Social values change over time, and the pace of change is accelerating. We have moved from the expectation of a job for life to the gig economy in only two generations. What the so-called Millennial generation wants is very different from what most modern corporations are designed to deliver.
Or is it?
William Strauss and Neil Howe, who are widely credited with having first coined the term to describe young adults who would graduate from US High Schools around the turn of the millennium, described these Millennials as ‘special’, ‘sheltered’ and ‘pressured’ – but also as ‘confident’, ‘team-oriented’, ‘conventional’ and ‘achieving’.
Subsequent research by the University of Michigan showed that Millennial students were far more likely than their parents’ generation to think that wealth is a very important attribute (75% vs 45% for Baby Boomers). A 2016 study by Gallup concluded that millennials, like everyone else, want a good job – but that they often struggle to find a reason to stay with their current employers and are highly likely to move on. Retaining millennials can be more difficult than attracting them in the first place.
So what do Millennials really want? Are they more ‘purpose-driven’ than Gen-X? And, as their generation becomes parents for the first time, are their values shifting again? What must organisations expect from the post-Millennial ‘iGeneration’?
What is certain about Millennials is that theirs is the first generation to have grown up with digital technology; something that also defines the iGens. They are connected, collaborative and team-oriented. They want their work to have meaningful purpose and to be able to find an outlet at work for their creativity.
Keeping Millennials (and iGens) happy and fulfilled at work cannot be an insurmountable problem. To remain relevant, modern organisations must constantly reinvent their corporate cultures.
Our cultural diagnostics – which can be completed online by delegates pre-session or even in-session and instantly analysed to provide insight and direction – help businesses to understand and, if necessary, change aspects of their own corporate cultures to meet the expectations of new generations and to maximise performance in a changing world.
This theme challenges some of the preconceptions about Millennials’ approach to work and offers techniques to identify and remedy areas of corporate behaviour that are creating disconnects between the existing culture and the Millennial mindset.
All of our speaker themes can be delivered in variety of formats to suit the occasion, budget, audience, and purpose.
Themes can be delivered as a short speech, an interactive conference session, a half-day workshop or a full-day masterclass.
We also run bespoke arts-based leadership development programmes.
If you would like any more information, please do get in touch.
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