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Understanding the ‘millennials’
A former Wall Street Journal editor gave a presentation at UB last week on two topics he has researched heavily: corporate reputation and the way so-called “millennials” are affecting how companies operate.
Several dozen communications and other professionals attended the talk by Ron Alsop, author of such books as “The 18 Immutable Laws of Corporate Reputation: Creating, Protecting and Repairing Your Most Valuable Asset” and “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking up the Workplace.” The event was hosted by the School of Management and the UB Communicators Network, a group of more than 80 communications specialists from across the university who meet quarterly to exchange ideas and discuss professional development opportunities. The Buffalo Niagara chapter of the Public Relations Society of America invited members to attend.
Alsop began by discussing how corporations and higher education institutions could build and maintain a reputation—and why they should. The second half of his lecture focused on millennials, a term he used to describe people born between 1981 and 2001.
CORPORATE REPUTATION
Following the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, an employee at a neighborhood Starbucks charged World Trade Center emergency responders more than $100 for a supply of bottled water. The story landed on the Internet, and then, in the national press. Starbucks, which had worked for years to cultivate its reputation, found itself suddenly on the defense.
The anecdote, which Alsop shared with his audience, demonstrates how the actions of a single, low-level worker can damage the public perception of an entire company.
Understanding that a diverse range of people can affect corporate reputation is key to crafting and maintaining a good one, Alsop said. For businesses, Alsop continued, such stakeholders include everyone from investors and regulators to customers, employees and suppliers. For colleges, the opinions of students, parents, recruiters, alumni, donors, employees, community members and government officials all matter.
When it comes to evaluating reputation, the quality of services or products has the greatest influence on the way people think and feel about a company, Alsop said. A corporation’s emotional appeal, dedication to social responsibility and workplace environment are among the many other factors that affect attitudes, too.
What people want to see from companies is sincerity, Alsop said. Executive compensation that the public and employees perceive as obscene or unfair can damage corporate reputations, he said. For universities, handing presidents seven-figure salaries while students struggle with tuition can be in poor taste.
Alsop encouraged businesses and organizations to monitor their standing among stakeholders by doing their own custom research. After all, he said, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
Planning ahead also can help protect against and minimize embarrassment, Alsop said. As Starbucks’ post-9/11 fall from grace shows, a reputation can be lost or damaged in moments, especially in a world where news spreads quickly through cyberspace. In times of trouble, Alsop said, institutions with crisis management plans are most likely to fare well.
MILLENNIALS IN THE WORKPLACE
They are the sons and daughters of “helicopter parents” who helped solve their every problem in childhood. And now that the first wave of millennials is entering the workforce, company hiring managers, like college recruiters before them, are hearing from mom and dad. Believe it or not, some corporations report that young people have asked if parents can sit in on job interviews.
While such quirks might inspire uncomfortable laughter, they also provide serious insight into America’s newest generation of workers. According to Alsop, millennials are a complex group: They tend to be high achievers, but lack leadership and independent thinking; they crave flexibility and freedom, but need constant feedback and direction; they dream of fame and fortune, but long to do meaningful work. (Such descriptions are generalizations, of course, and exceptions exist.)
The traits that define the millennial generation, including high esteem and high expectations, can be viewed as both negative and positive, Alsop said. Many of today’s youth are high-achievers who believe in true meritocracy, leading older recruiters to see them as upstarts with a sense of entitlement and no patience for “paying dues.”
lsop calls millennials “praise junkies” and points to their discomfort with risk, ambiguity and independent positions as reasons for concern. He wonders how young people’s comfort and reliance on technology as a means of communicating will affect their interpersonal skills in face-to-face meetings.
As millennials enter the workforce in larger numbers, managers and businesses are adapting to their presence. Before the recession, financial giant Merrill Lynch held a “parent day,” inviting the mothers and fathers of new hires to tour and hear about the company, Alsop said. Some businesses are embracing their youngest employees’ desire for flexibility by judging their performance by output—by results—and not by the hours they clock. Many corporations are addressing millennials’ desire to do public service by providing or connecting them to opportunities to volunteer.
Counseling seminars, honest communication and mentoring are just some of the tools offices can use to help colleagues of different generations understand one another, Alsop said. And in the end, many of today’s managers may understand their young employees better than they think.
As Alsop pointed out, “It is the ultimate irony that a lot of these managers who can’t handle these millennials are the ones that raised them to be the way they are.”
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