CLICK BELOW TO REDISCOVER HUMANITY
A DECADE+ OF STORYTELLING POWERED BY THE BEST WRITERS ON THE PLANET

The Millennial Organization – From Seismic Upheaval To Balance

What does this mean?

There are consequences for organizations in not understanding this new generational dynamic. More dead ends. More wrong decisions that waste time, and worse.

HR policies based on a misconception of Gen Y as employees will lead to short and long term problems. Having square pegs in round holes disrupts the smooth functioning of an organization. And of course the further up the management pole, the greater the disruption. This problem has always existed. Previous generations, however, were more malleable. They were neither as insular in their views nor as driven by intrinsic values as Gen Y.

A more dangerous outcome occurs when Gen Y consumer values are misunderstood. It extends from misdirected marketing campaigns, to having the wrong products or services on offer. This can be disastrous on any number of levels. When marketing to Gen X or Boomers, wrong messages tend just to fall on deaf ears – no sale, but no enduring damage.

Millennials, amped up by tech and the urgency of their own opinions, are not as charitable. Naff and cack-handed attempts to engage them invariably result in a backlash. Inadvertent alienation of this kind can doom a product or service for this demographic. And the organization may not even be aware of the error, or its ongoing implications.

In a previous article we noted how traditional representations of motherhood have overdosed on “nurturing”, with motherhood usurping all other aspects of personality and femininity. Fifty years of homemaker and child-carer messages seem to say, “You are a mother, not only first and foremost, but last and everlastingly.” For many Millennial mothers this is not a benign mistake but an offense to the generational claim to omnipotentiality –I can be / do anything.

Gen Y mothers are not about to cede all other facets of their image and identity to motherhood. (Neither, for that matter, are Gen Y fathers going to sacrifice “peak-ME” to the societally coded appraisal of fatherhood.) They want due consideration of their enduring appeal/seductiveness/aspirations/tastes/individuality/uniqueness/quirkiness.

“They want it from their partners, and even from their kids. They want if from friends and social media contacts. And they want it big time from any brands that wish to engage with them as mothers.”

When attempting to engage with Gen Y, marketers should be wary of any traditional or conventional themes and messages, irrespective of how creatively they’re presented or how persuasive their track record. The only messages that will resonate with this consumer demographic are those that appeal to or reflect Millennial values. This apparent impediment can be turned to advantage.

Millennial employee or consumer – it’s the same challenge

The key to anticipating Gen Y responses, whether as employees or consumers, is the same. It lies in understanding:

  • the forces that created this generation
  • and the values that drive Gen Y decision-making – be that lifestyle or occupational.

The forces that created Gen Y

As we’ve demonstrated in numerous articles, this generation isn’t just different. It’s singular, with defining oddities and idiosyncrasies that can’t be catered for within existing rule books. Unlike their predecessors, they are the accumulated outcome of five dynamics.

A shift in educational focus – from achievement to self-esteem

It has long been accepted as an article of faith that youth self-esteem is a benefit to society. When this premise was applied to educational practice in the 1980s, it seemed a worthy and logical extension. Why wouldn’t a focus on self-esteem in the classroom also carry through into improved student performance? Unfortunately, ample evidence shows that it didn’t. Instead, severing the causal connection between achievement and self-esteem encouraged the belief by Millennials that they are living in a world of infinite possibilities and entitlement.

A parallel shift in vocational focus – from accomplishment to celebrity

In the old order of things celebrity was a reward for accomplishment. Nowadays however, celebrity has become the accomplishment. Never in human history has celebrity been so casually defined, nor so easily attained, by so many. With the advent of reality shows, bloggers and internet “influencers”, and those famous for just being famous, celebrity now appears a realistic goal for the “ordinary” person hankering to appear extraordinary.

The line is now blurred between celebrity and accomplishment. The willingness to see one as legitimate as the other, is a deep seated belief within Gen Y that affects behavioral choices.

Traditional “vertical modelling” in patterns of maturation (based on parents) replaced by “horizontal modelling” (peer group) and “diagonal modelling” (celebrities).

History has traditionally reinforced societies in which the young are nurtured to maturation by parents. And the parents – along with, perhaps, some inspiring Dead Poets Society kinds of teachers – by their example, shaped youth expectations of their own eventual maturity. This tradition may not be quite as dead as those dead poets, but it’s been watered down substantially, with peer groups and favored celebrities now the overwhelmingly dominant influences.

Gen Y will readily change lifestyle tastes – in bars and clubs, fashion, mags, music – on the recommendation or behavior of a friend or peer group. Examples of this are everywhere and obvious. And major life changes – shifting to a vegan or paleo diet, adopting specific social causes, even the kind of romantic partner to aspire to – can be prompted merely by the impetuousness of admired celebrities.

The emergence of social media as social life

Whether social media has taken over social life or social life has absorbed social media is a chicken and egg question whose answer cannot be known. But the actuality is clear. It’s on display in any Gen Y environment, irrespective of the subculture. It hasn’t happened, if it hasn’t been shared.

Relationships are the pivot. Through the magic wand of social media, unreal relationships become real. Connections that don’t actually exist acquire the traction and influence that many real physical relationships can only aspire to.

Technological saturation from childhood – tech as both means & end

The means and ends of technology for Millennials are now indistinguishable. Marshall McLuhan’s provocative maxims – “the medium is the message / the medium is the massage / the medium is the mess age” – have come full circle. Technology really does invade life, and radically disrupts the way Gen Y do even superficial things.

