www.fastcompany.com: Baby boomer managers can be credited with creating employee support programs. Generation X managers can be credited with making the workplace more informal, making the term "business casual" commonplace. What will the next breed of managers bring to the workplace?
Chip Espinoza has studied millennials in the workplace. The author of the recent book Millennials Who Manage and the 2010 book Managing the Millennials says this new generation of managers will take a step further in creating a people-first workplace.
19 comments:
This article seems prophetic in the way that it compares Millennial managerial styles to the generations that preceded them. However, I may probe at it, simply to see what other outcomes may be understood. Millennials are young, and have yet to overtake the boomers and gen xers that currently run all of the world's corporations. Therefore, the idea may come up that the mentality of the millennials will have to combat with the power of the corporate machine. The Millennial managerial style outlined here seems to be undeniably less productive than the the one's before it. I do not wish this to be true, as I wish to have faith in my generation and the world that we will create for ourselves. However, undeniably, a boss who isn't the friend of the person they are working with is more likely to make decisions that are for the good of the company, rather than the relationship. Unless the two people are as self aware as the ideal situation, this will create conflict. In the realm of theatre, it's certainly more difficult to say, mostly because our work requires an intensely personal part of ourselves, and therefore the personal understandings have to come into play with what we create. Theatre managers are already, for the most part, millennial managers, and therefore, the implications of this article are significantly more important for someone outside the realm of theatre to consider. However, those people may be board members or donors for our theatre company's, and may therefore be more interested in supporting the work on non-profit theatre. Let's hope so.
Management has to keep up. In theatre, that’s more important than ever.
The Gex-Xers and earlier established management styles that works great for those generations. But the world is changing, and just like technology, and style, and social norms change, so does management.
If you can’t keep up with the way Millenials want to me managed, you can’t keep up with the workforce. Companies like YikYak, Google, and Facebook (all which happen to have large social media interests) have moved towards a new “Millenial-Friendly” style of management, and that keeps their employees (and their users) current.
So doesn’t this same thing apply to theatre? Keep your employees in an environment in which they work well, and they will work better. When they work harder, the product is better. When the product is better, in theatre, you get more butts in seats. Butts in seats is usually one of the most important factors for a company.
Manage millennials the way they want to be managed. It works for Google, it can work for your theatre too.
So I have some feelings about the way my generation is interacting with the world, with the resources that we’ve been granted since birth, and the way we interact with existing systems. Millennials bring a lot to the table when it comes to the workplace being somewhat deformalized. The style of productivity is far more comfortable to those who don’t want to be confined to a cubical and a computer screen 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I am a fan of this, as I am definitely a person who would lament that type of environment.
That being said, I as a person need structure, and I’ve noticed that a lot of the difficulty that comes with managing productivity for me and my generation has to do with an organizational structure that doesn’t work right. We focus a lot of time in CMU SOD trying to set aside, or perhaps redefine, traditional workflow in favor of creative thinking. I think that this can only be fully utilized as a system if it is managed properly, if there’s a proper structure to the chaos that comes with rejecting key components of our previous generation’s workflow structure.
I guess what I’m saying is that if we want to change the world of management, we better do it in a way that is sustainably productive.
I think it’s interesting that the article talks about the life-work balance and how Millennials are trying to incorporate the two in their lives. What I have noticed of my people that trying to ‘incorporate’ their personal lives in their work is more because it is difficult to stay off Facebook, not to mention the idea of not having ones phone on them is just crazy in the year 2015. Also the 9-5 job not being the standard anymore I think because this generation is working crazy hours, if it’s not 9-5 it’s 9-10. Or maybe that is because everyone I know is ridiculous and works like maniacs. But I totally seeing people wanting to mend their lives or one may just totally take over. We are always joking that we don’t have a life because of work so it makes sense that Millennials are also trying to work with such a situation and not get totally swallowed in their work life.
I think I am definitely a millennial manager because I am more focused on the personal relationships with the people I work with and I like to hear from them and listen to their ideas. I think people work better for managers that actually listen to them and talk to them because they feel more comfortable and are happy. It makes work more enjoyable to go to if you like the people you work with. If you like your boss then you are going to want to make them proud and be a good worker and help the company succeed. Hopefully in the future if this trend continues and managers become more and more empowering to their employees. This will make work a lot more enjoyable for many people. People want to be in a job that will listen to their ideas and care about their well-being. Millennial managers are helping to make that change for people.
The article addresses something that I think about a lot when working as a manager in theatre and also when I listen to people talk about their bosses outside of the theatre world. People want to work for people who care about them; if a manager demonstrates that he or she cares for the wellbeing of a worker, the worker is more likely to care about the opinion of the manager, and therefore, will produce better quality work to appeal to the manager. It becomes a team effort because everyone wants to do well for the team that the manager has developed.
