Who Are Millennials and How to Communicate With Them?
Posted by Bill Paul
(REDONDO BEACH, California) February 15, 2017 – When our luncheon speaker announced his topic the room, comprised mostly of middle-age and older businessmen and entrepreneurs, erupted in laughter. His topic: Millennials in the Workplace. Well, every Rotarian present evidently had a story to tell, but we’ll get to those later. First, announcements were brief:
Walter Campbell said ticket sales for Casino Night are going well. “We still need auction items,” he said. He also said that Ted and Kim Wendorff donated $5,000 toward Casino Night.
Peter Lattey, a visiting Rotarians from the Downtown LA Rotary Club, announced a fund-raising “comedy evening” his club is sponsoring on March 5th at the Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena.Jim Stickler announced the next Garden clean up at Peary Middle School. It is scheduled for February 25th starting at 8:00 a.m. Address: 162nd & Brighton.
Wearing his black hat, Finemaster Terry Bichlmeier asked Sue Johnson and Walter Campbell to the podium. He recognized Sue’s one year anniversary as a Rotarian. Congrats Sue, but that will be $10 in a Happy Buck fine. Meanwhile, Walter Campbell, our president-elect, was acknowledged for his three years in the club and and that cost him $30 in Happy Buck fine,
Club President Alexis Sheehy then introduced our luncheon music, Rossini’s The William Tell Overture.
In case Rotarians have forgotten it was the theme music for the radio program Lone Ranger that many of us grew up with. Played by the Santa Monica High School Symphony Orchestra, the rendition was played brilliantly though it was sonorously overwhelming. We needed a millennials to tune the sound down a bit but alas none were present. Oh well.
In case Rotarians have forgotten it was the theme music for the radio program Lone Ranger that many of us grew up with. Played by the Santa Monica High School Symphony Orchestra, the rendition was played brilliantly though it was sonorously overwhelming. We needed a millennials to tune the sound down a bit but alas none were present. Oh well.Now onto our luncheon speaker, who, coincidently, talked about Millennials.
Dan Stover, a senior consultant with Integrated Leadership Systems, titled his talk, “Millennials in the Workplace.” He explained .jpg)
his job of leadership development as talking with owners and executives “who want more in the day-to-day work life. These are people who want the next generation of leadership to succeed them,” he said.
his job of leadership development as talking with owners and executives “who want more in the day-to-day work life. These are people who want the next generation of leadership to succeed them,” he said.Dan reminded us that he spoke once to our club on February 17, 2016, exactly one year ago.
He opened with a definition of the word “generation.” It is, he said, “A group of people born and living about the same time shaped by common experience. For example, technology.”
Then he asked, “What, or who, is a Millennial?” He noted there are four generations. They are, “The Silent Generation born between 1920 and 1940, the Boomer Generation born between 1940 and 1960, the Gen X Generation born between 1960 and 1980, and the Millennial Generation born between mid-1980s and about 1996. This demographic is often perceived to be disaffected and directionless. They are comprised primarily of the children of the baby boomers and are typically perceived as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology."
Then he asked, “What, or who, is a Millennial?” He noted there are four generations. They are, “The Silent Generation born between 1920 and 1940, the Boomer Generation born between 1940 and 1960, the Gen X Generation born between 1960 and 1980, and the Millennial Generation born between mid-1980s and about 1996. This demographic is often perceived to be disaffected and directionless. They are comprised primarily of the children of the baby boomers and are typically perceived as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology."
Stover then turned his attention to the central idea of his presentation and spoke about communications between the Boomer and Millennial generations. He noted Millennials get information instantly through digital media. He then asked Rotarians to suggest some characteristics of Millennials: Among the answers: self-centered, lack of commitment, high expectation, live on their cell phones, feel entitled, think they know everything but are ignorant of American history, live on cutting edge of the technological revolution, and demand flex time in the work environment.
According to Pew Research, he said, “Millennials have the least trust in other people. They are first generation to have taken leadership classes so they arrive in the workplace with ideas of how leaders ought to behave. But millennials lack experience and they do not work well with authority.
“They want collaboration, a sense of partnership, and coaching. They need encouragement, they struggle with self-esteem, and they need to be told it is okay to fail and make mistakes.”