What Makes Millennials Shine in the Workplace?

A new study on the behavior and mentality of millennials found that the majority of young people in the workforce harbor a strong desire to succeed as entrepreneurs and an even stronger desire to feel a sense of balance and belonging in their place of work. 

The study, “The Millennial Mind Goes to Work: How Millennial Preference Will Shape the Future,” was conducted by Bentley University and KRC Research, which polled more than 1,000 18- to 34-year-olds to better understand how to prepare young people for the workplace. A majority of millennials aspire for success on their own terms and are willing and able to think differently about how to achieve these goals than their older counterparts.

More than half of those surveyed said they would like to start their own business, with 37 percent saying they would prefer to work for themselves, CIO.com reported. Only 13 percent said they aspire to be a CEO or company president, which suggests most millennials are more interested in becoming the leaders of their own businesses rather than following in the footsteps of their supervisors.

Consequently, millennials are more likely to job-hop than previous generations, with only 35 percent of respondents saying they were likely to stay at their current jobs for three to five years. However, about 80 percent of those surveyed believe they will work for fewer than four companies in their lifetime, which shows millennials’ fondness for switching jobs isn’t as frequent as some employers may think, according to CIO.

At least one generalization about young workers does seem to ring true, even for millennials themselves: 35 percent of respondents said people their age are unprepared for their first job due to having a poor work ethic or poor management skills.

“Millennials seem to have absorbed this myth about themselves,” said Gloria Larson, president of Bentley University, in an interview with CIO. “[They] have a different way of working and it has nothing to do with this notion of being lazy or different.”

So how can colleges and employers make the transition from the dorm room to the boardroom a little easier for this new generation of workers? Most importantly, millennials need additional help during school to learn about the ins and outs of business, from more intensive internships to basic training for skills such as critical thinking, according to CIO. And once these young workers have been integrated into the workforce, employers need to understand that millennials have different ways of working than previous employees, and often require flexible schedules.

According to the study, 77 percent of respondents said a flexible work schedule would increase their productivity, with 39 percent voicing a desire to work remotely. These same workers also require frequent communication and collaboration with team members if they hope to achieve their goals, according to CIO.

Where there is no one formula for driving success among millennials, one important mantra will always be the key to profitability and high performance among businesses: happy workers equal productive workers. Companies who take the time to learn what their employees need are bound to win out in the long run, while those who ignore the pleas of their workers are doomed to waste time, money and resources on failed projects.