Do you think millennial employees' work ethic falls short of other generations? If so, you're not alone. In a recent poll for Workplace Options, 68 percent of those surveyed say millennial employees -- ages 18 to 29 -- are less motivated to take on responsibility and produce quality work than their counterparts in other age groups, and 46 percent believe millennials are less engaged at work than other employees. You may be surprised to know it's not just older generations who feel this way. More than half (55 percent) of millennials agree that workers of their generation are, in general, less motivated to take on more responsibilities. And 34 percent think their fellow millennials are less engaged than older generations.
Why it matters to your business: Part of me says we should take this survey with a (big) grain of salt. Just about every new generation entering the work force has been tagged as slackers by the generations before (remember the rap against Gen X?). But there might be some smaller grains of truth here. A raft of other studies suggest that millennials are more concerned with work-life balance than prior generations. There's also data that suggests they're happy to work -- if you let them use the smartphones and other technologies of their choice. And of course, I believe Gen Y is the most inherently entrepreneurial generation we've ever seen in this country, so perhaps they're writing business plans instead of concentrating on their jobs.