Wrong Assumptions Employers Make About Millennial Employees

Most generations will agree that their earlier generations have always had something negative to say about how they behave, how they dress up, what kind of music they listen to… the list is simply endless.

There’s a similar wave of unfavourable generalisations that has swept the millennial age employees and this article intends to put to rest some of these rumors.

A few common things that millennials have to put up with include how they are always glued to their phones and and how they rely quite heavily on technology to pass time.

While it is true that we cannot completely write off these assumptions as wrong, it certainly doesn’t have to imply that it sets us at a disadvantage.

Millennials are All the Same

Not only is it a poor analysis but also a scientifically and genetically impossible characteristic. It is true that a generation always shares a set of common values and behavioural traits, but it is only because they are shaped by a set of common challenges and also have the same influences while growing up.

Treating employees as a group of millennials and applying similar tactics to handle them may not prove to be very effective for an employer. This means that employers should consider treating each millennial as an individual.

Millennials want Participation Trophies

Although the trend of distributing trophies for participation may have started when millennials were in school, they certainly haven’t carried the longing for such trophies to their workplaces.

Millennials have certainly grown up and their understanding is in perfect sync with the expectations of their elders. Behavioural scientists believe that millennials prioritise transparency and ethics in their superiors over recognition of their deeds.

Millennials Deliver Good Performance in Digital Spaces Only

Millennials are often referred to as digital natives due to the fact that nearly all of them own smartphones and they also use it all the time. But to say that this results in good performance only in digital spaces can be rather unfair to their overall potential. When it comes to learning different skills at work, millennials assign greater priority to face-to-face contact over their digital alternatives.

They Are Not Loyal

Millennials have earned a bad name for themselves in the corporate world as job hoppers. It is once again only a misconception and the truth is that millennials may have stayed longer than their Gen X counterparts did when they were of the same age.

It is also an unfair assumption as one can never tell if the Gen X employees wouldn’t have done the same thing if the job opportunities were just as many as they are now. The fact remains that an employee when treated well will stick around, irrespective of which generation they belong to.

They Are Lazy

Another wrong assumption that employers make about millennial employees is that they want promotions and raises without putting in much effort. They are resentful of their employers when they are subjected to greater workloads.

Most millennials are of the opinion that it is the opportunity to learn and grow which matters the most to them and therefore implies that they are quite hungry to put in more work.

Millennials Are Complacent

A lot has already been said about the complacency of millennials. This is quite untrue as the number of millennials with lower levels of income and wealth is significantly higher than students of earlier generations, as more and more students nowadays opt for student loans. As a result they are faced by a greater need to work to make way for financial security and also fulfil their needs and ambitions.

They Have Trouble Following Directions

Millennials are often portrayed as a notorious bunch that will rebel at the smallest issue and cause upheaval at workplace. On the contrary if you survey millennials they will tell you how employees should always listen to what their manager has to tell them, even if they are not fully acquainted with the underlying logic. It also wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this line of thought is far more prevalent in the millennial generation than that of baby boomers and Gen X.As we mentioned right at the beginning, many of the above characteristics may be commonly found in millennials but these perceived disadvantages may have their own advantages such as having the smartness to not pay a lot of fees to a solicitor for something as simple as writing a Will but making use of a free Will kit instead.