The “And” Generation

This “and” generation idea is clever and accurate.

What millennials want from the workplace

“We call them the ‘and’ generation,” said Liam Brown, chief operations officer at the hotel giant Marriott International. “They want a career and fun and a balanced lifeand to make an impact on the world. They don’t want to give anything up, and they really want to do a lot of good things for the firm and the community,” he said. “At Marriott, we have found that millennials seek a workplace that offers opportunities to advance and grow in their careers, plus a demonstrated commitment to social responsibility.”

Karen Reinhardt, a talent development executive with Lockheed Martin, noted that millennials want to be empowered.

“Millennials want a little bit of guidance, along with opportunities to express themselves and to be innovative. I’ve managed millennials on teams at Lockheed Martin and am consistently impressed with how talented, creative and resourceful they are. If you give them opportunities to share their insights, they can really come up with ideas that others may not have even considered.”

Experts often refer to this as reverse mentoring — using millennials to share some of their skills with their older mentors.

“Millennials are technically savvy, and we appreciate learning from them as much as they learn from us,” said Sue Adams, a manager with the Labor Department….

Best advice for retaining millennials

Many organizations have devised strategies for keeping millennials engaged as they brace for a wave of baby boomer retirements. Marriott International, for example, has numerous programs in place to engage millennials. These include networking events where high-potential millennials are invited to informally meet with senior leadership, training for general managers on valuing the multigenerational workforce and flexible workplace options that may be more attractive to millennials.

Lockheed’s Reinhardt noted that millennials value development opportunities. She pointed out that at Lockheed, her company has created leadership development programs such as online learning, classroom training, special job assignments, mentoring, on-the-job training and participation on special task forces. These types of programs have been popular with millennials who really want to be challenged and advance in their careers.

Similarly, at BB&T, Campbell said millennials might be selected into their BB&T leadership development program, a 10-month intense experience where they can learn from classroom activities, on-the-job experiences and simulations. The program is designed to fast-track talented millennials in order to retain them. At the Labor Department, Adams pointed out the variety of internships and job opportunities for younger workers, many of whom want to work on environmental issues as well as workforce concerns.

“We need to respect what each generation brings to the workplace,” said Brown of Marriott. “Good leaders and managers know how to engage and retain employees, regardless of their background or generation.”