Regardless of the assumptions made about them, many millennials aren't that unreasonable about their work and advancement expectations. What they are really looking for is a clearly defined and developed process for advancement, according to the results of a recent MDM survey presented in What Millennials Want.
I've heard on more than one occasion from baby boomer executives that millennials want to be CEO in six months. But their ideas for "rapid advancement" is far from that extreme.
"I believe that a college graduate … should expect to advance quickly within a company as long as he/she proves themselves," noted one student in the survey. "If you work like hell, show up on time every day and take every opportunity to develop, there is no reason why you should be immobile within a firm. If I don't get promoted within 3-5 years after signing within a company, then I will know that I am doing something wrong."
They're willing to put in the time and the hard work to get ahead, but they also want to know that they're working toward something.
“I don’t want to be stuck in the warehouse for two or three years still waiting for a chance,” says Bryan Geiser, a senior in the ID program at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. “That’s not really why most of us go into this program.”
It’s discouraging when there isn’t clear communication about how to earn that spot, he says.
Communication is critical for connecting with millennials, said Dr. Barry Lawrence, program director of the industrial distribution program at Texas A&M University. It's not about patting them on the back every time they come in on time; it's about letting them know they're on the right path – or not.
"Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve," a student from Texas A&M University said. "Millennials can handle no. I would rather be told that I was doing something wrong so that I can work towards doing it correctly and learn as a human being than get fired."
Many of the differences in generations may actually be more about age and maturity than about actual work ethic and expectation. Don't hold youth against the next generation of workers, Lawrence says. "If ever there was a generation that we should have been scared of it was the baby boomers," he said. "They were the ones dancing in the mud at Woodstock … and they turned into some of the biggest workaholics we've seen."
Read more about what the next generation of workers is really looking for in a career in What Millennials Want.
