Persons who work in marketing enjoy segmenting populations into categories they believe are easy to analyse and understand. One such category has been the millennials. These are described as persons born between 1980 and 1996, therefore they are born during a technological revolution that has determined the way we interact in society. Such people have no idea what the world would be like without a mobile phone or a computer.

The point is that in a few years, the millennials shall make up around one-third of the global workforce. This shall be a very significant percentage. However, I doubt whether such millennials are really understood, as they differ in so many ways from previous generations.

The fact that millennials are not easily understood makes them very difficult to manage in the workplace. Thus, older managers believe that millennials are not prepared for the workplace and describe them as lazy and less accountable. This certainly creates an element of dysfunction, to the extent that two-thirds of them leave their job after three years.

It could be that one reason why employers in general complain that they cannot find talented employees is because they find it hard to understand such millennials.

It has to be accepted that millennials may not be prepared for today’s workplace as this is still a by-product of past decades. The workplace has not developed as fast as society has

It is important to remember that millennials have grown up in a far more democratic society than their parents had grown up in. Moreover, the education system changed to make it less prescriptive and to provide students with more options than just the arts or sciences option. Very often both their parents were working and so had to learn how to look after themselves during certain periods of the day and year.

This has meant they taught themselves how to form their own opinions and were encouraged to develop themselves. The by-product of this has been a great deal of self-confidence and an entrepreneurial approach to life. They are risk takers by nature. Moreover, they want to be masters of their own destiny and to own their career, and not have it dependent on some of their parents’ connections or on their boss.

The issue is whether people, who are currently occupying a leadership position in an organisation, value employees who want to be really empowered, who want to state their mind, who want to give vent to their ‘can do’ approach? Is there space in the workplace for persons who want to be their own boss, do not easily take to orders and dislike micro-management.

On the other hand, when millennials are given the opportunity to shape their own job, are they capable of doing it? In other words, millennials may have the attitude that they want to feel more empowered in their job but do not necessarily know how to act responsibly when they are actually empowered. By acting responsibly, I mean they do not act according to the set of rules which older generations have been accustomed to.

Therefore, millennials want to feel more empowered in their job but then expect to be coached on how to make effective use of that empowerment. The ingredients of a dysfunctional relationship at work are evident from this.

Another critical point to remember is the element of customisation that millennials expect in their job. They have grown used to such customisation thanks to technology. Very often it is the marketplace itself that is offering this customisation. They know that the products and services they buy do not have to come in standard shapes and sizes, so they also expect it in the workplace.

Again, this is an issue where the views of persons in leadership positions and millennials are not likely to coincide. The one-size-fits-all approach that very often businesses take with regard to their employees for very obvious reasons cannot be applied to millennials.

This is because millennials are very often in a continuous search for new experiences and new meaning in their life. Thus, the usual career path and the ancillary career rat race may not necessarily be seen as something they are attracted to.

Therefore, it has to be accepted that millennials may not be prepared for today’s workplace as this is still a by-product of past decades.

The workplace has not developed as fast as society has. As the workplace continues to change to catch up with changes in society, with increased uncertainty, more use of technology and more complex challenges, older generations are less likely to feel at home with it but millennials are more likely to feel comfortable with it.

This is why there needs to be a better understanding between millennials and older generations.