- They’re lazy; they don’t know how to put in a good day’s work.
- They feel entitled; when they should be grateful that they even have a job.
- They aren’t loyal to the company; they just jump around from job to job.
Did that list surprise you? Probably not. These stereotypes are as pervasive as a viral YouTube video; they’re replayed over and over and over again. But, are they true and fair generalizations? Have we really raised a generation with no work ethic, gratitude, or commitment?
Surely you have encountered a millennial who puts those stereotypes to shame, challenging those ubiquitous beliefs: someone who impressed you with his/her achievements, who participated in a selfless mission trip, or who worked the same part-time job all eight years of high school and college to pay tuition. Perhaps you are a millennial, and you don’t identify with these stereotypes at all. You might be scratching your head, trying to figure out how your generation got such a bad rap. How do we resolve the dissonance between personal experience and popular belief?
This past April, I attended a panel discussion (with professionals from Dell, ESPN, Merck, Sitel, and others) that challenged assumptions about millennials in the workplace and helped reconcile these conflicting views:
