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Understanding Millennials and the opportunities they bring to the
workplace
blog.impraise.com/understanding­millennials­and­the­opportunities­they­bring­to­the­workplace/
As HR manager, you work a lot with people. You know that each person is a unique self. However, you
can’t help seeing shared personality traits in a certain group. For example, you notice that the twenty­
somethings at your office are passionate about mobile technology. They are absolutely in love with their
smartphones, to the point of addiction in some cases. You are curious if it comes with their age group.
You start reading about Generation Y (or Millennials as some call them). You probably have found tons
of stories and tips about working with them and managing them. However, we still want to share with
you our understanding of Millennials, from a rather different perspective. We approach the topic with
an analytical mindset, and hope to give you a clear and fair description of Generation Y (or Gen Y).
Specifically, we are doing a modified version of a SWOT analysis on Generation Y. In case it’s been a
while since college: SWOT stands for Strengths ­ Weaknesses ­ Opportunities ­ Threats. In this first
post, we will look at Gen Y’s strengths and the opportunities they bring to the workplace. In another
post, we will discuss the traits that are considered their weaknesses at work and the challenges one
faces when working with or managing Millennials. Hold on, you are noticing the missing T. No, I won’t
talk about Threats. As a proud member of the Gen Y, I like to believe that Millennials are no threats at all
to anyone. Millennials are challenging to work with but you will find it very rewarding if you play your
cards right.
So let’s get started.
Millennials ­ Who are they?
To give a short answer: Millennials are connected and diverse collaborators. But let’s be more
precise:
Generation Y is the demographic cohort after so­called Generation X. They are also widely referred to
as Millennials. There are no precise dates on when Generation Y began. The general consensus is that
its members were born sometime between the 80s and early 2000s. Their shared personality traits are
shaped by their times.
Firstly, they were born and raised in the era of technology and social media. They were the first
generation who grew up with computers in their homes. Do you remember when the Internet came and
seemed to redefine everything that happened before? Millennials belong to that world. They are digital
natives. They are good with technology by default. Of course, the levels of technology competence
vary within the group (the late 90s vs. the early 80s). But generally Millennials are familiar and
comfortable with technology.
Moreover, it is actually not an exaggeration to say that Millennials are connected 24/7. Their
whereabouts are often updated on their Facebook pages. Their tweets are even more instant and
frequent. And their Instagram accounts are filled with photos taken at cafes. Then, there are
Foursquare, Tumblr, Google+, Vine, Flickr, and LinkedIn too. The list is getting longer by days. The
proliferation of social media is driven by Gen Y’s increasing desire to be connected at all time. Haven't
you seen youngsters directly asking for the wifi password once entering a cafe or a bar? It seems like
an obsession.
Let me make this clear. They want to connect not just for sharing their very personal moments on social
media. Their professional life and personal life are merging in one place called the INTERNET. In a
survey carried out by Cisco in 2014, more than half of Millennials, who were asked, consider
themselves accessible for work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, via email and phone.
Secondly, Millennials grew up in a much more globalized and mobilized world. Many Millennials are
from neighborhoods where different ethnic groups reside. In their world, various cultures exist among
each other. They grew up holding diverse perspectives and a high level of tolerance towards
differences. It is quite common to meet Millennials who truly embrace differences and benefit a great
deal from their open mindset.
To give you a more detailed picture, we also like to share Meister and Willyerd's findings about what
Millennials value and what they want at work. Here is an extract from their article Mentoring Millennials
on Harvard Business Review.
Understand the opportunities brought by millennials
You can also click here to check out some data about what Millennials want from work, charted across
the world
Millennials ­ Their strengths
Tech­savvy
It is in Millennials’ nature to understand technology. They are comfortable with using technology to get
the work done. Their usage of smartphones and apps helps them to finish their tasks quickly and
effortlessly. According to Cisco 2014 Connected World Technology Report, 82% HR professionals think
that Gen Y employees are able to perform tasks faster than older employees using mobile devices
and apps. Their tech sense enables them to multi­task smoothly. They speak to customers on the
phone, input data into the system and check updates on a second screen ­ all at the same time.
Gen Y’s passion for technology and their ability to quickly pick up new tools are impressive.
