The latest crop of the workforce of this generation is accused of being challenging to manage. This can be attributed to their narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused and lazy attitude. They are said to confound leadership so much that, leaders at the workplace are asking them to explain what they want to get from the work they do and they respond saying, “We want to work in a place with purpose, we want to make an impact, we want free food and bean bags.” Hence some leaders have articulated some sort of purpose in their job description, only they know what kind of impact they are talking about, there’s lots of free food now and also there are bean bags. Yet for some reason, they are still not happy. The learning from this kind of behaviour of the current generation is that it can be broken down into four characteristics namely parenting, technology, impatience and environment.
The generation that we call the Millennial’s, encompass individuals born after the mid-1980s. Several of whom grew up subject to failed parenting strategies. They were told that they were special all the time. Parents cultivated a culture where kids felt entitled to have anything they want in life, just because they want it. Some of them got into honours classes not because they deserved it and others got A grade not because they earned them, but because their parents complained & their teachers didn’t want to deal with them. Furthermore, even the sheer act of handing out participation medals, a medal for coming in last. This devalued the medal and the reward for those who put in the hard work.
So, you take this group of people, who just graduate college and get a job, and then push them into the real world. In an instant, they find out they are not special. Their moms can’t get them a promotion. That you get nothing for coming in the last, and by the way you can’t just have it because you want it. This leads them to question their entire self-image, shatters their confidence and lead a life shaped by their perceived failures. The other problem to compound is that we’re growing up in a Facebook, Instagram world. In other words, we are good at putting filters on things. We are good at showing people that life is amazing even though we are depressed. This makes everybody sound tough and everybody seems like they got it all figured out. But the reality is there is very little toughness and most people don’t have a clue how to figure it out.
Now let’s add in technology to the mix. Several recent studies link engagements with social media and smartphones to the release of a neurochemical called dopamine in the brain which contributes to a rush of happiness and contentment. You know we’ve all had it when you’re feeling down or lonely and you send out texts to ten friends because it feels good when we get even a single response. It’s why we count the likes on our Facebook, it’s why we go back ten times to see how our Instagram is going. If either of it is not responding positively you would wonder “Did I do something wrong? Do they not like me anymore?”.
That is why we keep going back to it, dopamine is the exact same chemical that makes us feel good when we smoke, drink and gamble. In other words, highly addictive. We have age restrictions on smoking, gambling and alcohol, but we have no age restrictions on social media and cell phones. Which is the equivalent of opening up the liquor cabinet and saying to our teenagers “If you are having problems, this is the answer”. That’s basically what happened, you have an entire generation that has access to an addictive, numbing chemical called dopamine in social media and cell phones, that help them get through the high stress of adolescence.
Why is this a problem? Almost every alcoholic discovered alcohol when they were teenagers. Unfortunately, that becomes hardwired in their brains and for the rest of their lives when they suffer significant stress, they will not turn to a person, instead, they will turn to the bottle or devices in this case. Social stress, financial stress, career stress, that’s pretty much the primary reasons why an alcoholic drink. The current generation is turning to social media, they are turning to these things which offer temporary relief for the same reason.
The third factor that has a tremendous influence on the current generation is a growing sense of impatience. Today’s generation has grown up in a world of instant gratification. Do you want to buy something? Go on Amazon, it arrives the next day. Do you want to watch a movie? Log on and watch your movie, you don’t even have to check movie times. Do you want to watch your TV show? Binge it, you don’t even have to wait week to week. You don’t have to learn the social coping mechanisms all that you desire is available at the click of a button. However, technology has no substitute for enabling people to attain job satisfaction and establishing lasting connections and relationships. There is no “app” for that. It is a slow, meandering, uncomfortable and tedious processes which require commitment and patience. Qualities that are highly lacking in the current generation.
While meeting these wonderful fantastic idealistic hard-working smart kids, they have just graduated, they are in their entry-level job. When we sit down with them and ask, how is it going? They answer “I think I am going to quit, I’m not making an impact”. It’s as if they’re standing at the foot of a mountain and they have this abstract concept called “impact”, that they want to have in the world which to them is the summit. What they don’t see is the mountain.
It doesn’t really matter if you go up the mountain quickly or slowly but there’s still a mountain to scale. What this young generation needs to learn is that some things that are far more important, such as loving relationships, job fulfilment, joy, contentment and self-confidence. None of which can be developed without investing time. Sometimes you might be able to hasten the process, but the overall journey is strenuous, long and met with hurdles to overcome. If you don’t ask for help and learn that skill set, you will not be able to cope and be left behind.
Lastly, the environment plays an important role in influencing behaviours and shaping personalities. Bright, young impressionable individuals are put in corporate environments that care more about targets and deadlines than they do about creating a culture and environment that propagates growth and encourages individualistic creativity. They prioritise the short-term gains, then the development of a sustainable workforce that can grow individually and with the organization.
We are putting them in corporate environments that are not helping them build their confidence. That is not helping them learn the skills of cooperation. That is not helping them overcome the challenges of a digital world and finding more balance. That isn’t helping them overcome the need to have instant gratification and teach them the joys and impact and the fulfilment you get from working hard on something for a long time, that cannot be done in a month or even in a year.
We are thrusting them into this corporate environment and the worst part about it is they think it’s them, they blame themselves, they think it’s them who can’t deal and so it makes it all worse. Wish that society and their parents did a better job, which they didn’t. We’re getting them in our companies and we now have to pick up the slack, we have to work extra hard to figure out the ways that we build their confidence, we have to work extra hard to find ways to teach them the social skills that they are lacking.
To Conclude:
We are already seeing the worst case scenario. On one hand, we see an increase in suicide rates, accidental deaths due to a drug overdose, higher rate of high school dropouts and the prevalence of depression among this generation. On the other hand, what we consider best case scenario is, an entire population growing up and going through life, never really living life to the fullest. They fail to find deep fulfilment in work or in life. These individuals will just muddle through with no established sense of purpose. But the future need not be bleak. We all play an important role in shaping and moulding the culture of our organizations and the values we propagate. It is up to us to help those around us that are in need of our time and encouragement.
***Excerpt of Simon Sinek from an episode of Inside Quest***
