
Then, what’s next?
We don’t have to know all the myths of millennials to understand how they will cooperate with us in the workplace. From those 4 myths, we could draw some strategies to unleash millennials’ potential to the fullest. Here are some solutions to cooperate better with millennials;
- Less regulations, more challenges. Millennials hate rules, yet they like to be challenged. If you give them a project, then just set up the guidelines and the goals as they will do it with their own ways to achieve the goals.
- Offer self-development opportunities as retention program. Millennials are obsessed with self-development and self-growth opportunities. Offer them those trainings, conferences, and free classes with some experts as the speakers- and they will (more likely) stay.
- Give them a space to speak their mind. Don’t limit their freedom to give their opinions. This might sound so entitled, but yes, millennials are obsessed with being heard. But, to give them boundaries, then do the next step.
- Less critics, more constructive feedback. As millennials love everything which is related to self-development, then a constructive feedback will build the way they work in a company as constructive feedback will also become their own boundaries in doing things.
- Give them some data, justifications, and the ‘why’-s behind everything. Millennials are critical. They won’t do the things which you asked them to, unless you give them good reasons on WHY they should do it for the sake of business.
So, it’s not too hard to work with millennials, right? At the end of the day, every generation has its own positive and negative things in terms of the way they work. Not only the baby boomers or the previous generations who have to adapt with millennials, but millennials should also adapt with other generations as it works both ways.
So, let’s work together, shall we?
