Management

Every generation makes a mark on the marketplace and labor force and as most millennial approach adulthood, the generation is poised to significantly shift the nature of business management. The baby boomers gave us employee support programs to ensure fair wages and respectful work environments. Generation X made tight-necked collars and stiff leather shoes obsolete with the spread of business casual office spaces. What will be the millennial contribution? They’ll ensure your boss balances your needs with those of the company and society as a whole. Productivity From a New Perspective Most millennials grew up with the infamous “nine-to-five from Monday to Friday” standard, but it’s far from the generation’s ideal. Moreover, you can burn those tired performance reviews that mimic your grade school rubrics. The metrics of productivity are experiencing a massive leap in evolution as millennial managers replace timed desk work with frequent, yet informal check-ins, because the need and principle of constant communication and feedback has leaked from these social media pioneers’ favorite platforms into their best business practices. Fluidity Over Rigid Work/Life Divisions Remember when parents and teachers thought if they blocked social media websites from school computers, students wouldn’t type in one of the memorized URLs of their current and rotating list of unblocked proxies to give the world a juicy life update? Well, now those same millennials are in the work place demanding a rework of Generation X’s work-life balance standard. They simply refuse to turn off their personal lives for 8 to 10 hours a day. In fact, the number of millennials working from home or flex hours for the sake of maintaining personal lives and commitments continues to rise. This generation wants the freedom to move fluidly between their personal and work lives, but that doesn’t mean they won’t respond to a business email promptly. In fact if they don’t respond in 10 minutes or less depending, their phone’s current signal strength is minimal or it’s is dead, which means they’re frantically looking for a charger anyway. The Innovative Price of the Millennial Generation’s Loyalty As of 2015, the millennials officially surpassed Generation X as the largest workforce in the country, but companies seeking to limit turnover will have to adapt their current “employee loyalty-inspiring” tactics to an entirely new gravitational field. A recent Brookings Institution study indicates millennials favor either high-tech enterprises or companies with strong ethical practices and forward-thinking employee benefits. First, the data supports the notion that millennials have no intention of supporting the status quo. This generation wants to improve and innovate; consequently, millennials seek empowering managers and environments that encouraging advanced leadership skills like creative problem solving and creative developments. Secondly, 63 percent of millennials and younger Generation Xers want to work for companies with high ideal regarding social, environmental and political causes. It isn’t enough to distribute paycheck on time or supply reasonable benefits. This generation prefers peace of mind to a financial bottom line in exchange for their loyalty as an employee. Millennial managers are as likely to invest in the employee as a social cause, giving new meaning to business leadership skills.