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IGI Global experts and contributors evaluate stereotypes associated with millennials

Entitled, Indolent Employees and Why Your Business Needs Them!

By Elizabeth Leber on Oct 5, 2017
picture of team collaborating
Millennial. It’s a word that immediately conjures up thoughts of cell phone addiction, “selfies”, social media and a glaring sense of entitlement.

And yet, this generation, riddled with negative stereotypes, are growing up. Whether you follow the Census Bureau’s definition (born 1982–2000) or Pew Research Center's (about 1981–1997), the undeniable fact is that for the past decade these so-called technology-obsessed teenagers have been transforming into job-seeking adults.

Naturally, in what has become normal for this generation, controversy has followed them into the workplace as senior generations scramble to understand the mindset and performance capabilities of the average millennial.

“They are perceived with mixed responses in terms of their work style and performance," notes Dr. Saswat Barpanda of Amrita University, a professor and contributor to the International Journal of Sustainable Economies Management. “As it is expected this generation [is] now taking up 35 percent of the workforce; it’s imperative to identify which stereotypes shoot from fact and which are completely void.”

He also continues to explain, “Millennials are not only different from the previous generations, but [...] it is expected they will form 50 percent of the global workforce by 2020.”

word collage about millennials
In three years, half of the workforce will be overtaken by a generation that has been labeled as:
  • Job Hoppers
  • Result Seekers
  • Need to be Rewarded
  • Multitaskers
  • Dreamers
  • Tech Savvy
  • Lazy
  • Sense of Entitlement
  • Sensitivity to Feedback
  • Open-Minded
Regrettably, the negative appears to outweigh the positive. But how accurate are these labels? We asked the experts for their insight on a few of the above stereotypes and their responses revealed just how intertwined the positive and negative attributes of a millennial are in the workforce.

Job Hoppers:

"A research by Gallup reveals that 21 percent of millennials say they’ve changed jobs within the past year, which is more than three times the number of non-millennials.” Dr. Barpanda explains, “But this job hop [is] not due to lack of commitment, but more so because they are trying to find the right fit. Instead of blaming the younger generation, employers need to learn what they can do to keep their top performing talent."

Selçuk Türkmen, PhD candidate at Middle East Technical University (METU), had a different opinion, saying, "Nevertheless, millennials tend to dislike their jobs very quickly, even if it is their dream job. They constantly aspire for what they do not have. This brings forth some kind of negativity, generally in the form of perfectionist complaints about current surroundings.”

Result Seekers & Need to be Rewarded:

"Do it today, do it now: millennials are restless. They neither wait for somebody to help or something to happen nor do they make others wait. They want to see the outcome of their work immediately. While it has increased the efficiency of the overall workforce, effectiveness seems to be at stake as quality is often overlooked in completing assignments impulsively," explains, Dr. Manish Gupta, Assistant Professor at IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University.

Multitaskers:

Dr. Barpanda reports, "It has been reported in 2020 the brains of multitasking millennials are expected to [be] "wired" differently and overly it yields assuring results. Because they are multitasker[s] they won’t face cognitive shortcomings and thus [be] able to balance and integrate professional and work-life. But on the gloomy side, this multitasking may yield as threatening. Many of them don’t intend to retain information; hanging out on social networks even during a productive hour, prioritizing entertainment to work, and being distracted away from deep engagement with people and knowledge.”

Dreamers:

Gupta describes this concept by mentioning, "Life is beyond work and money: The sooner organizations realize that work and money are no longer the primary motivational drivers for millennials to work, the better it is. It is to accept that this generation loves [the] virtual world much more than the real one.”

Technologically Savvy:

Dr. Frank Giuseffi of Lindenwood University reports, "The knowledge millennials have concerning technology is an indispensable resource for today’s workforce. It can result in more efficient work behaviors and output. However, given the vast amounts of information that can be attained via technology, information literacy will be essential for businesses and other organizations. Rational choices must be made in what actually should be retrieved and used. Hence, while technology has given us the opportunity to be smarter workers, processes can be stymied and results can be skewed due to a lack of thoughtful analysis of data and information."

Gupta also chimes in on this point by stating, "Thanks to Google, YouTube, and the browsing ability of millennials, an individual may never be perceived as an ‘expert’. Gone are the days when there used to be certain employees who were consulted by others because of their expertise. They depend more on [computer] bits than their neurons to recall the required information. This mindset makes them perceive that learning to get the right information is more important than remembering the information itself."

Turkmen presents the idea that, "Millennials tend to seek meaning outside of their careers, which makes them practical about their jobs. In millennial understanding, you are successful as long as you complete your work in the quickest way possible and open space for your personal hustle (whatever it might be), which is deemed much more important."

So, what is the consensus? Are companies doomed to hire employees who sit on social media during work hours and jump ship five months from the hire date?

Millennials have different values and motivations from the generations that came before them and when we stop to think about how far technology has come and how quickly it has advanced within their life span, quickly consuming all aspects of society, it’s understandable. This next generation brings with it clear advantages and disadvantages; however, with careful guidance, their strengths and weaknesses can be molded and used strategically.

Gupta evaluated the stereotypes of this generation and provided solutions to better incorporate them into the workforce. He remarks, "The managers are encouraged to work on the following mantra: Enrich jobs for job hoppers; automate feedback for the result seekers; attach rewards contingent to the performance; provide skill variety to the multitaskers, set high aspiration for the dreamers; leverage technology to the tech savvy; assign challenging jobs to the lazy people; communicate clear rules to manage the sense of entitlement; make feedback suggestive to overcome sensitivity to feedback; organize debates and encourage positive conflicts to exploit open-mindedness."

If companies want to continue to prosper, Forbes explains how businesses need to start embracing millennials in some of the following ways:

  • Offer better training and development programs
  • Highlight corporate social responsibility programs
  • Provide remote working opportunities
  • Enhance leadership and engagement
  • Consider work-life balance propositions
Please be sure to like and share any comments about millennials in the workplace on IGI Global's social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter, and be sure to check out the many authoritative references on this controversial topic. #Millennials


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of IGI Global.
Newsroom Contact
Caroline Campbell
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ccampbell@igi-global.com
(717) 533-8845, ext. 144
www.igi-global.com/

References:

1. Cairns, James (2017) “The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope”, University of Toronto Press. Erickson, Tamara etal (2009) “Gen Y in the Workforce”, Harvard Business Review: 87(2).

2. Meyers, Karen K. & Kamyab Sadaghiani (2010) “Millennials in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective on Millennials’ Organizational Relationships and Performance”, Journal of Business and Psychology: 25(2).

3. Urick, Michael J. etal (2017) “Differences in Understanding Generation in the Workforce”, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships: 15(3).
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