The new employee has six tattoos, a shirt she made herself, is armed with a nerf gun and, instead of negotiating a signing bonus, she negotiated a half day off a week to volunteer at the local humane society.
Is the new employee a millennial or a baby boomer? Who you kidding?
Granted, there's been enough research done on millennials v. boomers so that we know the basics. But a new study from the research organization Atenga offers even more insight into why millennials tend to job-hop so often.
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Report authors Per Sjofors and Josh Tickell begin by informing us that millennials will work for 15 to 16 different employers during their careers, and that among the reasons they quickly tire of a workplace is that their millennial-specific needs simply are not being met.
For instance, the study says, millennials are 67 percent more likely than boomers to say they want to have a mentor at work. They are also 67 percent more likely to say they want to do some type of community "good" on the job as boomers. The latter are way more interested in just going to work and getting paid.
When it comes to self expression, millennials are much more self expressive all across the board than boomers. And they expect to be permitted freedom of self expression at work. Consider:
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They are far more likely to say they like "making work fun" than are boomers;
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More than 80 percent of millennials say they like to express themselves through tattoos, body piercings, Twitter and Instagram messages, whereas boomers are less than 20 percent in each of those categories;
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64 percent of millennials say they consider their cars a form of self-expression, compared to 36 percent of boomers.
There's more, but you get the idea: Boomers are nose to the grindstone, grin and bear it. Millennials want interaction, mentoring, a bit of goofing off, no rules on personal expression.
And when boomers are bossing around millennials, the millennials are going to be constantly on the move, looking for the workplace that they would design.
"Companies with strict anti-tattoo policies, strict dress codes and strict policies against 'personalizing' one's area of work are a no-no for keeping young people at their jobs. Today's workplace (like millennials themselves) is about customization, individuality, and choice. … A workplace in which the generation with experience and knowledge fails to provide mentoring will be rocky place to work for young hires. This can cause turnover," the researchers conclude.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
