The Millennials — better known as Generation Y, the children of the Baby Boomers born between 1980-1999, are beginning to flood the global job markets … at least to the extent that they can find work in this recession. And like each generation before, they’ll need to be integrated and trained because, if you don’t, the resultant turn over (which will cost you between 50% and 150% of their salary) will be huge … and the cost on global supply chains will run into the Billions.
The Millennials bring with them a unique perspective and work ethic that stymies older works and frequently leads to intergenerational conflict. They need to be challenged, given regular feedback, cross-trained, and shown a career path. They have high expectations for success, and they are looking for an organization that can help them achieve it. They are the most technologically savvy multi-tasking generation to-date, and they work best when collaborating. They’re a work-hard and play-hard generation looking for “cool” employers and organizations that provide them with:
- career laddering,
- socialization,
- mentoring, and
- positive reinforcement.