Classifying the Millenial Generation

If the first thought that comes to your head is because the millennial generation is driving you crazy, know that you're probably not alone. You’re smart to tackle this subject in a more objective way due to some pretty staggering statistics.

There's a huge outflux of employees expected in the ten years, 30% to 40% of boomers are expected to retire. Couple that with the fact that this new crop of employees referred to as the millennial generation is expected to produce the largest number of employees in the history of America - 80 to 100 million new employees.

Finding, managing and retaining this group of employees is going to require a different way of thinking in order to avoid the repercussions of massive turnover. Boomers are probably what we’re most familiar with. We hear it all the time. This group of employees was born from roughly '43 to '63. The general timeframe for Gen Xers or Generation Xers are those born between 1961 and 1981.

Naming the millennials

Here is where the confusion over the naming convention for the next generation starts to show up. There were several interesting books written about ten years ago, when the generational analysis genre really started, about generational definitions

All of them have looked at this phenomenon of this new generation. Ten years ago, it's was being discussed that new trends would emerge from this new group of employees. Those early writers coined the phrase Gen Y. There are two interpretations of Gen Y.

First, it could be used interchangeably with the term “Millennial”. Some folks refer to it as Gen Y. Other researchers, writers, authors refer to this group born from '82 to 2002 as Millennials. Depending on how the writers list it, they could be referring to the same generation.

Now, the second interpretation that you need to be aware of is a "sandwich generation" interpretation. This occurs in between Generation X and the millennial generation. In fact, there are books on boomers where they've tried to do a similar two-tiered approach that they refer to early boomers versus late boomers and this mirrors them.

You could break the early Millennials into a Gen Y or call them Gen Y. However, it's really important to note that there has been research that shows that Millennials do not particularly care for that term. They feel it portrays them as a shadow of the former generation.

Meanwhile, when you read books and articles on this going forward, you'll need to figure out the author's meaning. Are they using Gen Y interchangeably with Millennial? Or, are they referring to the sandwich generation in between Gen X and Millennial?

Current managerial perceptions of the millennial generation

If you talk with current managers and employees, typical comments are that the millennial generation are sloppy, they're lazy, they're insubordinate, they're undisciplined, cocky and arrogant. This seems to be a common theme, also, an unwillingness to pay their dues. All of these negatives are typically followed by, “but they’re really tech-savvy” comment.

You'll understand that managing this millennial generation incorrectly may lead to some of these behaviors. And thus, by changing your style, you'll see a direct correlation to improvement in their style.