The oldest Millennial is 40- Lessons for leaders and managers

It is 2021, the most exciting time to be an employee. If you are working with a corporation with at least, 100 employees, chances are that you are interacting with about three demographics everyday; the Babyboomers, the Millenials and the ever-buzzing Gen-Zs. An interesting variety , I must say.

The baby boomers have different perspectives on work. For them, work is about security, being able to meet the needs of their families,and add value while at it. They are loyal, devoted and less risk-takers in terms of career transitioning and adventures. For them, there is work, there is family and being able to meet their family’s needs is quite a priority. They are the winners of long-term service awards, with ten years and fifteen years imprinted on a golden plaque. Isn’t that what employers love?

The millennial are more adventurous, more exciting, more willing to take risk and challenge the status quo. They are calculators, innovators and inventors. If they are not startiing something, they are collaborating with someone to start something or putting their skills to use at a fast-moving enterprise. 

Think about it, a couple of CEOS and notable co-founders around you are Millennials . Either it is Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb who  celebrated his 40th birthday in August or Daniel Elk , the founder and CEO of music streaming service Spotify who is on his way to clocking 39, innovating is entrenched in the hearts of millennials. Oh, how can I forget the CEO of facebook, I meant meta-verse, who is the third richest person in the U.S with a net worth of $134.5 billion.

Coming home, you could think of Odun Eweniyi of Piggyvest, Razaq Ahmed and Edward Popoola of Cowrywise, Jessica Anuna of Klasha, and lots more. Frontliners breaking frontiers in different space, but there is something more interesting.

NOT SO DIFFERENT?

An HBR article co-authored by Eden King, Lisa Finkelstein, Courtney Thomas, and Abby Corrington posits that, while there might be differences in perspective about work, there is not so much difference in attitude to work asides those created by stereotypes and meta-stereotypes.

For instance, a baby-boomer thinks a millennial is too ambitious, and a millennial thinks a gen-Z is too fast-paced. A gen-z thinks the babyboomer is bossy and the millennial is old-school, thus these stereotypes affect their attitude to work. An interesting pseudo cycle? Right? I am sure you are thinking about which category of stereotypes you’ve displayed unconsciously.

What do you do as a leader, manager, or HR manager of the diverse generations?

1. Find common grounds: No matter the generation, every one wants to do work that is fulfilling, rewarding and impact-driven. Let this be part of your core values, that is expressed explicitly everyday.
2. Acknowledge their diverse needs: We already highlighted their different perspective about work. The baby-boomers want job security, millennials want growth and development, and the Gen-zs? They just want to be happy and feel good doing impactful work. Acknowledging these needs helps you guide your thoughts in the right direction.
3. Think of Out of the box compensations: It is 2021 and compensations is no more limited to  your monthly pay-check. It is stock-options, Stock ownership plan, performance bonuses and data-allowance. It is education reimbursement, relocation assistance, onsite maternity care and food delivered at home. Different generations have different needs that matters to them and being able to meet those needs would distinguish you as an employer/manager/ hr manager.

There are couple of other things, but I feel to take a pause here, but before I draw the curtain;

I stopped by the page of a reputable personality I respected a while ago and I saw an array of debate around addressing each other by first name or not. More disheartening were the sinister comments lambasting the younger generation of being disrespectful and snobbish.

It is 2021, I know I said that about four times already but if we are still debating an issue like this, we probably have a long way to go.

P:S- I know this post is millennial centric and millennial would probably be around for the next 20 years. But I am curious, what has it been like having Generation Z within the workforce? As a Gen-Z, what would you wish  your peers, colleagues and managers knew about you, and how you love to work ? Leave a comment below.

P.P:S- Thank you in advance for sharing this post and happy halloween.