The Millennials are coming… wait… they are already here!

The 80’s and 90’s gave birth to Conan the Barbarian, Eddie Murphy, Hanson and Destiny’s Child and others – but the largest and most diverse generation was also conceived – The Millennials!

Working in collegiate athletics I get a front row seat on how millennials are interacting, behaving, managed and being coached.  I see how different they are and I hear every person not born in the 80’s and 90’s complaining about them…  Millennials are a breed all their own – they were born in the 80’s and 90’s and how they think and work are very different.  They use technology to socialize – we all believe they don’t have the “workaholic” tenacity that “we had growing up”. 

But it is time for leaders, employers and coaches to embrace the inevitable – that the millennials are here and we must do a better job to improve our outdated methods that just don’t work.

Here are a few statistics to consider…

By 2025 if not sooner millennials are expected to make up to 75% of the workforce

Pricewaterhouse one of the biggest accounting firms is planning for nearly 80% millennials in 2016 for their workforce

100% of our student-athletes are millennials…

50% of millennials are already in leadership roles

64% of those millennials feel prepared for their future roles

“In 2014, Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) became the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. Over the next 5 years, they will grow by 30% to 72 million, while Baby Boomers decline by 28% to 30 million.”

Forbes, Magazine – The Mantle Of Leadership is Passing To Millennials

Millennials are not entitled but they do want engagement!

We have all heard the noise that millennials are spoiled and expect everything.  But that’s not necessarily true.  In the business world a recent study showed that training and development ranked over 200% higher than cash bonuses.  In athletics studies and surveys continually show us that our student-athletes are more interested in the experiences and how they develop over everything else! 

Millennials love hearing about experiences.  They want to participate in the learning process.  Engage in images when teaching them and they want to connect with you!  (even if it doesn’t seem that way!) Millennials not only want continuous improvement and development but they expect their employers, coaches and leaders to provide them with the opportunities.

Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down how millennials live and what are ways you can engage them…  This is truly an exciting time!  As we get older some of the advice we give young people is that they have to be uncomfortable in order for them to grow…. Now we get to practice what we preach! Be open, see the ways where you can build relationships… Millennials are our future and we can leave a little bit more of our legacy by how well we adjust and motivate them for the future!

#AlwaysBeContagious (ABC)

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Hernando PlanellsComment