This eBook will cover common characteristics associated with millennials, how they react to the evolution of technology and interact with the world around them, the ways businesses need to adjust, and what this means for the future of work.

1. 03
THE
MILLENNIAL
ERA OF WORK
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2. 03 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A MILLENIAL?
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A MILLENNIAL?
MEET THE MILLENNIAL
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
WHAT BUSINESSES HAVE TO LEARN
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK
TECHNOLOGY AND WORK MERGE TO CREATE REMOTE TRENDS IN COLLABORATION
FOOTNOTES
03
04
05
06
07
08
10
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3. 03 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A MILLENIAL?
WHAT IS A
MILLENNIAL?
Technically, a millennial, sometimes known as a Generation Yer,
is a product of Generation X. Researchers and commentators
use varying birth years to define this demographic cohort, ranging
from the late 1970’s to the early 2000’s. Jamie Gutfreund, Chief
Strategy Officer for the Intelligence Group, notes a full 86 million
millennials will be in the workplace by 2020. This represents 40
percent of the total working population.1
This eBook will cover common characteristics associated with
millennials, how they react to the evolution of technology and
interact with the world around them, the ways businesses need
to adjust, and what this means for the future of work.
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4. 04 MEET THE MILLENNIAL
HIGHLY COLLABORATIVE
Members of Generation Y are
accustomed to working together to
save money, save time, and
optimize efficiencies.
IN TUNE WITH TECHNOLOGY
This first generation of “digital natives”
has grown up in a completely digital
environment. They are not only comfortable
with the rapid evolution of technology;
they have come to expect it.
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VALUE WORK-LIFE
BALANCE
Millennials want “it all”,
and their high standards
for work quality are equal to
their expectations for quality of
life. By raising the bar on work-life
balance, they are redefining
what work means.
ALWAYS ON
Millennials are hyper-connected
to their devices, and accustomed to the
unlimited minutes and data that support
their ability to multi-task.

5. 05 COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
JOB HOPPERS According to research,
millennial workers typically stay in one job for
an average of two years, as compared to the 4.6 years of the American worker’s overall job tenure.
This observation is more highly correlated to recent
economic conditions than the millennial’s generational
disposition. Good long-term opportunities are hard to
come by and student loans have skyrocketed,
pressuring millennials to take advantage of the best
opportunities that come their way.
NEEDY AND ENTITLED According to the Center
for Sales Strategy, “Those of us in our mid-thirties or
older would agree that when we were growing up, many of our questions were answered by adults telling us, ‘Go figure it out.’ So
we did. And that now feels normal to us. Kids today are told, ‘If you don’t understand, just ask!’ And when they do ask a question of their tutor, coach,
teacher, or parent, they usually get a pretty thorough explanation – and sometimes even a demonstration, to boot. That’s what they expect from their managers.” 2
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6. 06 WHAT BUSINESSES HAVE TO LEARN
ABOUT COLLABORATION
Millennials want to interact
with coworkers of all ages and
backgrounds and collaborate on
important matters. Not only do they
expect to engage with colleagues
at more intimate levels in order
to learn, but working as a team is
actually preferred. Most millennials
feel comfortable interacting with
older workers, even those viewed as
authority figures.3 In fact, 41%
of millennials agreed that employees
should do what their managers
tell them. Compare that to only
30% of both Baby Boomers and
Generation X participants agreed. 4
ABOUT WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Millennials have a great enthusiasm
for life and a different approach to
work-life balance. It shows in their
demands for remote work options
and time flexibility. They blur the
lines between their professional and
personal lives, and prioritize building
communities and encouraging
friendships. Workplaces that take
advantage of this new trend toward
balance will find that millennials can
work just as hard as other workers.
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ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
Millennials want work to mirror their
personal lives and expect to have
access to the same technology
experience in and out of the office.
Companies should make it a priority
to offer the best technology tools
for collaboration, productivity, and
flexibility. An organization’s restrictions
on popular social media sites and
preferred tools can have negative
implications on a millennial’s desire
to join or stay with a company,
in addition to their inclination to
express opinions that could impact
an employer’s reputation. This
generation’s level of interconnection
and activity is part of their work and
productivity. Playing nice is key to
winning this game.
ABOUT RETENTION
Millennials are actually much more
likely than older workers to value the
idea of long-term careers, reports a
recent study by Monster.com and
GfK5 Nearly two-thirds (62 percent)
of millennials aged 18 to 30 say it’s
possible to have a lasting career
in today’s workforce, compared to
less than half (48 percent) of baby
boomers. Embracing their desire to
explore new roles and continue to
advance is key to holding onto these
young workers.

