Are Millennials as Bad as We Think? (full article)

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, PhD

They have been called entitled, lazy, and “the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of the world” – but are millennials really that bad? How different are they from previous generations, and how consequential are these differences?

As it turns out, millennials are quite complex, which explains the great diversity of views on them. Perhaps the most interesting fact about millennials is the paradoxical nature of their character – a tension between opposites that must be reconciled. This tension presents a challenge, not only to millennials themselves, but also to those trying to understand and manage them. Consider the following points:

More Ambitious, but Lazier: There is no clearer evidence for millennials’ entitlement than the abyss between their ambitious aspirations and their underwhelming work ethic. Since much of Gen Y has been persuaded – first by overprotective parents, then by grade inflation and the unrealistic promises contained in college degrees – that their high expectations would eventually translate into actual accomplishments, it should come as no surprise that millennials are less interested in working hard to achieve them. Unfortunately, millennials have bought into the idea that the cause of success is high self-belief – not discipline, self-knowledge or humility. This keeps their hopes in their (self-perceived) talents intact, as if sooner or later their exceptional potential would be discovered, even if they don't devote much time to harness it.

Hyper-connected, but Self-obsessed: Although the ubiquity of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has led to the suggestion that millennials are incredibly sociable, the reverse is probably true. Millennials are hyper-connected, but they display little interest in others except as an audience. As the YouTube slogan suggests, their main ambition is to broadcast themselves, even if it means collecting disposable friends and engaging in inappropriate self-disclosure with strangers. Superficially, this phenomenon may be attributed to the social media revolution, but it’s more likely that the social media revolution happened because of millennials’ vanity. Indeed, narcissism levels have risen steadily during the past few decades, making millennials more self-obsessed than their predecessors. In the 50s, 12% of high-school students perceived themselves as “an important person” – by the 90s, 80% did. As Jean Twenge’s research demonstrates, milllenials are much more Gen Me than We. In the US, narcissism has increased at the rate of obesity and is the main explanation for the apparent extraversion of millennials – their exhibitionism and attention-seeking is camouflaged as sociability. And while narcissism has a bright side (e.g., confidence, assertiveness, and charisma), it is hugely problematic: narcissists struggle to form intimate relationships, take credit for others’ accomplishments, and behave aggressively when confronted with negative feedback or rejection. They are also impulsive and driven mainly by the pursuit of instant gratification, which explains the success of hooking-up apps like Tinder or “sexting” apps like Snapchat.  

Nonconformist, but Materialistic: Although Gen Y is somewhat less materialistic than Gen X – at least in America, where greed levels peaked in the late 80s (China, Russia, and India probably differ) – millennials remain very interested in money, status, and expensive things. However, their appetite for bling contradicts their nonconformist nature. Indeed, Gen Y is more individualistic, rebellious and independent than past generations, except for their desire to fit in. As a result, millennials are trapped in a vicious circle: on the one hand, they want to disrupt the system; on the other hand, they are more afraid of rejection. This is good news for advertisers and marketers – Gen Y is more likely to define its identity through associations with brands, products and brand ambassadors (e.g., George Clooney, David Beckham and Beyoncé). Unsurprisingly, millennials love brands that empower them to feel like outlaws, disruptors, or social hackers – think Diesel, American Apparel, or Red Bull. This is consistent with the glamourization of entrepreneurship, an attractive career path for Gen Y because it is simultaneously counter-conformist and pro-social. Another interesting paradox is that despite their self-professed individualism millennials are actually more homogeneous than any other generation.

Hard to Motivate, but more Engaged: Although the above would suggest that millennials need to tick several boxes before they are fulfilled by their careers, the evidence indicates that they are actually more engaged and satisfied at work. At first, this may seem puzzling: how can a generation with over-the-top aspirations and delusional goals be happier at work, especially when they are disadvantaged vis-à-vis older, more experienced, employees, and far less successful than them? The answer is that Gen Y sees work as less central to their lives, and that it values work-life-balance more than other generations do. Ironically, this lowers millennials’ demands and expectations at work – since they see work as “just making a living”, they expect to find meaning in other areas of life (e.g., education, relationships, or hobbies). In line, millennials believe in fun rather than work, and they expect to have fun at work. This is why Google, Microsoft and many other firms have transformed their offices into playgrounds, and why many employers restrict access to social media sites. But the news aren’t all that good. Even among millennials, only a minority of people are fully engaged at work, and recent data suggest that in certain parts of the world engagement levels are lower in millennials than their predecessors. In short, hiring millennials won’t boost engagement.    

So, how can we manage millennials? This question has been answered too many times, but rarely attending to the complex nature of millennials’ profile. If managers are interested in attracting, engaging and keeping millennials at work, they must first understand them, which requires time and effort. Relying on stereotypes won’t help: they are too simplistic and inaccurate. It is also unwise to rely on intuition, as many of the inferences made about millennials are actually based on age. Older generations have always complained about young people, and they always will, even though they were once remarkably similar: naïve, immature, and idealistic. Even generalizations based on scientific evidence are unlikely to solve the problem, because they undermine important individual differences within generations. The fact that generational differences exist does not imply that they are manifested in every member of the generation. Differences between generations are just like differences between cultures, nationalities or socio-demographic segments – it is useful to be aware of them, but when dealing with individuals it is necessary to understand the individual, which means looking beyond the characteristics of the groups s/he belongs to. In that sense, managing millennials is no different from managing other generations: focus on the person, not the generation – after all, you are managing a person, not a generation.

If, on the other hand, the question is not how to manage millennials, but how to reverse their collective impact on the world (something we cannot really do, so this is purely an intellectual exercise) then the answer is as follows:

·         Lower their aspirations by providing a reality-check in a kind and gentle manner. Help them understand that they will only achieve their goals if they work hard.

·         Remind them that relationships and friendships are based on quality rather than quantity, and physical rather than digital interactions; and that the only way to nurture meaningful relationships is to focus on other people.

·         Point out to them that material possessions can only lead to short-term happiness, and that they can never prove a person’s worth, which is measured by their values, character and talents.

·         Explain to them that conformity is not all that bad – in fact, society would not be possible without it.

·         And try to keep them hungry and dissatisfied, it is the best antidote to stagnation and complacency.  

Finally, since none of this is likely to work, we may want to start asking ourselves, not how we can manage or change millennials, but how we will cope with them.