Undoubtedly, this is the most prominent strength that they bring into the office.
Collaborative
Millennials’ desire to connect drives them into workplaces that encourage teamwork. They like to be
involved and included. They work well in a team because they tend to communicate regularly and
openly. Having a high level of tolerance towards differences, they are more likely to accept other’s
opinions and willing to try new methods.
Innovative
They are willing to take a risk in finding a new path for themselves. Facing globally impacted issues like
economic recession and climate change, they are forced to seek creativity in their decision­making,
ideas, and work habits. They innovate to solve the problems they face. Their creativity is benefited a
great deal from their diverse perspectives.
Connected
Generation Y is connected 24/7. The Internet offers seemingly unlimited knowledge and resources.
Connecting to various networks of friends and colleagues, they gain updates of trends, useful
knowledge and valuable lessons. They are very well informed, which prepares them for any possible
opportunities.
Resourceful
Millennials are resourceful. They have the ability and the mindset to look for solutions using what they
have and know: The Internet. For example, if one wants to improve feedback sharing practices in her
company, she is likely to first google something like: how to give constructive feedback. If she is not
happy with what has been found, she will post her concern on relevant forums, like HR LinkedIn Groups
or Quora. There she can get advice from her peers and the industry experts. With the various opinions
she gathers, she can make a poll and share it with her colleagues. Along the way, she finds quite a few
possible ways to grow and improve.
The young generation focuses on knowledge and continuous learning. They don’t keep themselves
locked in a way of working or a possibility to make things work. They are curious to learn and to
develop. With this mindset, they tend to learn fast and a lot more.
[If you want to download this blog post in pdf, click here ]
The Opportunities Millennials bring to the workplace
Innovations
Because Millennials are innovative and resourceful, they can bring in better and faster ways of getting
things done. There are a few incentives you can try in order to encourage innovations among your
Millennials and for the company:
Invite them to brainstorming sessions for new strategies, plans or simply a new way of solving a
long­lasting problem
Listen to their ideas and give credit to their resources
Have an idea box so they can send in their ideas whenever they come up with one and reward
them appropriately
Be approachable and available for them, offer them mentorship
Suggest a bonus if they can find simple, innovative solutions for their own bottlenecks and those
of others
Higher productivity
When your Millennials are engaged, they can be very productive. They are efficient at multi­tasking.
Gen Y is the force behind continuously embracing new technology advancement, and increasing
productivity. If you set up the right environment for them to collaborate and thrive, you can get some
very fruitful results.
Things you can do to take this opportunity:
Let them use their own devices if that helps them do their job better
Get them involved in decision­making when it comes to getting new technology
Let it be known that you are open for their suggestions for new apps that have the potential to
increase productivity
Networking recruitment
Gen Y employees are more likely to become your brand’s ambassadors thanks to their being active on
social media. They are most likely to share their good experience working at your office on Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn or you name it. Their talented friends are pulled towards your direction without you
even noticing it. It saves you the time and money on advertising your job posts on various platforms.
Besides, it goes without saying that young talented people inspire other young talented people. Having
Gen Y employees will lead you to more Millennials because they like to come in as a group.
Things you can do to take this opportunity:
Do not restrict your employees’ activities on social media. Provide a code of practice instead
Offer incentives for referring a friend (e.g. a bonus)
Free pass
Your Gen Y employees are your free pass into their ways of thinking. Their generation will soon become
the largest group of consumers and decision makers. Often being outspoken, your Gen Y employees
are likely to fill you up with insight into the generation’s habits, preferences and desires. If you want your
new marketing message to appeal to Millennials, test it on the ones in your office first. They can give
you no less if not more than some market research companies can.
Things you can do:
Listen to your Gen Y employees
Get them involved in brainstorming and decision­making processes if appropriate
Conclusion
Like being said earlier, each person is unique. You are likely to find contradictions among Millennials.
However, the generation’s majority is tech­savvy, collaborative, innovative, resourceful and wired.
They can make great employees if you find the right way to promote their strengths. The rest is up to
you to grab the opportunities they bring. Would you like that your company do things in an innovative
way and with a high level of productivity? Will it be much better for you as manager if the recruiting
process is less lengthy and more focussed? I think I can guess your answers.

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Understand the opportunities brought by millennials