Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
*Established in 1959, Ashridge is a leading business school for working professionals, with an international reputation for
leadership development. It is in the 1% of business schools globally to be accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the
European Foundation for Management Development Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) the UK, European and American accreditation bodies. www.ashridge.org.uk
Table of Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1: Millennials
Truth #1: Millennials are Ambitious and Believe Their Work Ethic is Strong
10
12
15
18
20
21
22
Foreword
For nearly a quarter century, the Millennial generation has been written about
and discussed at length in management books, blogs, articles and conferences.
Much of the publicity focused on character traits that, frankly, tend to cast
them in a negative light. Consequently, organizations around the world are
keen to learn more about Millennials and understand their apparent high
expectations of work and low loyalty to their employers.
Although there are widely varying views on who actually belongs to the
Millennial generation (we define them as people born between 1984 and
1996), one thing is clear: Millennials grew up in a world vastly different from
that of previous generations. Theirs is a global village where social media and
the Web erase geographic boundaries, resulting in a group of people who
undoubtedly share perceptions, attitudes and beliefs. Historically, younger
generations have always stirred new ideas into the corporate world, causing
some expected irritation for older generations, says Erica Dhawan, a writer,
speaker and consultant on next generation leadership. Yet this time its
not an attitude problem, its a transition in business where globalization and
technology have radically changed the game.
The Millennial Compass also reveals how common these trends are or arent
around the world. Does a 25-year-old working for a company in Beijing feel
the same way about work as his or her counterpart in London, So Paulo or
Atlanta? The article identifies which traits can indeed be considered universal
and which ones vary with geography, politics and economic factors.
Now that Millennials have been working for 10 years or so, its interesting
to see the trends that have emerged. Among other things, The Millennial
Compass shows they are focused on achieving through personal networks
and technology, having a good work-life balance and getting high levels of
support from their managers. They dont want to be tied to an organization,
a timetable or a hierarchy, and theyd rather avoid the stress they see their
senior leaders shouldering. They may lack some of their predecessors
relationship, communication and analysis skills, but theyre confident in their
abilities to run business in a new way.
Brian Burgess
Global Co-Director,
Employee Practice
Jason Frank
Global Co-Director,
Employee Practice
Chapter 1:
Millennials
INDIA
CHINA
UK
FRANCE
USA
BRAZIL
93 93 83 85 89 92
90 94 87 86 90 93
92 92 82 76 86 92
Job security
95 87 83 87 84 89
Good manager/leaders
88 88 86 79 88 89
Career advancement
94 87 80 78 81 91
Opportunity to be
creative/innovative
91 88 71 54 76 90
Job status
89 81 74 73 77 91
Location
83 77 81 73 84 83
Independence in work
90 84 78 71 81 88
Influence in organization
84 85 63 54 64 85
87 83 70 65 71 87
Working in a multi-cultural
environment
77 71 52 45 55 70
International experience
70 61 49 40 44 67
Chapter 2:
Five Truths
about
Millennials
and Work
Truth #1
Millennials in India are the most ambitious for promotion, with 37% believing
they should be in a management position within one year of graduating. The
highest proportion of Millennials in Brazil, the USA and the UK also believe
this, at 24%, 23% and 21% respectively. China peaks at two years and France
lags behind with only a cumulative total of 43% expecting to be managers
within three years. Overall, more than 40% of this generation expect to be in a
management position within two years.
Not only do Millennials from India expect rapid promotion soon after
graduating, 25% of them expect to be in a senior management position or
running their own business within two years. Those in other countries also
show leadership ambition, with 28% in Brazil and 22% in the USA expecting
a senior role in two years. In the UK and France, the horizon is closer to five
years.
Contrary to what managers may think, Millennials say they have a strong work
ethic rather than a relaxed attitude toward work, especially in the USA (34%).
The reason for the disconnect? A 2009 Ashridge Business School study
showed the two groups see the world of work through very different lenses.
Millennials view themselves as working hard, doing their best to achieve
and, compared to their peers, doing more than their fair share. They also
believe they have the right to a good work-life balance and have no problem
demanding it.
Managers, on the other hand, see Millennials expecting a lot of time and
attention, but vanishing when the pressure is on to achieve team goals that
conflict with personal goals. Not surprisingly, managers think Millennials have
a very relaxed attitude about work, which echoes the earlier work-life balance
requirement. Its also no surprise that the Millennial generation admires
managers who have a similar work ethic to their own. Perhaps strong work ethic
is being redefined for todays world.
INDIA
CHINA
UK
FRANCE
USA
BRAZIL
21 17 22 11 34 24
14 12 8 12 10 20
Truth #1 headlines
Truth #2
Loyalty doesnt appear to be a particularly strong work value for the Millennial
generation. On average, 30% of those surveyed worldwide intend to leave their
organizations in the next year. Nearly half say they plan to depart after two
years, leaving only 57% still working for the organizations theyre with today.
