Millennials and Changing Workplace Values-Ashley Bessery

Millennials have become a diligent sounding board for requesting changes in their work environments.  Most notably they have voiced concerns in recent years to value related decisions in the workplace.  This has allowed Millennials the opportunity to optimize their workplaces to fit their needs by aligning their beliefs with company values.

What is it that Millennials want? 

Millennials are searching to have a positive impact both within their companies of employment, and on a more global level.  This impact ignites on an individual level within their organization, and its success is dependent on several job qualities.  A recent study done by Deloitte has shown a decrease in Millennials positive outlooks for these opportunities within their careers.  The Global Millennial Survey is presented based on 13,416 Millennials’ feedbacks, and showed a shift from 65% to 48% in only a year.  This is largely due to Millennials failing to see senior management express important values to help advance society.  The “Deloitte research reveals a “generation disrupted.” Growing up in a world of accelerated transformation leaves millennials and Gen Z’s feeling unsettled about the future” (Deloitte).  

As Forbes presents, Millennials feel most importantly they need the following to close these gaps:  

(Forbes)

With Millennials Come Changes:

“Today, millenials, also called Generation Y and people ages 18 to 34, are the largest generation in the American workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data” (Lima).  Millennials have caused for changes both on local levels of business through policies, but also in generating new forms of communication with fellow generations.  For their predecessors they have introduced new problems, in engagement and job turnover rates.  However, some of the most important information they are supplying for these organizations is exactly what they would like to see emulated.  For instance, of particular importance to Millennials is high community engagement, a modern workplace, and a strong missions and values statement systems.  

How are Companies Responding to Millennial Changes? 

Continued growth of the workforce has made it necessary for companies to modify the way they do business.  “In order to stay competitive in this new workforce and attract and maintain the appropriate talent, companies are performing extensive research to understand and adapt. “It’s important to track millennials as a workforce because today they constitute 38 percent of the workforce—and this will grow to 75 percent by 2025.” (McGrady, 2016)” (Hoffman).  As companies undergo this research they look into their workforce, and learn what values to best promote in their organizations, as expected by Millennials.  Additionally, they look for the most common reasons Millennials job hop and quit their jobs in order to help them adapt to their needs.  Some of this includes investing in furniture to form common areas to do work this provides for a more flexible environment for employees along with the ability to do work from home if they feel like it.  

(WeWork 1330 Lagoon in Minneapolis. Photography by Philip Reed)

Overview of Millennials in the Workplace: 

 Works Cited:

Asghar, Rob. “What Millennials Want In The Workplace (And Why You Should Start Giving It To Them).” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Jan. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2014/01/13/what-millennials-want-in-the-workplace-and-why-you-should-start-giving-it-to-them/#1ca075734c40.

“Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019.” Deloitte, 24 May 2019, www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html.

“Companies Change as Millenials Become Majority of Workforce.” Lima News (Lima, OH), 2015. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsggr&AN=edsgcl.416755572&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Forbes.com, McGrady, 2016, New Survey: Three Main Reasons Why Millenials Quit Their Jobs 

Hoffman, Blaire. “Why Millennials Quit.” Journal of Property Management, vol. 83, no. 3, May 2018, pp. 42–44. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=129490063&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Reed, Philip. WeWork 1330 Lagoon. Minneapolis.