7. 07 WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK
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W hen we look at the research as a whole, we learn that millennials are
more committed and more social. They interact and rely on the new
social tools to collaborate and keep in touch with their colleagues,
friends, and families.
The new face of work is trending toward healthy, fun, and energetic workplaces
where treadmill desks and open floor plans are the new norm. Top employers
are seeking ways to inspire worker creativity, focus, and well-being by offering
employees the option to work remotely or tap into a more energetic workspace.
At the same time, work is still, well, work. Workplaces are changing and
adapting to a new economy driven by a more flexible and balanced approach
to work and life. Larger organizations will have the advantage in retaining
millennial employees long-term with programs to encourage and support
frequent lateral transfers, job rotations, and cross-functional training
opportunities, as well as work that can be done using technology instead of
sitting behind a desk from 9 to 5. However, any business can use technology
that is appealing to millennials without reworking their entire internal structure.

8. 08
TECHNOLOGY AND WORK MERGE TO CREATE REMOTE TRENDS IN COLLABORATION
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W hen we look at how
technology in general has
affected society, we discover
work doesn’t happen only in the
office, and that is driven in part by the
mobile tools available to all workers.
Mobile is not only about smartphones
and tablets, however; it also involves
web-based apps that enable working
from multiple devices and locations.
In-person meetings are not going
to vanish, but the conference table
is no longer needed. Workers can
open a laptop, tablet, or smartphone
in a coffee shop or hotel lobby, fire
up an instant meeting service to
connect and get work done in a more
comfortable setting than the office
American Express found companies
that have office space – frequently
report only 50% of that space is
used – when accounting for sick time,
vacation and travel of its employees.6
So even having an office doesn’t
mean people will be in an office, just
as working from home on a regular
basis does not preclude face-to-face
meetings. 7
Today’s society is unapologetically
mobile, and maintaining this
mobility at work is attractive to
millennials. Since workers are
based around the world, they
must operate in a variety of
conditions, including the speed of
their Internet connection. For this
reason, today’s best applications
work directly via the web and do
not require large downloads or
executable files (.exe) that run
on your local machine. These
“lightweight tools” include: instant
meetings, digital whiteboards,
communication platforms (IM, text
messaging, video conferencing).
To be sure, this type of worker
requires tools capable of firing
up at the speed of a phone call
and that encourages or sparks
human interaction, not causing
your meeting participants to switch
over to their email inbox. If a
millennial or mobile worker cannot
have a face-to-face meeting, then
that person will quickly find an
alternative way to get the job done.

9. 09 TECHNOLOGY AND WORK MERGE TO CREATE REMOTE TRENDS IN COLLABORATION
O nline whiteboards are increasingly used to capture the real-time
collaboration possible in web meetings. As workers simultaneously draw
or sketch out ideas, the web tools capture the content, in whatever form
and store it on a shared drive.
Overall, mobile and social tools enhance collaboration and that is not limited to
the millennial worker, but available to any generation willing to embrace the tidal
change in tech. Meetings and productive work can happen anyplace, anytime,
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as long as employees are equipped with the right tools. More so, the biggest
changes involve how we choose to interact and collaborate, bridging the
online world with real life.
All of the above is changing how we work together. Where distance used to
impact our ability to meet with the right person at the right time – the web has
solved that. It is now time to embrace the new collaborative nature of work
brought on by the digital native mindset.

10. 10 FOOTNOTES
1 Rob Asghar, What Millennials Want In The Workplace (And Why You Should Start Giving It To Them) (Forbes)
http://www.forbes.com/sitesrobasghar/2014/01/13/what-millennials-want-in-the-workplaceandwhy-you
should-start-giving-it-to-them/.
2 Beth Sunshine, Help! How Do I Coach a Millennial With Sales Talent? (The Center for Sales Strategy).
http://blog.thecenterforslesstrategy.com/help-how-do-i-coach-a-millennial-with-sales-talent)
3 The new face of the American workforce (Minnesota Life)
http://www.lifebenefits.com/lb/pdfs/F6238222%20Get%20More%2014.pdf)
4 Jennifer J. Deal, Five Millennial Myths (strategy+business)
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/12102?pg=all)
5 Mini-Me No More: Millennials Replace Boomers as “Me” Generation in the Workplace (Monster)
http:/ir.monster.com/phoenix.zhtl?c=110723&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1850666&highlight
6 Silverman, Rachel Emma and Sidel, Robin. Warming Up to the Officeless Office (The Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304818404577349783161465976)
7 Daniel W. Rasmus, Telecommuting Works If You Intentionally Design It (Fast Company)
http://www.fascompany.com/3006990/telcommuting-works-if-you-intentionally-design-it)
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