Millennial Miscomm

I’ve read a plethora of articles on millennials, from topics covering how to work with millennials, to the changing face of the workforce and adapting to the millennial work ethic. A new generation of business professionals brings with it a variety of significant implications. Employers must respond with answers to two questions: how can we attract millennials and stay competitive? How can we capitalize on the changing workforce to do better business?

So, I get it. Everyone wants to learn more about the mysterious and unique creature that is “the millennial.” As a millennial, I appreciate the curiosity and adulation. Millennials bring to the table a whole new world of social media expertise, highly connected networks, and experience with new technologies. However, if you’re responding to the changing workforce by simply accepting millennial demands, you’re doing it wrong!

In case you missed it, millennials are considered the “entitlement generation.” We’re children of baby-boomer, helicopter parents who all received participation trophies whether we finished first or fifteenth in competitions. We expect immediate, if not instant, gratification in most settings (apologies if this page took longer than 2 seconds to load). Is this a culture that employers want to accommodate? How low can you limbo before you fall on your behind?

Full disclosure: I’m gainfully employed at an economic development organization where I manage social media, a website, and wear whatever hat that needs a good head.

I wish not to criticize my fellow millennials, but rather to break the mold and release the stigma. When we read and agree with these articles on working with millennials, written by experts (or even millennials!), we feed the entitlement beast. We give millennials the security blanket they expect! Ushering in a younger workforce is a two-way street. Why not ask millennials to adapt to what works now? Is it so radical to think that millennials could learn a thing or two from their predecessors? I don’t always agree with establishmentarianism. However, as we shape-shift as a knee-jerk reaction to change, we discount the establishment even if it’s successful. It would be a shame to rob the younger generations of the knowledge gathered from experienced businesspeople.

I propose only to welcome change with experience. Maintain an outgoing lane of knowledge exchange so that the broader cross-generational workforce can benefit. Millennials need maturation. Baby boomers need rejuvenation. Seems mutually compatible, right?

I’ll leave you with a quote from American economist and author, Thomas Sowell: “Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.”

Millennials, let’s learn from the wise generations before us. Just because the change we bring may sound good doesn’t mean it’s gonna work.