Particularly, many Millennials are entering the workforce, and when their managers isolate them or show a lack of interest in their well-being whereas professors, teachers, friends, and family have not, they become dissatisfied with their position and will likely change jobs. I have friends who have changed jobs 3 or 4 times since graduating because they cannot find a company that will support them in the workplace as they transition to a new company or city. If companies are struggling to retain Millennials who are entering the workforce, this is something compelling to think about.
I love this article for a boat load of reasons, but I think my favorite is the fact that there is no longer a work-life balance but just rather work as a part of life. I've never really thought about work in that sense but it is very true and now that it is brought to my attention I have seen it in the way that my parents do their jobs, and how that has changed over the past few years. My father goes to work every day from around 11-7. When I was a kid,work time was work time, and home time was home time, and it felt as though those two worlds were very separate. Now my dad doesn't have a problem going into work early, or taking a call late, but he also goes to get lunch with me in the middle of the day. I think that this transition ties into the idea that millennial management, and even more current management is more people minded. Employees want to work for someone who supports them, all of them, not just who shows up to work from 9-5, so if that means including personal life in work life than thats what it is. I have always found that when it came to bosses, the people I learned the most from were those who cared about me, and took an interest in me. I look forward to being a part of the Millennial management generation, and I an anxious to see what effect it will have on the workplace.
I have never really payed attention to the different titles of generations and how they affect the future but this article has intrigued me. I agree with what was written. Specifically the work-life vs work and life idea that the millennial generation wants to be able to do both all throughout the day. I think a lot of this comes from how much technology is needed/used nowadays. Everyone has a cellphone and most are smart phones so we are constantly in contact with the outside world and can never truly turn off the outside world to work. I don’t think there is any way a company can now keep their workers from their personal lives because you can’t shut off everyone’s phones, emails and internet for that matter. I think it is true that managers of this generation are changing how things work but it’s more changing because of how the world is changing around us and I believe it is a good thing. I would rather work in an office that is flexible with personal life communication, equal level interactions and empowerment.
Well, this article was wildly more positive than I expected it to be. I keep hearing over and over again how older generations are dreading the millennial generation entering the workforce. However, I think this article does a great job at explaining how some of other generation's frustrations with millennials can turn into attributes. I completely agree with what Frank wrote above. When you look at the cultures of companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. you see very lax, yet extremely creative environments. In this way, theater companies are not much different. Yet, there is one major difference between the companies I just listed and theater companies: money. Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn all have an insane amount of money to invest in their employee's "work-life balance." Theater companies often do not have this luxury. This article, however, gives me hope that the millennial generation will find a way to make work life balance a priority in all industries, despite resource restrictions. Based on the internships I've had the past few summers, I definitely see theater people having a over kilter work-life balance. For many of the people I worked with, their work IS their whole life. They don't have time for anything else. If we are going to incorporate this culture in theater, we will need to find a way to invest money, but also time in our employees.
This is a very interesting article since most article about millennials are negative. I think it's interesting how this article discusses the work hours are different now for millennials. A lot of that has to do with the development of technology. Communication is faster and easier now, so management spends less time contacting the cast and crew, and more time working on the actual production. The ease of communication also allows for more personal connections between the management and others, which is a great thing. The personal communication between the managers and the cast and crew is one of the main reason I'm thrilled to be a millennial manager.
I think the way generations interact with each other is so interesting, if a little messed up. Because like the article say, Millennials are going to handle things in the business world differently than Gen X, who handled things differently than the Baby Boomers. And that has been the way things have gone for years and years and years. But still, for some reason, the older generations try their hardest to maintain the status quo they’ve set, even if it means holding the next generation back. This dynamic is so weird since every generation has rebelled in one form or another from the previous. And yet for some reason each chooses to perpetuate that cycle. And the same goes for management. Each generation found something they didn’t like in the previous, and took the time to change it. And that’s likely to continue; in fact I hope it continues. Because this cycle is the most effective way to create the perfect model. I can only hope that our generation can be a little more encouraging to the generations to come.
Finally there is an article about Millennials that doesn’t slam us or call us lazy. We have to be people oriented because we’ve heard our parents complain for years about how much of an asshole their boss is and we have experienced it first hand. We also realize that the work model that we’ve had for decades might not work as well as we previously thought. We have also grown up with absent fathers because they were busy with work. We, as a generation, are also acutely aware of the struggle of women who want to be committed to their families but also pursue their careers. Working from home or working a non traditional work week would allow a lot of women to advance in their careers while starting a family. A lot of Millennial women are growing up in the shadow of their mothers being told they can’t have both a personal life and a work life, but we want both.
We were just talking about this in my Business Communications class. Employers are falling over themselves to figure out how to retain millennials, and the work place is changing to reflect it. The biggest change (from the perspective of older employers) is that managers feel that before they did not have to compliment people for doing their jobs, and now they do. I kind of feel that. I think that like many other things that are new, we have changed some things for the better and some for the worse. This article points out all the positives, and its cool to have that recognized. But there are also the downsides. This is the participation award argument, where some people want everyone to be a winner. I kind of hold to older thinking where compliments should come for above and beyond instead of for just doing your job. That being said, I am glad to see that we encourage a healthier work environment. Going into a job market where I feel like the fact that I want to have a family will be taken into account is very nice.
