Managing Millennials For Dummies. Arbit Debra

may face a similar fate if they look to the Millennial generation and wonder, “Do I have to pay attention to you? Do I have to change things just to meet your needs? Maybe we’ll wait for the next generation and skip these needy Millennials.” While we understand your thought process, fair reader, we know your plight if you gloss over the youngest generation making waves in the workplace.

      This chapter will prove that the Millennial struggle is real – first, we’ll forecast the current and future generational demographic shifts and then introduce who the Millennial generation is and is not. You’ll discover the importance of not just knowing who Millennials are but why they are the way that they are. Next, we’ll pepper your palette with what happens when the next generation clashes with other generations at work before finishing the chapter with giving you a solid glimpse into the future.

      Pinpointing Millennials on the Generational Timeline

Understanding the generations begins with acknowledging that the time you’re born into influences who you become. Table 1-1 gives a breakdown by generation.

TABLE 1-1 Generational Breakdown

While it’s easy to look at this breakdown and think, “You’re just putting people into boxes!” the truth is more complex. For decades, generational theorists have found that the end of one generation and the beginning of another stems from the experiences they have in their formative years. To get a glimpse into some of those major moments, take a nostalgic walk through the timeline of generations past in Figure 1-1.

      BridgeWorks. Minneapolis, MN. (October, 2016)

       FIGURE 1-1: Generational timeline.

      These years are not static; they’re fluid. Here’s a brief FAQ:

      ❯❯ These numbers are different than others I’ve seen – why is that?

      Generational-year breakdowns are not fixed. They’re fluid because generational theory is a sociological science and therefore doesn’t follow hard rules. These years are determined by the researched truth that the events and conditions that you experience growing up shape who you are. For more about the distinction between sociology and psychology, see Chapter 2.

      

Before jumping to any conclusions about who generations are, an education in generational theory can set you straight. If you feel like becoming a generational expert who knows all things generational, take a dive into Chapter 3.

      ❯❯ What happened to Gen Y?

      If you are excited to read the passage on Gen Y and how different they are from Millennials, or if you’re a Millennial who is proud to be Gen Y and not a Millennial, we are sorry to disappoint you. “Gen Y” and “Millennial” are synonymous. When researchers were first puzzling out the youngest generation at work, they named them simply as the successor to Gen X and made fun with the play on words “generation why.” Super clever. However, as more research was done, “Millennial” stuck. You can use either moniker you want. Just know that they’re the same, and in this book, we mostly use the term “Millennial.” (Gen Y is more popular outside of the United States.)

      ❯❯ What are their population sizes?

      At their peaks:

      ● Traditionalists – 75 million

      ● Baby Boomers – 80 million

      ● Generation Xers – 60 million

      ● Millennials – 82 million

       Note: Peak population indicates the highest population point of a generation. Information is taken from U.S. Census Data.

      ❯❯ So how technologically savvy are Millennials really?

      Here’s the truth – all Millennials are not technological geniuses. The oldest Millennials didn’t use cellphones until they got out of college, and the youngest of the generation used a cellphone for the first time in middle school. That being said, they’ve always known a world where they’re expected to have a technological know-how beyond the generations that came before them. With each young generation comes another wave of the most technologically adept.

      ❯❯ How much of the workforce do they comprise?

It’s too hard to really pin this statistic down because it’s ever-changing, but just as generations before, the younger generation will continue to comprise more of the workforce than older generations. Many have estimated that Millennials will comprise 50 percent of the American workforce by 2020. In 2015, Pew Research Center updated the numbers as shown in Figure 1-2.

       Note: Pew Research Center’s birth years are ever-so-slightly different from ours, but not so significantly that it impacts the data trends.

      "Millennials Surpass Gen Xers as the Largest Generation in U.S. Labor Force" Pew Research Center, Washington, DC (May, 2015) http://www.pewresearch.org/fact; tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/ft_15-05-04_genlaborforcecompositionstacked-2/

       FIGURE 1-2: Labor force generational composition.

      Spotting the Coming Sea of Change in the Workforce

      The workplace is in the midst of a large transformation: Gregory is undergoing metamorphosis; Dr. Jekyll is becoming Mr. Hyde; the bud is blooming into a flower; the rain shower is becoming the thunderstorm. Needless to say, the generations are shifting quickly and making ripples at work as you read this sentence. It’s not enough to look at Millennials in a vacuum, because while you are working to figure out how to best manage them, the other generations are moving around at the same time. Maybe you’ve felt the shifting sea tides of the oncoming silver tsunami as Boomers leave the workplace en masse, the swells foretelling a perfect storm of Gen Xers surging into leadership, or the tidal wave of Millennials building to overtake the workplace.

      

We know you are here to read a book about managing Millennials. The next section focuses more on the other generations and where they currently stand in the workplace as it relates to retirement and leadership. While this may seem irrelevant, it is imperative to not look at Millennials in a vacuum. Understanding what’s going on with Boomers and Xers right now is a key component to understanding how to manage Millennials. However, if you are one of the very few people who do not work with any generation other than Millennials, feel free to skip this part and pick up at “Getting Grounded in Millennials 101.”

      

Why does the generational study of the masses even matter if what actually matters most is the individual? Understanding the individual person will always be an integral factor in becoming a good manager, but an education in impactful generational trends will make you a great manager. Instead of thinking of the focus on trends as a generalization or stereotyping, think of it as a necessary foundation to build upon.

Anticipating the silver tsunami: Baby Boomer retirement

      Baby Boomers have been lauded for their leadership prowess over the past few decades. A large generation hailed for their level of work ethic is now reaching a pivotal moment in their career paths.