Why Are We STILL Talking About Millennials?

“I’m so sick of this topic! Why are we still talking about Millennials?” Well, we’re still talking about Millennials because according to a recent Forbes article, Workforce 2020: What You Need To Know Now, Millennials will comprise almost 75 percent of our workforce by 2025. 75 percent!

There are a couple of reasons folks are sick of talking about Millennials:

1. They’ve heard the topic for the past ten years and yet they feel there’s nothing practical or new about it. The people talking about it have given information about the shift, but provided little or no practical things to do in relation to the shift.

2. There’s still a belief Millennials (who are 35 BTW), will “grow up” to be like Boomers and Xers. Um, that’s not going to happen. Many have been in the workforce 10-15 years already and the fundamentals of who they are hasn’t changed.

So, let’s provide some perspective.

Baby Boomers were talked about for around 10 years at the turn of the decade. What will we do when Boomers retire? How will it change the economy? How will it impact housing and healthcare? All legitimate questions. The talk has died down, but the problem solving around each of these issues is still happening.

We are in the middle of the talk about Millennials. How will their work style and creativity impact organizations? How will their patterns of job seeking impact the workplace? How can we retain this large pool of talent? Again, all legitimate questions.

We may be sick of the topic, but we haven’t gotten to the nitty gritty of what organizations need to do to be effective, especially with Millennials. This ties back to point one above – people are tired of the topic, but the practical pieces of what you can do to be more effective, hasn’t taken hold in most organizations.

As for those who believe Millennials will grow up and become something else, good luck with that! Boomers didn’t grow up and decide three-piece suits and ties of their parents’ generation was the solution. They added their own twist – business casual. Millennials aren’t looking to fit into the body-in-the-seat solutions of their parents’ generation. They are looking for their own creative solutions to crowded workplaces and working smarter with the technology available.

You may be sick of the topic and wondering why are we still talking about this. It’s because this topic is actually quite a difficult topic. It’s not a one-size solution. In this case, knowing and doing are very different.

Our first step is to focus on what we can do practically. Keep tuned as I focus our blog work on practical things you can be doing in the month of January to make sure this topic does actually go away at some point!

Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.