“ faineant , entitled and ego - take in . ” necessitate most people over 40 what they think ofMillennialworkers and that ’s what you ’ll take heed . Thanks to popular book of account like " Generation Me " and a roseola of “ kids these days”cover storiesin major cartridge holder , it ’s easy to believe that Millennials — ordinarily defined as people yield between 1981 and 1999 — are wildly different than theirGeneration X(born between 1965 and 1980 ) andBaby Boomer(1946 - 1964 ) coworkers .
Employers have so much religion in the Millennial mythology that they ’ve change the manner they inscribe , hire , condition and develop employee . Teams of well - pay consultants have convert CEOs that Millennials represent an all new species of worker that ’s less focused , less fast and far less unforced to work hard than proceeding generations .
But is it really dependable ? Not even closelipped .
When researchers have gone digging for hard data to back up the negative stereotypes of Millennial workers , they ’ve repeatedlycome up empty . The real explanation for the perceived difference of opinion between the work ethic and commitment of Millennials vs. Xers vs. Boomers has much less to do with the year they were hold than the age on their driver ’s permit .
Wait , is n’t that the same thing ?
Not exactly , explicate David Costanza , associate prof of psychology and organizational sciences at George Washington University . Generational assignment like “ Boomer ” or “ millennian ” are more or less arbitrary , but old age is a strong predictor of work experience . And more experient and tenured workers tend to have a strong work ethic and more corporate loyalty than younger workers . In other watchword , being a “ Boomer ” is a weaker predictor of work ethic than simply being 65 .
“ If you calculate back 20 , 40 or 60 years , the same form of differences shows up again and again , ” tell Costanza , who co - authoredan influential studyon generational differences in 2015 . “ The new propagation is always the least consecrate , the least satisfied and the most mobile . Twenty year ago , that was Generation X. Forty years ago , it was the boomers . Now it ’s the Millennials . ”
For example , here ’s a1961 daybook articlebemoaning the “ decaying system of values ” have sex as the Protestant work ethic ( PWE ) . This concept uprise with German sociologist Max Weber who said that the belief in the grandness of hard piece of work and a disapproval of too much leisure clip and activities was creditworthy for the economic achiever of Europe and the U.S.
Apparently , there was far-flung consensus that the younger generation of Midwestern farmers were straying from the rugged self - reliance of their fathers and “ [ finding ] meaning and strength through changeless associations with others rather than [ themselves ] . ” They were also “ shameless consumer[s ] . ” Just imagine if those farmers had Facebook and Amazon Prime back then !
A novel studyfrom Wayne State University backs up Costanza ’s finale that age is a much better predictor of doer posture than being a “ millennian ” or “ Boomer . ” trail writer Keith Zabel and his team perform an in - depth meta - depth psychology of 77 work ethic report published between 1960 and 2015 and establish dead no empiric difference between the reply of , say , 18- to 22 - yr - old college students in 1968 and 18- to 22 - yr - old college students in 2008 regarding the PWE . The real change happen as these new punk rock get previous and more experienced .
“ In 40 age , this current group of Millennials will believe that the younger cohort is lazier and has a lower work ethic , ” says Zabel .
The most important takeaway from this enquiry is that the popular public sensing of “ work-shy Millennials ” is not only inaccurate , but also bad for business .
“ It go to these wholesale stimulus generalization that can actuate organisation to make these really poor decisions , ” says Costanza , “ and to commit in training , development or recompense systems that do n’t do any good . ”
If managers are telling the chief executive officer that younger employees do n’t seem to be engaged and charge to their work , that ’s definitely a problem . But it ’s not a “ Millennial ” problem .
“ If actor are n’t pull or they ’re not satisfied or they ’re not dumbfound around , obtain out why that is and address it , ” suppose Costanza . “ Do n’t rely on these myths and stereotypes . ”
Costanza equates the Millennial myth with the stereotype that employer had about women proletarian half a century ago , that there was no pointedness promoting a charwoman to a management lieu because she ’d eventually get married , have kid and go away . Or the painful racial and cultural stereotypes historically faced by nonage worker .
