Millennials and the Benefits of Embracing Change
When you hear the term “millennial” in regard to the workforce, what is the first thing you think of? I bet there are a handful of people from the baby boomer generation that think “flaky” or “entitled.” But is that really the case?
To define “millennial,” we’ll call it the generation born in the 1980’s through the early 2000’s. Let’s replace the G.I. Joe’s with World of Warcraft, the Barbies with The Sims. While the main difference between the millennials and prior generations is an introduction to the world of technology at a young age, we are also constantly changing; not only our minds and our views, but our career paths as well.
More and more people these days are entering the workforce without college degrees, or they’re graduating college in the arts and finding themselves with a job or career completely off the grid from what they had expected.
Children are often asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” There’s no doubt that some people want to follow the footsteps of their parents or an inspirational figure; going into finance, joining the police force, becoming a doctor. However, interests and passions are increasingly evolving, and there is nothing wrong with that! Millennials are breaking the mold in the sense that if something isn’t working out for them, they either jump ship, or modify what isn’t working. They aren’t afraid of change.
Let’s look at the positives. Regarding technology, millennials are quick learners and adapt fast. We are ambitious and want to be strong workers and make an impact. We accept and desire praise for the things we accomplish because we want, no, NEED, to know we are doing a good job. Millennials accept criticism and actually crave it as it pushes us to realize where we can improve because that is our focus: being the best we can be.
Yes, we may be more likely to be looking at our phones throughout the work day, but a lot of the work we do relates to app-based products and services, or marketing products and services in an increasingly connected world! Don’t discredit the millennial because of the differences seen between generations, embrace it because of the positive change, innovation, and diversity it will bring to our world.
