Essay: Millennials in the workplace

Researchers interviewed recruiters and found that in general, they were not confident about Millennials’ ability to lead within the corporations. In particular, the cited researchers found that, to lessen the frustration that Millennials might experience when they took on leadership positions in a corporation with diverse workers from different generations, they must know the general characteristics of all the four generations in the workplace, particularly the new generation worker’s highly-confident and buoyant attitudes. To prepare for this leadership succession crisis, as well as the influx of next generation employees, corporate America should place prime focus on the individual and collective development of vision, emotional intelligence, personal branding, and leadership (Lund & Thomas, 2012).
It could also be seen in the field of healthcare. Sherman et al. (2015) evaluated that factors that might compel Generation Y nurses to accept or reject nurse leadership roles. Because half of the current nurse leaders in the United States were expected to retire by the end of the decade, Generation Y nurses were expected to take on these leadership roles. Critical to the future of nursing and to respond to the problem of nursing shortages was to understand how to effectively recruit, motivate, and retain Generation Y nurse leaders, which represented the problems associated with the leadership succession crisis. Included in this goal was to understand what factors could make present nurses reject or consider these leadership roles. Through a quantitative study that made use of a Consensus process approach, Sherman et al. (2015) gathered data from 32 Generation Y registered nurses during 2013 and 2014. With focus groups, the cited researchers found that Generation Y nurses would consider leadership roles if they believed these positions would lead them to create meaningful changes in the field. However, fear of failing and the possibility of losing work-life balance represented the two most cited reasons why they would reject becoming nurse leaders. The findings remained important for the current research because these demonstrated that Generation Y individuals had their own unique criteria of deciding whether or not to become leaders. Moreover, the findings shed light on the possible barriers that this generation faced as they strove to acquire leadership roles, including the idea of having work-life imbalance and facing the possibility of being criticized. Those behind succession planning programs should take these into account (Sherman et al, 2015). As the Baby Boomer generation approached retirement at a faster rate, the mantle of leadership would likely be passed to the next generations, particularly the Millennials in less than a decade (Kralj & Kandampully, 2012).
This section on generationally diverse workplaces showed how timely it was to understand how Generation Y employees were when they were in the workplace and how current managers could engage with them and hone them to be future leaders. The next section included a discussion of what made the millennial generation unique in the workplace.
Millennials in the Workplace
One of the crucial concerns over debates and studies on generations and generationally diverse workplaces involved concerns over generational differences, which could be considered a form of stereotyping. While it remained true that any study that involved comparing human groups, each with their defining characteristics, could be considered stereotyping, the same could not be fully criticized over concerns of generational differences (Campbell et al, 2015). Even though variances within generations existed, the descriptions of differences were usually not ill informed and negative. As such, organizations and leaders concerned with generationally diverse workplaces could not be considered mainly an act of stereotyping (Zell, Kristan, & Teeter, 2015).  Although there were criticisms that the millennial generation is not unique even if they were usually criticized by the older generations, some studies formed their descriptions of Millennials from the perceptions of the Millennials themselves (Campbell et al, 2015). This section would reveal these unique millennial characteristics.
Personality in the workplace. One unique personality that Millennials were said to demonstrate consisted of the generation having high levels of self-entitlement (Akhras, 2015; Alexander & Sysko, 2013; Guillot-Soulez & Soulez, 2014; Laird, Harvey, & Lancaster, 2015; Krahn & Galambos, 2014). Millennials did not want to be micromanaged (Campione, 2014, Huyler, Pierre, Ding, & Norelus, 2015; Kilber, Barclay, & Ohmer, 2014; Krahn & Galambos, 2014). Jacobs (2013) claimed that the sense of entitlement, which represented the idea that one deserved positive things by virtue of who they were instead of working for them, might have increased among the millennial generation. Jacobs (2013) explained that this might be because of their upbringing. According to Jacobs (2013), because Millennials were raised in times of societal instability and disconnection, such as having more unmarried or divorced parents, they were likely to prioritize materialistic values. Moreover, because Millennials were raised in an economy oriented toward advertising messages, they could easily attract materialistic aims (Jacobs, 2013). This sense of entitlement led to stereotypes that they were difficult to manage in the workplace (Thompson & Gregory, 2012). Thompson and Gregory (2012) claimed that managers should not focus on these stereotypes. Instead, they should adapt new ways of managing and training the new generation. Alexander and Sysko (2013) explored the cognitive determinants behind the entitlement mindset of Millennials, as well as the resulting affective and behavioral attitudinal components of this mindset. Through a review of relevant literature and focus groups, the researchers found that economic factors, as well as technological advancements, along with having parents who were very supportive of their success and would do anything for them to reach success, all contributed to the mentality of Millennials that they could do everything they wanted. As a result of this mindset, Millennials could be selfish, impatient, narcissistic, and hedonistic. Their work values might also be considered in a negative light because most were willing to work hard with the intention of receiving immediate rewards and praise. However, despite these negative characteristics, Millennials were also found to be confident, great team workers, and achievement-oriented, which could lead to positive results for the organizations they work for.