These then are the five dynamics that made the Millennial mindset –

  • self-esteem – and the rise of entitlement
  • celebritization – and its fame-fascination spinoffs
  • psychological modelling – of peers and celebs rather than authority figures
  • relationship dominance – social currency is to Millennials as $s are to GDP
  • technological saturation – tech as both means and end.

Most importantly from an organizational viewpoint, these five dynamics find their expression in a range of values that direct Gen Y choices.

Gen Y values

This is a population grouping that is both homogeneous and heterogeneous – the same yet varied. The sameness within Gen Y occurs in the general adherence to three intrinsic values.

  • Image
    • how the world sees me.
  • Identity
    • how I see myself.
  • Omnipotentiality
    • I can be / do anything.

These three values can be assumed to apply across Millennials. The variety within the generation occurs in the varied adherence to a range of aspirational values, often apparently contradictory. We’ve identified twenty of these values – ranging from pop-cultural relevance to style and sophistication, from innovation to own traditions and heritage. All are varyingly influential in Millennial decision-making – particularly for lifestyle choices.

Finally, allied to the intrinsic and aspirational values are three broad characteristics.

Millennials

  • stay longer for younger
  • keep their options open
  • are socially tribal.

These mark overall trends in Gen Y behavior, rather than predict individual choices.

Where from here?

Anticipating how Gen Y will respond in particular situations is the key to getting the best out of them – as employees or consumers. The universality of the intrinsic values makes them a core part of any Gen Y employee or consumer strategy. But it’s the aspirational values that offer sharper targeting.

Employees

For the organization recruiting Gen Y employees (more and more a given), knowing which aspirational values are significant to individuals provides a head start to managing them successfully – in their interest and the company’s. Particularly if these preferred values can be matched against organizational ideals and aspirations.

Consumers

We’ve highlighted in a number of articles the marketing errors that have occurred, and occur still, in various product and service consumer areas with respect to this demographic. The solution is to match product or service characteristics to the relevant Gen Y values, and build the creative from there – understanding the generational psyche sufficiently well to avoid the twin fatal errors of irrelevance and (even worse) alienation.

Different waters, same river

Their simultaneous significance as a consumer demographic and recruitment pool makes efforts at such engagement inevitable and necessary. Getting it right (in either, or ideally both) means stealing a march on your own competitors. Getting it wrong…?

The new paradigm shift in marketing that Gen Y represents should not, however, mean throwing the baby out with the bath water (or, back to Heraclitus, throwing the whole damn river out with the metaphor).

The change this generation represents can be harnessed to provide a balance in both brand and employee loyalties. Only, though, for those organizations who take the trouble to understand them, and can keep a dual eye on universal human constants, and the dynamism required to keep re-inventing and refreshing these.


References

  • Bromwich, David. The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke… from the Sublime and Beautiful to American Independence. Bellknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2014.
  • Kennedy, J F. Profiles in Courage. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, New York, 2003.
  • Jung, Carl. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Fontana Press, London, UK, 1995.
  • Bowie, David. “Changes” Track 1 on album Hunky Dory, RCA Records, 1971.
  • Heraclitus (trans. Brooks Haxton) Fragments. Penguin, Harmondsworth, UK, 2003.
  • Quoidbach, Jordi; Gilbert, Daniel T.; Wilson, Timothy D. “The End of History Illusion”, Science 339 (6115): 96–98, 2013.
  • Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, “Gen Y is not just an Ultra Weird Version of the Previous Generation!” B&T, May 2016.
  • Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, “Shadowing Science: a lesson for Marketing on Paradigm Shift” BizCatalyst360, Jan 2016.
  • Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, “Why Gen Y doesn’t always get Gen Y”, BizCatalyst360, July 2016.
  • Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, “The Mother of all Gen Y trends” BizCatalyst360, June 2016.
  • Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, “What Really Created the Gen Y Consumer” B&T, 2814: 88-92, Feb/Mar 2016.

Brian Mitchell
Brian Mitchellhttp://www.howandy.net
Brian Mitchell and Evan Mitchell write extensively on psychological themes, with scores of published articles on three continents. Brian has a clinical Ph.D. and a significant period as a therapist. Evan has Honors degrees in Psychology and English Literature, and also extensive practical experience. They have two published books. The well-reviewed hardcover The Psychology of Wine: truth and beauty by the glass (www.psychologyofwine.com ) – Praeger US (and now in eBook edition) explored the aesthetics of wine and art and their psychological possibilities. This led to the storyline and structure of their upcoming literary thriller The Last Cave, an action narrative of suspense and surprise in the mode of Terry Hayes’ I am Pilgrim. Prior to writing full-time, the pair conducted a successful US consulting operation specializing in negotiation effectiveness. Subsequently extended to generational studies on decision making tendencies by Gens Y and Z in the consumer world and politics.They can be reached through [email protected]

DO YOU HAVE THE "WRITE" STUFF? If you’re ready to share your wisdom of experience, we’re ready to share it with our massive global audience – by giving you the opportunity to become a published Contributor on our award-winning Site with (your own byline). And who knows? – it may be your first step in discovering your “hidden Hemmingway”. LEARN MORE HERE


TAKE STROLL INSIDE 360° NATION

TIME FOR A "JUST BE." MOMENT?

ENJOY OUR FREE EVENTS

BECAUSE WE'RE BETTER TOGETHER