From the Memory Box 

Issue No 30

It was in the 1970s – long hair, rock music and flower power, to name but a few of the iconic signature symbols during my early years as a teacher. University degrees for all graduate teachers were becoming the norm, with the teachers’ colleges being phased out and the career structure for teachers undergoing significant change. We, the young Baby Boomers as we were called, were going to change the world – it really was time of significant social upheaval, those post-Vietnam War years.

I still recall the frowning faces of our older peers and parents. My father, for one, wryly commented that his generation would likely have to defer retirement in order to defer the ‘Beatniks’, in a nod to the Beatles, and ‘long haired louts’ of my generation from assuming the leadership roles in society.

My hairdresser charged us double for a haircut. In response to our claims of discrimination, he dryly batted away those criticisms, noting that he would only see us once or twice a year tops. Hardly good customers he said!

As the 70s rolled into the 80s and then the 90s another revolution was taking place in our school system. Local selection, based on merit, came to pass. We breathed a collective sigh of relief and stayed in the profession. It was not uncommon for older members of our profession to express their disappointment – bitterness I would say for some – at this change. It created a divide of sorts in more than a few workplaces, with some older teachers seeing their patient climb up the seniority ranks for promotion, effectively blown away. 

Fast forward to now, post-Covid, if there is such a thing, and the time of the tech savvy Millennials. I can’t help but feel that the chatter today amongst my peers, those of the pre-Millennial era, including the shrinking number of Baby Boomers, is not unlike that of the 1970s and 80s. I wonder how the Millennials in our ranks feel? I know that in our time we didn’t like it – not one bit.

Is there a lesson to be learnt? I think so. 

There’s enough evidence-based research about Millennials and their career aspirations to give us heart. Jennifer Deal and Alec Levensen, in their thought-provoking book, “What Millennials Want From Work” provide valuable insights for school leaders in how to lead effectively with a growing number of Millennials in their workforce. In doing so, they can adeptly negate unhelpful stereotyping, that which can easily derail multi-generational workplaces.

Deal and Levensen identify from their research, which is based on survey data from more than 25,000 Millennials from 22 countries and more than 300 organizations, plus 29,000 people from other generations from the same organizations, five ‘truths’ about Millennials in the workplace.

Millennials in the Workplace Are Both Entitled and Hardworking

Millennials in the Workplace Are Both Needy and Independent

Millennials in the Workplace Are High Tech and High Touch

Millennials in the Workplace Are Both Determined to Do Good and Do Well

Millennials in the Workplace Are Both Committed and Leaving

It is an extraordinarily interesting list of ‘truths’. At first glance most appear quite contradictory. For example, Millennials in the workplace are both committed and leaving. However, Deal and Levensen’s research shows that Millennials are committed — they’re mostly getting what they need; they don’t want to leave; they want to move up in the organization. But being committed isn’t blind loyalty or staying no matter what. At least 1 in 3 Millennials are assessing the environment for better options.

Maybe then, we judge Millennials on what commitment means to us, that being, grounded in different times and circumstances to that of them.  If that is indeed so, then it’s hardly a productive way in which to develop high functioning intergenerational workplaces.

Deal and Levensen draw an interesting, if unsurprising conclusion. Fundamentally, Millennials want to do stimulating work, with people they enjoy, for which they are well paid — and still have enough time to live their lives. It’s difficult to argue with that.

All of which reminds me of the grumbles and frustrations of the older generation when I was young, based then, as now, on stereotypes about younger workers, partial truths and ‘Beatnik’ mythology of the times rather than fact.