Management Attitudes and Generation Y (Millennials)
Of all the generations that complain to me about Millennials, it is the Boomers who seem to have the most difficulty. They can’t seem to understand why this generation approaches work so differently (and if the Boomers were truthful they’d say “wrongly”). Boomer managers focus so much of their attention on changing the Millennials on their team that they become extremely frustrated and often drive the person away. This is costly and unnecessary. Millennials are going to arrive at your company with very different attitudes about work; regardless of whether you think these attitudes are right or wrong. Perhaps what should be more frustrating to Boomers is the fact that they created this attitude in the Millennials!
The Millennial generation, the children of the Boomers, saw their parents move from job to job during most of their working years. What the Millennials learned, much faster than their parents, is that you will not be rewarded for loyalty to a company. Even Boomers who worked for companies for decades found themselves laid off or their jobs eliminated. This often created hardship, anxiety, and financial pain for their families. Millennials lived through this and saw the effect on their parents. Is it any wonder that they think about work very differently than Boomers?
This experience has not only influenced the Millennial’s loyalty factor, it has shaped their entire way they view a “career”. They fully expect to spend their working years as more “free agent” than “company man (or woman)”. As soon as they perceive their employer has run out of opportunities, they will begin looking elsewhere. Boomer managers should focus more on engaging and creating opportunities that appeal to this generation than trying to change them. You can’t change them, they won’t respond to it, and you really have no one else to hire. If you want to end your management frustration with this generation, you’ll have to first change your attitude about them.
Posted by Richard Yadon 
