The next generation of leaders and managers are millennials — individuals born between 1980 and 2004. For any of us leaning more towards the tail end of the baby boomers, these are our children. Referred to as selfish, needy, unwilling to pay their dues, lacking respect for experience, want it all right now and any number of other negative descriptors. So why is this important for you? Well here’s a surprise. For the first time ever, there will be more millennials in the workforce than baby boomers. This is the new talent.
Informed and confident
They are highly educated, 47 percent have postsecondary degrees compared to 29 percent of baby boomers. My oldest daughter, age 31, has never known a time when I did not have a cellphone and a computer. She communicates through all types of social media, living in Florida and texting us nearly every day. Not much happens in her life that we don’t know about and frankly are happy to share. They use technology for everything they do. It is ingrained into their daily routines. They want and can get information fast, in bite-sized chunks. I still can’t figure out Facebook.
I was sitting in a senior executive’s office the other day and the subject of millennials came up. He mentioned that he always likes to talk with the interns working in the organization. He said that one young intern told him that he could do his job right now. The executive was taken aback. He thought; it took me 25 years to get where I am — I had to work in many departments, I had to gain a lot of skills and experience, I had to learn how to work in teams and yet here is this early 20-something telling me that he could do my job today. You probably have stories like this. I work with millennials every day, and I have many examples.
Limitless potential
But to me what is exciting and gives me hope for this next generation is that they just get things done. They do stuff. They don’t wait for permission. They are creative, cause-driven and goal-oriented. And at the end of the day, we have to realize that they are the way they are because of us. These are our children. We brought them up to be independent thinkers, to see no limitations, to build a better world than the one we have given them. And we should be proud of that.
I would suggest the next time you’re sitting across the desk from a millennial, rather than get frustrated, look at them as the people that can help your company survive, help it adjust to the new technology driven economy, injecting creativity, innovation and energy into your company. They have the talent, they have aspirations and they want to do things. If you don’t embrace them, someone else will. You can only then hope that it’s not your competition. ●
John Myers is entrepreneur-in-residence and director TA2 at the University of Mount Union.
