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Transcription
By the year 2020, it’s predicted that millennials will comprise around 50% of the workforce. In fact, it’s already the case in a number of young companies in the country.
This was originally a question from one of my talks for Leadership Stack. I was really interested in this, and that’s why I decided to hear out the thoughts of my own team regarding it.
Kevin thinks that this is only applicable for millennials who were forced to work jobs that they didn’t really like, all because of their parents.
I’m sure that most of you know someone that was forced into a career that they didn’t really like. Primarily through their parents forcing them to choose and stick through a college degree of their choosing.
A great example would be writers. They are some of the most passionate people that you can meet since most of them have their own style.
On the other hand, Apple thinks that they’re not quite as passionate about their careers because they didn’t have the right expectations.
In most cases, their expectations lean towards the privileges that they get with the job instead of the job itself.
A lot of the time, millennials would boast of their upbringing (usually where they graduated) and use that alone as a crux to bargain for a starting rate that is too high. Or that the fact that they’re working in Makati should automatically give them perks such as working from home.
So when these expectations aren’t met, they immediately feel like they lost. In fact, it’s their first job so they’re supposed to be there to learn and grow in their career.
I think that millennials are misunderstood because I personally believe that they’re the most passionate people when it comes to their jobs. they feel a lot about doing something that will help make the world a better place.
That’s why they leave when they think that the job is not for them. They leave when they think the job is no longer worthwhile.
What Baby Boomers, Gen X-ers have that millennials don’t is grit. They have the tenacity to endure. They have the capacity to stay. And they can tolerate whatever comes for them.
That being said, you should look at the bigger picture.
During the time of Gen X-ers and Baby Boomers, jobs were hard to come by. Landing one would already mean a lot. Not to mention the difference in technology at the time. There was no internet at the time, so everything, even just learning about a few things, was somewhat tiring. You have to go to libraries where you have to borrow or buy books for your research.
Everything else was harder before when compared to how readily available information is today.
It’s not that millennials are not passionate about their work. As I’ve said, they’re the most passionate ones. It’s just that they can’t take it when they don’t feel strongly about what they’re doing.
This led to Kevin asking if there’s a difference between passion and emotion. Are millennials passionate or emotional?
Passion is a lot of things, it’s a strong desire or something that you are very willing to suffer for.
Millennials are willing to suffer for something that they truly believe in. That’s why they go up and leave. They have to feel a strong desire about whatever it is that you give them for them to stay.
We can say that they’re passionate, but not passionate about the job or the company. They’re passionate about their own means, their own goals—which is again, they want to help. They want to do something big.
The better question would be how you make them part of something bigger.
Apple then asked how I would relate the millennial’s exploratory spirit for hopping job and going on an adventure to being passionate.
I think that millennials that are only hopping jobs for the sake of an adventure, when in fact they’re already happy with their work and feel like they’re part of something bigger, are nothing short of selfish.
Particularly speaking, I think it’s the mindset that is truly selfish. They only think of what’s good for themselves, not the company that they’ll be leaving.
An employer’s goal then is to try and avoid these kinds of people. And the only way to do this is to know what to ask during their job interview. How do we know when a person is likely to just suddenly get up and go from an already decent job?
Apple thinks of asking the individual about her goals and how the company can help you? What do you want to achieve in your life?
Both of which are very good questions to ask to gauge whether a person is going to stay with the company.
