“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
While the Boomer's bemoan (wrongly) Millennial's lack of work ethic, narcissism and lack of respect for seniority, there is a sea of change coming that corporations and start-ups alike need to fully appreciate. Millennial's aren't buying into the status quo, whether it be traditional corporate structures, incentive systems or goals. They have been honed since youth to achieve yet at the same time, have watched the ways of the boomers sink the economy into a hole. They have been asked to do more sooner (on the achievement track by 6th or 7th grade) yet now find traditional jobs harder to find and not consistent with their upbringing. So, yes guys, they are going to play by a different set of rules and, given they'll be a majority of the workforce within 10 years, you better get on the wagon.
Recently, Deloitte ran a Millennial survey to better understand their fastest growing employee segment. The findings are very interesting. Here is a link to it Deloitte Touche's CEO post on Their Millennial Survey. It reinforces many of the themes we've heard in the past.
What I find striking about this post is that it is the first time I've seen a Fortune 100 CEO lay out why it is important to change, even turn on its head, how we (and they) manage people. Just as we moved from Organizational man through several iterations to the Knowledge Worker, we are now morphing into Millennial Man (or Woman).
In the interim, let the storm begin.