Since my mother, my father and meanwhile also my older sister are all self-employed, I already knew early what it means to work hard and to take responsibility. When my high school colleagues enjoyed the beautiful weather during the summer holidays, I decided to do some student jobs instead in order to earn a little extra money. Please don’t misunderstand. Of course I also went on holiday with my parents and my sister. But before or after that, I worked on a farm, in a warehouse or as a floor layer just to name a few. In addition to the little extra money, I was allowed to (l)earn something much more important than money. And I will write about that in this blog post.
We are curious and looking for meaning
As outlined in my previous blog posts „Millennials in the Working Place“ and „Smartphones – the new addiction of the 21st century?“, born between 1980 and 2000 the Millennials generation is a generation full of preconceptions. Naturally, like any other previous generation, it has its own attitudes, values, and traits. Like I have experienced it during my student jobs, I was always open to improvement, innovation, feedback and I was excited to find a reason and a real purpose behind all the different professions and industries. I wanted to understand why things are the way they are. However, Millennials are also looking for the same ultimate goals than any other generation such as integrity, having a vision or a goal to work for, improving the own performance and meaning.
And “meaning” is the big one. The Millennials generation does not really think about work-life balance anymore. In our way of thinking, business and private life are rather seen as one thing, where work is just a part of it. Of course we understand life is precious and we want to become successful as well. But as a contrast to previous generations, where one just had to be a working link in the chain, I strongly believe that we take more care about our own well-being and therefore really want to discover the purpose behind everything we do. Not primarily to simply question things, but to become aware that the things we are doing are really the things we want to do and we can ultimately find true meaning in our actions.
Passion is king
When I look back to the vacation jobs I had, I am extremely grateful for the experiences I made and the things I learned about the professional life. And yes, I didn’t really like most of these jobs to be honest. But I have the greatest respect for the people, who have been doing these jobs for the past few years (believe me, being a floor layer is damn exhausting!!!!). However, doing these jobs gave me direction when asking myself what profession I want to have in the future. Through this and many other experiences, it was possible for me to find my true passion in online marketing. My profession gives me joy every single day, the digital world keeps fascinating me and I am able to see a sense and purpose when getting up in the morning. And I honestly don’t care if I earn less than other people because my profession brings me much more than just a paycheck.
What managers still get wrong about Millennials
So it’s important to understand that Millennials look beyond the end of their nose and want to fully understand things so that they can take a step forward in finding their true professional identity. And I am absolutely aware that it cannot always be easy for managers to live up to this claim and providing such a flexible working environment.
A few companies, mainly in the IT sector, have got the hang of it and are moving in the right direction. They regularly offer internal career programs where employees can take a look at different departments and maybe even change to that department afterwards. This not only helps to broaden one’s own horizons, but also strengthens the team spirit within a company. Silos are broken open and a mutual understanding is developed among the employees. What can also be observed more and more is that companies also provide training days in addition to the regular holidays. Employees have the opportunity to register for external training courses in order to learn new things or to deepen their knowledge in a specific area of their choice. And everything is paid by the employer.
To sum it up, I believe that today’s managers and team leaders must place much more value on their own employees broadening their professional horizons. Especially in today’s digital age, where constant curiosity and education is a must in order to not fall behind. It’s frightening how many companies have internalized the old way of thinking that employees should make a career at the same desk for years without having to think outside the box or learn something new. Managers and team leaders need to be more courageous and give their Millennial Generation employees clearly more freedom and space for development in the workplace. Free coffee and reka checks are simply not enough anymore in the current days.
Image source: https://medium.com/yieldr/how-we-nurture-talent-feeding-the-wolf-with-personal-development-plans-4ff7d7382f9e
