Managing the Millennials

CHAPTER 7

THEY ARE AT THE HEAD OF THE CREATIVE CLASS

Cultivating the Imaginative

Isn’t there an unspoken rule that you have to be here a couple of years before you can talk in a meeting?

—Planning Department Manager

 

You have to listen to them and not shoot down their ideas. We need to value them and their input. They are the front line who deals with the customer every day.

—Bank Manager

 

I think that companies are looking for younger creative minds as the business world is changing every day. Young people bring a breath of fresh air and new ideas.

—A Millennial

Tapping into Millennial creativity and the energy that accompanies it can be both incredibly satisfying and productive. According to many of the managers in our study, it can even make you feel younger!

THE MILLENNIAL INTRINSIC VALUE

Millennials value self-expression. They have both a desire and a need to make their mark on the world. They enthusiastically embrace change and thrive on brainstorming, creating, and problem solving. They have high expectations of themselves and the organizations in which they will work. One of our Millennial managers expressed it best, “I don’t like just being at a job and if I’m doing a good job, that’s great, but if I come into a job that’s running well, and it continues to just run well under me, I’m not happy. It needs to be like wow—I am making a difference. It’s not so much that ...