Jason Dorsey, co-founder of The Center for Generational Kinetics, spoke at La Quinta’s annual conference here in Dallas. Jason’s focus is on solving generational challenges for companies and leaders through his unique research with an emphasis on millennials and Gen Z.
His session was an interesting experience for me. He was specifically speaking to the Gen X and Baby Boomers in the room about the challenges of hiring and retaining millennials. Being one of the few millennials there, I agreed with most of what Jason was saying about my generation. We are brand loyal, and out of any other generation, we have serious spending power. And there are a lot of us. Millennials make up the highest percentage of the workforce (45%) and have the most college degrees (and college debt!) of any generation. I agreed that, in general, we are an entitled generation. So much so that we introduced a new life stage called “delayed adulthood” because of it. However, there were a few points that I did not personally agree with, such as entitlement in the workforce. But then he explained – and this is what really resonated with me – that for the first time ever the millennial generation is splitting. Now, we have two kinds of millennial. There are those that feel entitled and those that can’t stand the entitled ones.
I realized I am a little bit of both. On one hand I completely fit with my generation and those in the “delayed adulthood” stage. I want the freedom of being an adult, but I’m not that excited about the responsibility of being an adult. However, when it comes to my job, I think more like a Baby Boomer (likely because I was raised by two of them). I believe there are no short cuts to success. My work ethic and determination to go above and beyond are what will bring me success in my career.
-Clara Seddelmeyer, Account Executive