What’s Wrong with the Millennial Workforce?

It’s not what’s wrong with the millennial workforce, it’s what’s right. Contrary to the judgments of a lot of Baby-boomers, Generation X & Y, Millennials are not sick.

Baby-boomers, Generation X & Y have an absence of understanding of themselves along with other generations that include Millennials.

In the absence of understanding there is judgment and where there is judgment there can be no understanding.

Before I get into more detail, I find myself drawn to writing this blog about Millennials  for a number of reasons; 1) I’m hearing that financial and insurance companies are struggling with both marketing to and recruiting Millennials and 2) I’m coaching some extraordinary Millennials who are making a difference.

Simon Sinek breaks down The Millennial Question into four pieces; parenting, technology, impatience and the environment.

There’s some irony when you consider that Millennials were born after 1984 alongside of The Talking Heads opening lyrics to their 1986 hit song Love For Sale;

I was born in a house with the television always on
Guess I grew up too fast
And I forgot my name

1986 Writer(s): Cole Porter, David Byrne – The Talking Heads

What parental, technological, impatient environment did the Millennials get born into?

One where a television, computer or smartphone was always on captivating their parents’ consciousness, and while the Millennials’ material needs may have been met, there is a possibility that they were not given the parental attention that may have been required to meet basic human needs of approval, recognition and worthiness, the foundation of which is love.

The same thing may have happened to Baby-boomers, Generation X & Y that goes as far back as the advent of the introduction of TV in 1955.

Like it or not Traditionalists, Baby-boomers, Generation X & Y have been mesmerized and programmed with what to buy, feel, value and think creating a technological-parental, impatient environment fueling an addiction to the next thing to medicate an absence of love and needs of approval, recognition and worthiness.

In an absence of love, could Traditionalists, Baby-boomers, Generation X & Y be projecting their deep-rooted unhappiness onto Millennials brought about by their own lack of fulfillment because of unconsciously being mesmerized and programmed with what to buy, feel, value and think?

Millennials are no different than any previous generation and all they are searching for is a life that matters.

Here’s my view of Millennials when one suspends Judgment and offers Understanding in a side-by-side comparison.

In closing, how can you lead, manage, market to or parent the next generation when there is judgment? Remember, when there is judgment there can be no understanding. Worse yet, whether you are conscious of it or not, if there is judgment, there is an absence of love, and when there is an absence of love, there is a disconnect, probably fueling the repeated behaviors of judgment.

My final thought as you read through the list of Understanding; What can you do to move yourself to the next level of Understanding?

Judgment	Understanding
Tough to manage	Easy to manage / Responds well to supervision when a WHY based outcome is explained
Entitled	When the vision is clear, willing to work for things
Narcissistic	Humble, selfless, unselfish
Self interested	Altruistic, care about others
Unfocused	Focused, have direction
Lazy	Consistent
Looking for free food and handouts	Willing to work for a vision
Never happy	Happy / content / satisfied
They’ve been ‘over-parented’ (coddled, spoiled)	Resourceful
Impatient	Patient
They were told they were special by parents so feel special	Being part of a whole; we are all connected
Told they could have anything they want	Frugal and willing to work for what they want
Get what they want, just because they want it	Deserving, willing to earn something, work for what they want
Undeserving	Deserving, worthy, praiseworthy, valued
Rewarded just for participating (not deserved)	Work hard for things; goal-oriented, self-motivated when the vision is clear
Low self-esteem	High self-esteem / confident when working for a cause
Depressed	Happy, content, satisfied, well-adjusted, healthy, positive attitude
See life through filters (Facebook)	Open to different viewpoints
Act tough, but not tough	Inner strength
Act like they’ve got it all figured out	Curious, zest for knowledge, know they have a lot to learn
It’s not their fault	Willing to accept responsibility
They were dealt a bad hand	Willing to work through challenges they’ve been dealt with
High on dopamine response from devices – ‘the feel-good chemical’ creates addictive behaviour	High on life
Afraid to be unfriended	Able to handle the fact that sometimes friendships end (friend for a reason, season, or a lifetime)
Unable to form deep & meaningful relationships	Able to form deep and meaningful relationships with a close friends
Have lots of ‘false friends’ or superficial friends (Facebook friends)	Ability to form real friendships; have true friends
Hardwired into the dopamine-producing devices and media (unrestricted access to)	Have a variety of interests and understand that devices are just one tool of many
Can’t count on their friends	Can rely on friends
They don’t practice skills of being a good friend	Work on being a true friend; open to practice skills needed to be a real friend
Don’t know how to date	Practice dating; communicate with others ‘live’ by going out on actual dates (instead of just texting or messaging)
Fickle; cancel out on friends, unreliable	Reliable; dependable; ability to really ‘be there’ for friends
No coping mechanisms to deal with stress	Able to cope with stress and stressors of life
Looking for temporarily relief from stress – (from devices; social media)	Ability to find ways to cope and manage stress for the long term (from positive activities or choices)
They don’t turn to PEOPLE for help and support — they turn to devices and social media	Able to ask for help and support
Spend more time on Facebook so suffer higher incidents of depression	Learning to spend more time with their true self
Imbalance of time spent on devices and social media	Looking for ways to balance
They want to make an impact, but don’t feel they are (in the workplace) so want to quit right away	Willing to wait and put in their time at a job to create an impact over time
Making an impact is an ‘abstract concept’ they don’t understand	Willing to earn their mark; realize it takes a lot of time, commitment, energy & experience to make an impact
Increase in suicide rates	Improving self worth
Increase in accidental death due to drug overdose	Working on ways to increase their sense of self without medication
Increased rates of drop-outs from school due to depression	Increased rates of graduating from school and colleges
Increase in leave of absence due to depression	Decreased leave of absence from school and work
Unable to find joy in life	Ability to find the joy in life
Can’t find deep fulfillment in work or life	Feel fulfilled at work and in life
Just ‘passing through’ life… ‘it’s fine’	Enjoying the journey of life
Put in corporate jobs that won’t teach them the skills of cooperation	Work in a job / career that allows them to be part of a team and learn the skills of cooperation and teamwork – working towards a common goal over the long term
Thrust into jobs that won’t help them build their confidence	Appropriately placed in jobs that will help build their confidence
In jobs and careers (corporate culture) that feeds off of ‘the year’ instead of the lifetime	Working for a company that sees the value in grooming and developing an employee for the long term
They blame themselves for not being able to ‘deal with life’ (but it’s the corporations fault for pushing the quick fix.. instant gratification… so they won’t learn to be fulfilled from working on something long term	Working on ways to increase their sense of self without medication
Lack social skills	Have good social skills
Lack confidence	Confident; have confidence
Unable to be ‘in the present moment’	Ability to live in the present; be present
Unable to wait or be alone and just ‘be’ without looking at a device	Able to be ‘alone with themselves’ and feel comfortable
Unable to form meaningful relationships	Able to form meaningful relationships
Don’t understand how to form trust over time	Able to build trust overtime in relationships
Unable to allow mind to just wander… due to constantly being ‘engaged’ in devices and social media	Able to be ‘alone with their thoughts’ and allow mind to wander freely
They don’t have life balance	Have life balance
Difficult to be innovative and create ideas as they are constantly ‘engaged’ and connected to social devices	Able to innovate and create ideas
Unable to just ‘enjoy the world’ through own eyes	Able to see the world from their own perspective and enjoy it
Unable to remove temptation (put their phone away or turn it off)	Can successfully ‘unplug’ or ‘disengage’ from devices and feel in control