Sound Familiar?

Ok, so for all you Baby Boomers and Gen Xer's out there...tell me who this sounds like;


•Looking for meaningful work

•Seeking challenge

•Chance to prove themselves and show they can perform well

•Enjoys contact with people

•Desire to be in a position of responsibility

•Resents being looked at as though they have no experience

•Tends to be more job mobile

•Less respectful of authority


Sound like a familiar generation? Did you say Millennials? Something tells me you did. Would you be surprised to know that these characteristics were taken from the Training and Development Journal, November 1970? Yes that's right 1970!!

Now you may be asking yourself, what's the point of this? The point is (are you ready for this cause it's going to blow your mind); every new generation that enters the workplace is viewed as different from the previous generations. They are always looked at as lazier, wanting more while doing less, less respectful of authority, wanting responsibility and wanting to be respected for their knowledge. Millennials are viewed no differently than Baby Boomers were in 1970 when this was written. Gen Xer's, we were viewed as the downfall of America when we started working. So what is the reality here? Are new generations different from previous generations? The answer is yes, they are. They come in having grown up in different times, with different values and problems to deal with. The key is though, that they aren't really viewed any differently. It's something different and that scares us in the workplace. We get so caught up in the "this is the way it's always been done and you'll do it that way too" mentality that we forget that we were just like Millennials. We all entered the workforce wanting to make a difference. Wanting our ideas heard. Wanting respect. Knowing that we had something to offer if someone would just listen to us. But something happened along the way. We got caught up in the same mentality we hated when we started. We feel it's our right to do the same thing to the next generation because it was done to us and if we had to live with it, so should they! WRONG! If we are going to be competitive in the new global marketplace (whether you view your organization as a global company or not, it is thanks to the internet), we must use the talents and ideas that Millennials bring with them. The truth is, with the Baby Boomers set to retire in mass numbers over the next few years, we need them. And Xer's we are going to need to take a step back and remember what it was like to enter the work force with all these ideas. Don't squelch them. Encourage them and use what they have to better your companies.

For Millennials, you're going to need to realize that you DON"T know everything and you won't be president of the company. But that shouldn't stop you from trying to make a huge impact on your organizations and the world!