I too, watched the 60 Minutes segment last night about the "Millennials" (aka "Generation Y") entering the work force. And here's the thing, I'm jealous! I know, they sound a bit, shall we say, high-maintenance, requiring constant praise, meaningful work, and having the nerve to put their friends and personal interests (or as I like to call it life) before work. It appears they do not look to the sacrifices their parents made as something they would like to replicate. And there is a certain truth to a fellow blogger's response to that:
The interesting part is that the little snot nose didn’t say that the reason mom and pop spent so much time and sacrifice is to run the little sh!t around to soccer, piano, etc and get trophies for just showing up.
Admit it Boomers and Gen Xers: wouldn't it be great to receive constant praise at work? Hey, I would be delighted to receive ANY praise at work! I work in an environment where everyone does a great job, so we all take it for granted (and sometimes are taken for granted). How great would it be to be part of a generation that is so needed (in terms of the absolute numbers in the workforce) that they can dictate that their employer actually tell them when they did a great job. How fun it would be to actually feel that valued! Maybe retirement wouldn't look so attractive to me if employers were fawning all over me!
USA Today (thanks for the link) quotes an expert:
"Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce"
Well, shoot, I think I would be much less likely to respond to that than the be-nice-to me type of management style they are requiring.
Perhaps they are on to something. I can't help but think, 30 years from now when this generation is ruling the world, it's going to provide a work environment that is just much nicer than the one we Boomers have created.
I'm generation X and trying to help my parents in their retirement. Perhaps you are too. If so, I found a great resource that has helped me with quite a few things. Link is here if you are interested....
http://elderlyparentresources.com/
Hope it helps!
Best, Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer | March 06, 2015 at 11:45 AM