One of the biggest challenges in industry today is figuring out a way to incorporate new generations — Millennials, or Generation Y — into a workplace already saturated with Boomers and Gen-X-ers and their methodologies. As this younger generation continues to permeate the workplace, it’s clear that it’s doing so with a very new and distinct set of ideals and tendencies. What’s less clear, at least among popular consensus, is whether these new ways of thinking are going to work in an already deeply-rooted old-school way of going about things. Like it or not, there are more of them coming, so it’s best to stay ahead of the curve in accepting them and adapting to cater more towards their mindset. This is particularly important in the telecommunications industry, a place where millennials — with their earbuds in and their phones out — are expressing significant interest and prowess. Millennials likely have a lot to offer in building a telecommunications team, and it’s important to keep these things in mind.
Task-Orientation
Millennials are often targeted as lazy, not wanting to commit their time to a job, thinking of it rather as something to do between the weekends. Laziness isn’t the case — it’s actually an intense task-orientation. Many millennials will enter the workplace with the mentality of, “What is my job and how can I complete this task in an optimally efficient way?” By realizing their task orientation, it’s easier to tell them what it is that they’re supposed to do, giving them precise tasks and end goals. This also plays into their affinity for a rapid pace and constant feedback.
Technological Integration
While this is a given in a telecommunications workplace, it’s important to keep in mind that this generation, particularly the younger part of the group, has been raised with a screen in front of them or in their hand. It’s important to keep this in mind and to continually optimize your workplace with the most up-to-date technologies in order for your millennials to work smarter and faster, as was mentioned above. In doing so, older generations are able to teach millennials about the work culture, and millennials are able to help older generations catch on to new tech tools.
Workplace Flexibility
It was touched on with regard to task-orientation, but this is a characteristic of millennials that significantly alters the dynamic of a workplace. Millennials view their time as a currency of the utmost value — never to be wasted. This is part of why it’s important to let them optimize their efficiency and keep technology in high regard. This also extends to the existing rigidity of the work culture. If you’re able to offer a telecommuting option, flexible hours, or paid vacation time, you’re well on your way to catching the interest of the next millennial to come knocking at your company.
Millennials are entering the workplace in massive numbers, and have already taken over the position as the majority generational population in the US workforce. It’s important to be aware of what they can offer, and in turn, what you can offer them.
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