Keeping up with the Millennials

Millennials are the workforce of the future and managers that do not adapt to cater for their needs will struggle to attract and retain key talent.

BPS World have embraced the modern definition of diversity to and have implemented this through its Rising Stars apprenticeship programme. The impact on productivity and engagement they have experienced has been significant. What does diversity mean to your organisation and what are using it to engage with Millennials?

"Diversity" became a household name back in 2009 after winning Britain’s Got Talent.. but Millennial diversity requires more than some super slick dance moves...

Fast forward to 2017 – and some of those kids from 2009 are now our talent pool. They have grown up in the acceptance age – and the emergence of self in the workplace is not just useful – it’s a moral imperative to success.

Ask a Millennial about diversity and they will give an answer far more geared towards cognitive diversity – rather than a standard colour or creed response.

Previous generations had equality barriers to break and acceptance to gain. But this generation didn’t grow up with the memory of Ruby Bridges still firmly implanted in the memory banks.

Deloitte and the Billie Jean King Foundation recently undertook a study to investigate diversity and inclusion in the modern workplace – and the gap between Millennials and Baby boomers is vast.

Given that Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025 – its time we sat up and took notice of what inclusivity is going to mean in our ever-changing workplace.

“Millennials believe inclusion is the support for a collaborative environment that values open participation from individuals with different ideas and perspectives and the unique factors that contribute to their personalities and behaviours, which is in stark contrast to prior generations who traditionally consider it from the perspectives of representation and assimilation.” (source:https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/radical-transformation-of-diversity-and-inclusion.html)

Frequently this disconnect of ideas is causing workplace clashes; as many millennials are being managed by the “fairness” generation – when what they want is to be able to express themselves and their ideas freely.

But this isn’t a doom and gloom scenario – rather it’s another look at progress being redefined. It’s a credit to the Boomer generation that the Millennials aren’t still viewing parity as a priority. It shows how far we have come that they feel checking their personalities at the door is a bad thing.

It also shows that real inclusion is critical to engaging our future workforce – and that with this comes a degree of engagement with a company that can work towards utilising that diversity of thought to drive business forward.

The irony of this – is that as we move towards a more robotic and automated future – it’s our lack of groupthink that is going to drive radical change...

If you would like to further discuss any of the topics mentioned in this blog, please contact Mike Smith on mike.smith@bps-world.com