Beat your generation's bum rap

By Jacoline Loewen

Says the Baby Boomer: "Those kids need to learn it’s tough and you don’t get a trophy just for turning up for work."

Says the Boomer offspring, a.k.a. the Millennial: "They destroyed the environment, let greed override ethics, and are maxing out the credit, leaving us to pay the tab."

It may be idealistic of me, but I want to change this hamster wheel cycle of "my generation is the best and the others can’t work like us." But how can I actually do it?

I put this question to a Millennial, Michael Keenan, who works as an engineer for Arcelormittal Dofasco Steel, and was intrigued that his company has actually chosen to focus on this generational gap (rather than just gripe about it). "We look at the pivotal events that happened during the formative years of each generation," says Michael. "Once you understand a generation’s shared geography, cultural and economic environment, and the impact on their needs, it is much easier to work together. You understand why they are so different."

Dofasco is using psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs to frame each generation’s work behaviour. According to the hierarchy, each level of needs must be satisfied before you can move up to the next. The first level of needs is the physical — having a full stomach, for example. The next stage is the need for safety. For Canadian-raised Millennials, the luxury of growing up in relative peace and affluence means a move right up to the esteem level: the need for recognition for work and the ability to self-motivate. This is why Millennials will show up on their first day of work with plans on how to re-organize the entire product line. This is not meant as repudiation to authority, however, but rather as a contribution.

Over the weekend, I decided to put myself in the first 20 years of another generation by watching a WWII movie, Defiance Afterwards, I read the young actors’ accounts of how miserable it got while filming in the forests of Lithuania. I knew these were Millennials speaking — just imagine John Wayne complaining about the hardships of his movie location. On the other hand, these young actors are far more nuanced about the meaning of their movie; they are able to probe and question.

I imagined myself in that forest, soldiers chasing me, trying to eat squirrel. Even if I could snuggle up to Daniel Craig, believe me, after a few years of that my needs would be very basic: hot water, home, family, job, nice neighbours. This helped me understand how safety needs dominated the war generation. Journalist Tom Brokaw wrote in The Greatest Generation that this title may sound hyperbolic to Gen Xers and Millennials as they look at Grandfather slumped in his armchair. Yet I meet many of this Greatest Generation who are still running companies with the sense of self-sacrifice developed way back in wartime.

In stark contrast, Millennials in Canada have not been exposed to this kind of fear. (Up until the economic meltdown, they did not even fear for their jobs.) Millennials have been able to explore higher-level needs. It is no surprise, then, that workplace Millennials enjoy smaller social distances between each other and will question their bosses.

I envy them; it is a great place to be.

Companies will benefit if they understand this level of needs and can tap into its logical outcome: Millennials’ ability to work in teams. My generation in particular will need to reframe its aversion to the Millennials’ ability to ask for change — this is how innovation works, people. No one said it was easy.

The Millennials I meet are in the finance industry. They question, can hold a range of views other than black and white, and work on their own initiative for their own career development. This Canadian generation thinks globally, questions social issues, and wants a balanced life, but are there at midnight if need be. The Millennials’ other name — Most Entitled Generation — gives them an undeserved bum rap. Millennials can think beyond themselves, not even realizing that it takes most older people courage to put forth ideas.

By understanding, you can move toward more inclusive business practices. I know I will be able to work together (intergenerationally-speaking) with more purpose. What do you think?

For talking points, listen to this month's featured episode of The BusinessCast Podcast: "Talkin' 'bout my generation. To listen, click here."

Image by xflickrx. Courtesy of Creative Commons.