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There are currently four different generations that make up the majority of the U.S. workforce. And, as it turns out, each generation has pretty distinct characteristics as applies to the workplace.
A survey from the accounting giant Ernst and Young tried to figure out the general characteristics of each generation in the workplace by asking coworkers to rate their peers' various atributes. Questions ranged from perceived workplace contribution, to perceived enthusiasm in regards to various tasks. The results were... interesting.
To begin with, those surveyed didn’t have very nice things to say about Millennials in general. They were viewed as pretty lousy investments. They’re not cost-effective, don’t work well with others, are lazy, and only decently good as team players. On the upside, however, they’re incredibly entrepreneurial and fantastic problem solvers – not to mention digital natives.
But, this study leaves many questions unanswered, and may not give Millennials a fair shake.
Sure, young people are less cost effective than Gen Xers, but they’re also way less experienced – who knows how cost effective they’ll be in 20 years. Millennials are also viewed as the most enthusiastic generation, though the least hardworking. It could simply be that an entire generation is really good at faking enthusiasm, but perhaps more realistically, they’re just not being motivated or utilized efficiently.
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The purpose of the survey was to discover how to build cross-generational teams that would work well together. The question being, for example, how do you have a young, tech-savvy Millennial manage an older, less tech-savvy but more experienced Gen Xer without the two coming to blows?
The answer to that question, it turns out, is cash and perks, and you can read about that here.
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