What Do Millennials Want?

Most days you manage diverse teams with elegance and ease, yet sometimes the generation gap rears its ugly head. What happens when age affects how you communicate?

Millennials operate differently from Gen X and boomers.  They aren’t afraid to speak up, multitask, and they want their job to be meaningful. If you are hiring, chances are you will hire millenials, who make up more than one-third of the workforce, according to recent research by Accenture.

The best thing they bring to business? “Confidence,” says LaMae Allen deJongh, U.S. Human Capital & Diversity Managing Director for Accenture.  She adds these women “know what they want and have the confidence that they will be successful, not only in their personal and professional lives but in a career where they can make a difference.”

Some benefits? Millennials are more liberal and technology-driven than Gen X-ers says Psychology Today.

Having trouble motivating millennials? Beyond.com, About.com and BNET.com suggest being flexible, providing feedback and offering reciprocal mentorships.

Still have older employees not taking the younger generation seriously? Businessweek says, “change is the only constant” and we must embrace it.

Also, Fast Company’s Simma Lieberman says generations working together help different age groups inspire and educate each other like “millennials use technology to get more done in less time.”

Bonus PINK Link: How Generation Y is changing the workplace for the better.

PINK Profile: LaMae shares tips on how to keep the peace between generations – and her own recipe for career success.

By Caroline Cox

“Managers do things right, leaders do the right thing.”
LaMae Allen deJongh