Another study that showed Millennials had self-entitlement tendencies was conducted by Krahn and Galambos (2014), who evaluated the differences between Generation Y and Generation X when it came to their perceptions of intrinsic and extrinsic work values. Krahn and Galambos (2014) also demonstrated that the 1996 cohort emphasized the value of extrinsic work rewards and had higher levels of job entitlement beliefs. Extrinsic work values increased only among the 1996 adulthood as they reached early adulthood; however, intrinsic motivational values increased for both generations during early adulthood. Job entitlement beliefs lessened on average for both generations, but less so in the 1996 cohort. Entitlement beliefs lessened more among women. They also found that, regardless of generation, a person’s work values at age 18 could predict work values when they reached mid-20s. In general, the findings supported what other literature found, that most Millennials felt a greater sense of entitlement and valued extrinsic rewards. The study remained important to include in the current literature to provide support to the unique characteristics of the millennial generation employees.
Other studies supported that Millennials needed to be recognized and rewarded (Alexander & Sysko, 2013; Barkhuizen, 2014; Hollet-Haudebert, & Mulki, 2015; Mishra & Mishra, 2014). Millennials needed work-life balance (Gardiner, Grace, & King, 2015; Gilley, Waddell, Hall, Jackson, & Gilley, 2015; Kultalahti & Vijtala, 2015; Kultalahti & Liisa Viitala, 2014; Sherman, et al., 2015).
Kultalahti and Viitala (2015) evaluated the elements critical to the psychological contracts of working Millennials by gathering empirical data from Facebook. A sample of working Millennials were asked to share their experiences through empathy-based stories.  Findings revealed that, like what other studies found, factors important to the psychological contracts of Millennials involved constant learning and developing at the workplace. Millennials worked better if they felt engaged in interesting and challenging tasks. At the same time, they thrived in an environment where they felt supported by their supervisors and had good social relations with their colleagues. Millennials also needed reciprocal flexibility concerning timetables and reasonable working hours, helping them achieve a good work-life balance. However, unlike previous studies, external motivations, such as monetary rewards and long-term contracts, were not found to be important factors for the Millennials. The results of the study showed that Millennials had unique characteristics compared to previous generations, challenging human resource professionals to develop practices and programs that would retain them and prepare them for leadership roles.
Learning and working styles. Compared to previous generations, the Millennials also had different work values. Millennials were considered the most technology-savvy among the generations (Baharum & Jaafar, 2014; Eastman, Iyer, Liao-Troth, Williams, & Griffin, 2014; Maxwell & Broadbridge). This expertise made them learn tasks and work differently from previous generations. Roberts, Newman, and Schwartzstein (2012) evaluated what the best approach to facilitate the learning of the millennial generation. Unique to this generation was that they had deep understanding of technology and social media. Unlike previous generations, they had high appreciation for high technological tools and the idea of social connectedness. As such, how they learned could also be shaped by this technological prowess. The cited researchers made use of available literature and their own experiences with millennial learners in medical training to gather data. Their research led them to develop 12 tips that could enhance the learning of Millennials. The first tip consisted of understanding generational differences and what made Millennials unique from the Baby Boomers and Generation X. The second tip involved recognizing the environmental and cultural forces that could shape the learning experiences of the Millennials. A common characteristic of Millennials involved how they were driven by self-interest. However, the next tip consisted of how they should still be given guidance and direction, even if they worked well independently. The last tips involved mentors knowing their own materials and their roles, so that Millennials could respect them, recognizing the value of Millennials, and using more technologies to facilitate the learning experience of the Millennials. Millennials should also be made to feel that they would have support when necessary. The cited researchers also found that to facilitate the learning of Millennials, they should be allowed to work in teams and collaborate; this was because they were more comfortable in such settings. Furthermore, they should be allowed to think creatively.
Kuron, Lyons, Schweitzer, and Ng (2015) evaluated whether work values of Millennials were likely to change as they reached various stages of their lives, including different career stages. Gathering data from 906 Canadian Millennials, Kuron et al. (2015) found that, before Millennials started to work, they were keen on having these five work values: interesting job, achievement, friendly co-workers, meaningful work that could help people, and high salary. The same values stayed even as they worked, showing that Millennials work values remained relatively consistent, as they grew more mature in their respective careers.
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Lived experience of millennials in leading a generationally diverse workplace
Millennials in the workplace