Millennials and technology shake up workplaces

Move over baby boomers, the millennials are ready to flood the workforce and are bringing with them all kinds of new requests and expectations that are apparently testing the boundaries of the traditional office.

Writer Ron Alsop has spent years researching and ranking business schools for the Wall Street Journal. His book, “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace,” explores the common thread that ties together a two-decade-long generation of entitled but altruistic, tech-savvy multitaskers.

“About four years ago, I kept hearing more about the millennial generation,” he said.

The group was just reaching the age that they were filing through MBA programs. He wrote a column for the WSJ, detailing what he was hearing from professors, recruiters and millennials themselves. The response was immense and impassioned, ranging from outrage at the characterizations to whole-hearted agreement. It was this strong response that led Alsop to continue with his interviews and eventually write “Trophy Kids.”

Alsop visited the University of Northern Colorado on Nov. 10 to speak with students, faculty and the local business community about his book. He cautioned that his conjectures are heavily based on interviews and that he offers only broad points, not an all-encompassing primer on all individuals ages 9 through 30.

The 92 million members of the millennial generation – often called Generation Y – were born between 1980 and 2001. By comparison, the baby boomer generation (1946 to 1964) is 78.3 million strong, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Alsop points out that there are two other generations in the workplace as well – Generation X (1965 to 1979) and the Traditionalists (1925 to 1945).

The millennial generation is just joining the ranks of the workforce, so it is hard to argue that their numbers make them a disruptive force. Instead, it is technology, different motivations and other elements. Alsop lists the following traits as uniquely millennial:

n Entitled;

n Optimistic;

n Civic-minded;

n Close parental involvement;

n Values work-life balance;

n Multitasking;

n Team-oriented.

Alsop pointed out that the greatest challenge for companies will be the millennial generation’s great expectations. These young workers have a sense of entitlement, he explained. They are looking for meaningful work, are impatient for advancement and show little regard for traditional workplace boundaries. He cited a survey of 3,000 recruiters in which two-thirds of respondents had general negative perceptions about the millennial generation – especially when it comes to work ethic.

Sense of entitlement

Sharon Clinebell, professor of management at UNC’s Monfort College of Business, was the catalyst for bringing Alsop to speak at UNC. She had heard him speak this summer on the topics in “Trophy Kids.”

“I was excited about that presentation because as professors, we deal with millennials all of the time,” she said.

Clinebell, who has been teaching at UNC for more than 20 years, said she has noticed that sense of entitlement. She explained that students are not content with average grades anymore. On a recent class project, she handed out a couple of Cs, and those students came in to dispute them.

“It used to be that average grades were accepted,” she said, adding that students still differ on how much such a grade impacts them and how hard they will fight to have it overturned.

Alsop said it is important to trace these traits to the source, which for any generation is the parents. He dedicates two chapters in “Trophy Kids” to what he calls “helicopter parents,” who hover close by their children even as they become adults. The protective parents of the millennial generation view their children as trophies, hence the title of the book.

“What bothers me the most is they don’t stop this after college,” Alsop said of the helicopter parents’ overbearing actions. “This parental involvement is carrying over to the workplace.”

Most of the companies he interviewed had stories about parents trying to get involved in the job-seeking process, even trying to sit in on interviews. Some companies hold “Parents Day” to invite the parents to explore their offspring’s new workplace.

Alsop feels that the ultimate irony is that the managers dealing with millennials in the workplace have likely raised a few of them.

Disruptive technology

Not all of the millennial traits are tied to nurture, or even nature for that matter. Technology plays a large part in the private lives of millennials and can sometimes spill over into the professional realm – placing e-mails or even text messages instead of phone calls to clients and co-workers, for example.

“For older managers, this is somewhat disruptive,” Alsop said.

Alsop also hears complaints about weakening interpersonal and written communication skills. Companies are also adapting to a more technologically advanced workforce by implementing corporate social networks and digital corporate training.

Stacy Stolen, business development manager for Employer Solutions Group in Loveland, has seen changes in the workplace, too.

“Some clients are really tailoring their work environment to (millennials) and some are resisting it,” she said, adding that it really depends on the type of business and how many young people are entering the workplace.

Alsop found that flexible work hours are a big driver for the millennial generation, and some companies have responded. Best Buy has implemented a Results-Only Work Environment, allowing employees in its corporate offices to set their own schedules as long as the work is getting done.

Stolen described a homeland security firm requires workers to be in the office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Employees can work remotely at any other time during the day. The program has been in place for several years.

“It seems to be working well for them,” she said.

Exploring differences

Integrating the newest generation of employees into the workplace has become an increasing concern for companies. Stolen said that ESG is planning a seminar for February that will explore the differences between the generations at the workplace. The firm is also working on a few pilot programs with clients exploring different motivational techniques. For example, millennial workers might prefer time off over gift certificates as a reward.

When it comes to harmony in the workplace, Stolen doesn’t feel there are any huge challenges. The dynamics and diversity between generations can actually be an asset.

“I think the biggest thing is to keep people very open to the positive traits of each generation,” she said.

As much as technology can create an issue in the workplace, the millennial generation’s familiarity with it can be a real asset. Alsop also credits the generation with being very open and honest, an attribute he personally experienced while conducting interviews for his columns and book.

“Probably the most admirable trait of the millennial generation is altruism,” Alsop said.

He pointed out that around two-thirds of business schools now have business and society and social entrepreneurship courses. Companies are hoping to raise the bar on attraction and retention by offering more volunteer opportunities or time off in the pursuit of public service.

“I find it a fascinating generation. They have a lot of seemingly conflicting traits,” Alsop said. He concludes that there will have to be some changes in the workplace and some changes in the generation’s expectations.

“As in life, it’s a balancing act,” he said. “Both sides have to bend a little bit.”

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