I’ve been writing a lot about Millennials lately because
there is a significant problem between the over 55er’s and the Millennials according
to most of my clients. The over 55er’s think the Millennials are flaky, don’t
want to work for a boss, want extra special benefits - matching 401K,4 weeks’
vacation, lunch daily, flex time etc. They want a lot but don’t want to work for it –
they want it NOW. The Millennials think
the 55er’s are old, slow, don’t understand new technology, don’t get social
media, they are not flexible, they don’t give them freedom to learn and grow
quickly. (I’m just basing my opinion here on all the complaints I have been hearing for
months now from both sides.)
Oddly, I fall somewhere in-between – I’m not over 55 and I
work with a lot of the Millennials. I understand
where the Millennials are coming from – we all want a great job with great
benefits and flextime. I also understand the 55er’s – they just want you to
work and not complain. They made it thought the recession/depression and don’t understand
why you need more –you have a job darn it and we still need to make a profit!
Is there a happy medium between pleasing your employees with
amazing benefits and still making profit? I’m sure there is for larger corporations but
for smaller entrepreneurial companies it seems to pose a problem. Most of my smaller under 200MM clients can’t
provide the same benefits as a large corporation. Maybe we need to start
looking at corporate environments that fit most of your requirements instead of
all of your requirements? Maybe a bit of flexibility from both parties the old
and the new will make it easier to meet in the middle?