I really like the way this article describes the way other generations impacted management before us, because I think it really sets the precedent for change. Many people are very hateful toward the Millenial generation, calling us lazy or telling us we're on our phones too often or whatever it is they're all upset with us for. But this article focuses on the things that I think are great about being a Millenial. To me, we are a part of a generation that is people oriented, all for the rights and the equality of every person, forming relationships and, in general, forming a kinder and more compassionate outlook than many other generations. Our teenage and twenty-something years have been filled with terrible things happening around us: terrorist attacks, shootings, police brutality, etc., and through these things we have found a new way to understand and empathize. The combination of these things with technology has shaped the way we communicate with each other, making us a more flexible group that is used to change. I think a lot of these things will absolutely contribute to us becoming great managers, putting our employees first and always having the understanding and communication skills to run a great and productive company.
It's funny how you can take this article about business managers and easily apply it to managers in the theater world. One of the most important things about a person in charge - at least, what I look for - is how relatable they are. That puts me at ease and usually ends up with me wanting to please them more than if I didn't like them. I become invested in the project more so than if I didn't want to be there and want to try and work with the person in charge.
Another good point is about managing people's productivity in different ways. Not every person works in the same way as everyone else. A persons productivity should not be measured by how many hours they work, but the actual product they put out. I have had friends that will just do mediocre busy work just to fill the time slot. This goes with the relatable concept too, if a manger gets to know their employees better, they can know what will make them the mos productive.
I just recently attended and etiquette dinner for the Highland Ambassadors, the purpose of which was to teach us how to act when out to dinner with an business executive, potential donor or other alum. As the director of the dinner was going through the short course he made a clear distinction between to things: the new way and the old way. The new way was the generation X "business casual" mentality. He spoke a lot on how that the manners the had been established for quite a while were becoming obsolete due to their lack of use in mainstream media. What struck me as odd was how powerful an effect things such a tv shows had on previously established rule. We are so used to workplace comedies and dramas now that we are allowing those mediums to influence the way we act and respond to others in our own environments. While there is still a standard for what is and is not correct in the work place, the line has change and our generation is pushing it
Even more than a generational shift in management, the changes outlined by the article, "work-life blend", more people-focused management etc. are developing because companies frankly cannot compensate their employees well-enough to justify owning their souls for 40-50 hours a week. In the world of my grandparents, where they both retired at 65 with a fully vested pension and healthcare options, the idea that they were paying their dues in order to receive a relatively comfortable retirement made lots of sense. When you combine that with cheaper housing costs, no student loan debt, and an economy that was productive, of course it's reasonable to feel a sense of obligation to your employer for providing these things for you.
Today, companies with full pension plans, or even subsidized healthcare are relatively few and far between. Since the system has shifted significantly larger costs onto the individual employee, employers don't have as strong of a leg to stand on regarding the separation between home life and work life. Because of this, everyone, employer and employee, is forced to evolve beyond the American-Dream-style career, and all parties need to be more flexible. It's significantly cheaper to give your employees flex-time in exchange for greater availability during non-working hours than it is to fund their healthcare and pensions.
It's a little bit frustrating that most media outlets seem to frame these problems as generational ones, when really they seem endemic of broader economic shifts that were established long before most Millennials joined the work force. To me, this comes down to simple CBA. I will be a corporate drone content to take orders and have no higher critical thinking skills for forty years, but in exchange, I need to be able to create a life outside of my job. If you as a company are not in a position to compensate me accordingly, then we need to negotiate further, or I will find another job that will.
This article seemed equal parts foretelling and reiterating. I think for any millennial reading this article they would have had several ‘duh’ moments throughout the course of this article. That tells me that this article was right on point with the millennial mindset and is most likely correct about all of it’s assumptions. What is most interesting to me is that the workforce and it’s ideals keep changing with every new generation. But why does this happen? Is it because there is some ultimate refining of the way that workers interact and are managed within the workplace? Or is it more of a re-alignment to tailor the workplace to the generation dominating the workforce? Regardless, there is something to be said for this articles appropriate and accurate assumptions. I look forward to seeing all of these changes implemented over the next decade as the majority of the workers across the world transition to the Millennial generation.
This wasn't an "I hate millennials" article! Finally! I understand that we are moving in a direction that allows for more blending of work life and personal life, but I worry that that kind of strategy may lead to a distracting overload of information from work life into personal life or vice versa. I feel like that could slow down productivity and lead to a situation where the employee is constantly on call for work, and that would not be healthy. I also find it mind-boggling that previous generations of managers would not want to develop personal relationships with their employees strictly because there is the possibility of firing them. That's a quite inefficient and cowardly way to be in charge of people if you decide that you don't want anything to do with who the employee is as a person rather than a cog in a corporate machine.
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