If you don’t, then you better start doing things to fix the problem or you’ll lose out to that competitor who has a millennial friendly office
Google defines millennials as such: “a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000”. This means that anyone and everyone born between 1980 and 1984, roughly speaking, can be counted as a millennial. Wikipedia, which is slightly more reliable than Google when it comes to definitions, defines millennials as people born between the years 1980 and 2000. The latter is the more widely accepted definition in most business circles.
In fact, millennials are quite central in many business discussions around the world. The reason for this is that barring the really early entrants like, yours truly, millennials are only now entering the global business setup. More importantly, businesses are now being forced to rely on these millennials since the Generation X (millennials are considered to be Generation Y) is getting old and retiring.
One of the more common discussions of today’s business world revolves around whether a business has millennial friendly office or not. If you’re a part of these circles as well, then you may have already been asked if you have a millennial friendly office. The question is why should you even bother giving a hoot about this?
The Significance of a Millennial Friendly Office
We’ve already focused on how the global workforce is changing from Generation X to Generation Y. The number of millennials in offices is increasing irrespective of which sector, industry, country, or global region you consider. From this perspective, if you don’t have a millennial friendly office, then you’ll either not have many employees to work with or have employees that are extremely dissatisfied in the future.
Since dissatisfaction in workforce usually leads to poor efficiency and a failing business, having a millennial friendly office can be equated to ensuring future profits and sustainability. There is also the aspect of your business’s potential to consider.
If there’s a single quality that can be said to define Generation X, then it has to be stability. In the case of Generation Y, this quality is sheer potential. Millennials have the potential for not only persistence and loyalty but, more importantly; they have an immeasurable drive for innovation.
As the vast majority of markets and sectors today are being driven through innovation and creativity, the creative potential of millennials can really do wonders for a business that knows how to tap into it. However, the biggest problem with millennials is also a sense of entitlement which can become irrelevant if they are happy in a millennial friendly office.
This leads us directly to the future. Logically and possibly crudely, when people from Generation X start moving on, it will be the millennials that will inherit the business and, for that matter, the Earth. In fact, in many businesses this transition or handing over, so to speak, is already underway. Hence, since the millennials will be the ones running all businesses in the future, it makes sense for a business to ensure that it has a millennial friendly office.
However, what does it mean to have a millennial friendly office? This isn’t an easy question to answer. Most people think having a millennial friendly office means technology but that’s only a piece of a much vaster puzzle. A large chunk of this puzzle lies in the realm of psychology. In other words, if you understand millennials, then you shouldn’t have any problems setting up a millennial friendly office. Here are a few points that you should keep in mind.
A More Humane Relationship with Management
Say what you will of the old guard but the majority of businesses in those times were run like armies. Instead of being contributory, the style of doing business for most entrepreneurs was controlling. Employees were expected to listen to their seniors and possibly even tolerate aggressive criticism.
At the very least, the relationship between the boss and his workers was detached and indifferent. In fact, employees were, more often than not, expected to feel privileged to be serving the hotshot entrepreneur or the high flying company.
This, unfortunately, is not feasible with millennials. Millennials will baulk at any such treatment which is possibly why they have this reputation of being entitled. While the tag of the ‘Entitled Generation’ may be true, the millennial desire for a more humane relationship with the management isn’t unfair.
In fact, countless researches have shown that a more convivial relationship between the bosses and the workers can go a long way in improving the productivity and efficiency of a business. This is the main reason why most corporate today host team building workshops and excursions for their staff.
Maximum Focus on Productivity and Efficiency
Technology and business practices have changed considerably in the last two to three decades. The improvements have been so drastic that older operational practices have not only become out of date but are now considered to be unproductive.
More importantly, millennials consider old practices to be counterproductive to any and all company objectives. As a matter of fact, millennials are characterised by their will to take the shortest path to a destination or objective, regardless of what the rules and regulations may state simply because it is more efficient, less tedious, and not as time consuming.
Therefore, an office that free from hindrances based around rules and regulations from the past can be truly called a millennial friendly office. The reason for this is that a millennial in such an office will feel empowered simply because he’ll be able to achieve more in lesser time. Since the definition of efficiency is also getting more down for less, the overall impact on the business in question will be positive in nature.
Transparent but Competitive Compensation Packages
If there is one thing that millennials know, then its technology and how to use it. Since technology is at the core of every type of modern communication, it isn’t all that surprising that millennials have all kinds of information or at least have the capability of ferreting out any nugget of information they need.
The direct result of this is that while in the past businesses could pick and choose the best talents to employ; it is now the talents that choose which business to work with. Barring the really huge businesses such as the Googles, the Microsofts, the Wells Fargos, the Walt Disneys, and the Toyotas, there are very few businesses that have professionals clamouring to join them.
For a small to medium scale business today, nothing is more important than offering a millennial friendly office which also includes an appropriate compensation package. The reason why we’ve chosen to include compensation packages as a part of a millennial friendly office is that when we talk about these packages, we’re also talking about benefits beyond monetary benefits.
In other words, we’re talking about office environment which includes everything from a play room to an acceptable cafeteria. Most importantly, we’re talking about the overall employee experience.
A Set of Modern and Open Core Company Values
Millennials are quite particular about their principles. They value their emotional, spiritual, and moral being quite a bit too. This means that they need the organisation they’re going to work for to reflect their personal and professional values as well. If the values don’t match, then the millennial will most probably not be committed to his work.
As a result, he won’t be using his full potential and his output will suffer. This, needless to say, isn’t desirable for the business in question. Therefore, it is important for businesses to determine and establish a set of modern and open core company values. Once established, these values will make it easier for the business in question to ensure that it has a millennial friendly office.
Moreover, the core set of modern company values will make recruitment easier because the recruiters will be able to filter applicants on the basis of their values and whether they match with the company’s values or not.
A Much Flatter, Gentler, and Relaxed Hierarchical System
This is one of the greatest burrs of millennials. The vast majority of them absolutely despise strict hierarchies. The reason for this is that they don’t believe in blind obedience and instead prefer a work environment founded on merit. This leaves vertical, stricter, and stringent hierarchical systems completely redundant in the age of the millennial.
Therefore, if you want to have a millennial friendly office, then you’ll need to work on the entire structure of your business to remove rigid hierarchical components. Don’t be scared though. You won’t have to do away with all types of hierarchy. All you’ll need to do to have a millennial friendly office is to ensure that merit is prioritised over hierarchy and seniority of any kind.
Millennials are the future of business and, indeed, the world ladies and gentlemen. So, it’ll be beneficial for your business, regardless of which sector or industry you operate in to have a millennial friendly office. At worse, you’ll be preparing for the impending arrival of millennials in your workforce and at best you’ll be stealing a march over your competitors by leveraging their creative energies and high intensities.
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