Recently, Bentley University president Gloria Larson co-hosted a panel discussion in Chicago along with Bloomberg Chief National Correspondent Carol Massar, PayScale President and CEO Mike Metzger, and Marketing Zen Group CEO Shama Kabani. The topic of discussion? Millennials.
The two big questions posed were: Are they ready for the workplace? And is the workplace ready for them? By 2025, the majority of the workforce will consist of these up-and-coming employees. The panel group met as an event for Bentley’s preparedness study, one of the most comprehensive studies conducted on Millennials in the workplace. The study and panel discussion looked at some interesting statistics found amongst study participants:
60% of students said they were not considering a business career. The panel discussion identified the trend as Millennial students not knowing “what business means” in today’s world. When younger employees think about business, big names like Wall Street or Exxon may come to mind. But what images are conjured up when asked about Google or Apple? Automatically, the definition of business changes. It’s widely accepted that Millennials care about more than earning a paycheck. They want to make an impact, and the organizations they want to work for are those they identify with making an impact, not necessarily those organizations they identify with “business.”
68% of recruiters say that it has been difficult for their organizations to manage Millennial employees. It’s become increasingly apparent … if you try to manage Millennials the way you manage your entire staff, there are going to be challenges. A key component of good management is to manage based on how individuals best respond. A video clip from the panel discussion illustrates this point, here.
74% of participants agree that businesses should partner with universities to provide effective curriculums for preparing Millennial students for work. It seems more businesses in recent years are choosing not to invest as much training dollars in new hires and college graduates. The reason? The common belief that Millennials will spend a relatively short time on the job and the training will be wasted. By collaborating on useful curriculum, colleges and universities can work with businesses to ensure that soon-to-be employees receive necessary training before entering the workforce.
What do you think? How can Millennials be prepared to take their place in the future world of work? What is your business doing to address these trends?