10
90
80
CHINA
UK
FRANCE
USA
60
40
30
20
YEARS
0
Now
India
1
& under
2
& under
China
3
& under
UK
4
& under
France
5
& under
5 to 9
& under
USA
10
& under
Brazil
43 28 51 44 40 51
50
BRAZIL
70
10
INDIA
Truth #2 headlines
11
Truth #3
IMPORTANT2 UNIMPORTANT3
12
INDIA
70
Working in a
multi-cultural environment
IMPORTANT
UNIMPORTANT
77
CHINA
61
13
71
UK
49
20
52
14
FRANCE
40
29
45
17
USA
44
20
55
12
BRAZIL
67
70
Sixty-five percent of Millennials in India, 47% in China and 37% in Brazil plan
to get international work experience in the next five years. Those in the USA
and the UK appear more insular. Only 18% of respondents in the USA have
foreign work in their plans, and 55% of USA and 42% of UK respondents have
no plans to work abroad in the next five years. For Millennials in India, the lure
of foreign work is career progression (33%) and money (28%); in China, it is
personal development (45%). Millennials from other countries who intend
to take foreign assignments say they would do it for cultural experience (USA
41%, UK 37%) or personal development (Brazil 35%, France 28%).
Main reason(s)
INDIA
CHINA
UK
FRANCE
USA
BRAZIL
65 47 29 28 18 37
Career
Money
Personal
development
and Experience
culture
Experience
culture
Personal
development
and Experience
culture
Experience
culture
Personal
development
When questioned about where they would consider working, those from
China, the UK, France and Brazil said North America was their first choice
(Brazil 65%, others 51-55%). Americans (62%) and those from India (55%)
selected the UK as the top destination. Australia and continental Europe also
scored high. The Middle East, India, Africa, China and Central/South America
were universally unpopular, all scoring below 30%. All in all, Millennials are
prepared to move to the Western world for work, but show little interest in
other destinations.
Research clearly shows Millennials have a strong desire for work-life balance,
and they seem to be closer to their immediate families and friends than ever
before. Even though they travel virtually in and out of their comfort zones
all the time, theyre less eager to make a physical move. These trends could
impact the future of international business as well as the Millennial generation
themselves who may miss key career opportunities.
13
14
Truth #3 headlines
Truth #4
EXISTING
IDEAL
INDIA
Coach/mentor
Knowledge source/expert
Friend
CHINA
Director/allocator of work
Friend
Coach/Mentor
Friend
Coach/Mentor
Director/allocator of work
UK
Friend
Coach/Mentor
Director/allocator of work
Coach/Mentor
Friend
Knowledge source/expert
FRANCE
Peer
Director/allocator of work
Knowledge source/expert
Coach/Mentor
Knowledge source/expert
Peer
USA
Friend
Knowledge source/expert
Coach/Mentor
Coach/Mentor
Knowledge source/expert
Friend
Friend
Peer
Coach/Mentor
Friend
Coach/Mentor
Knowledge source/expert
Whether they think of the boss as a friend, peer, coach or mentor, its obvious
Millennials do not want a hierarchical relationship with them. The role
of director/allocator of work appears only in Chinas description of what
Millennials ideally want from their manager, and then in third place.
Overall, less than a third (31%) of Millennials feel the role their manager
currently plays fits their image of an ideal manager. Similar to the mismatch
in definitions of a strong work ethic, there are obvious differences between
Millennials and managers perceptions of the role the manager plays or
should play.
BRAZIL
15
The Millennial generation is not concerned with titles. They strongly admire those
with experience, at any level, over position or power. This generation wants
managers and senior colleagues to be experts willing to share their
knowledge with younger employees.
16
I see in the market there are many bosses and few leaders. We
must have leaders because they make the team come together
and motivate them to reach the goal. It is important for
companies to invest in leaders and empower them to manage
people. That makes the difference between staying with and
leaving a company.
More than half (51%) of Millennials in India, and 40% in the USA, see their
manager as a knowledge expert, in both cases ranking it second in the way
they describe their relationship with them. However, when looking at the ideal
relationship with their manager, all countries see this factor as one of the top
three characteristics they desire.
Truth #4 headlines
INDIA
CHINA
UK
FRANCE
USA
BRAZIL
Title
8 14 3 7 4 7
Experience
25 18 25 26 37 32
17
Truth #5
18
Truth #5 headlines
Generation of
Manager
Millennial
(Gen Y)
Late Gen X
Early Gen X
Baby Boomers
Age (years) of
Manager
30 & under
31-40
41-50
Over 50
% Agree
57
62
59
44
19
The MSLGROUP
Perspective
Millennials, like every generation, present unique challenges and
opportunities to organizations striving to succeed in a global economy. Many
of their characteristics have been well documented, but the subtleties warrant
further exploration.
20
Chapter 3:
Closing
Thoughts
We at MSLGROUP believe there are many things that can be done to close
the gap between what companies need and what Millennials want. The first
is to better understand how Millennials view the world and work in particular,
which was the purpose of The Millennial Compass study. As we dug deeper
into the results, we discovered new insights, such as the rather complex
dynamics driving the Millennial-manager relationship, the impact of manager
age in motivating Millennial employees and Millennials lack of enthusiasm
for international work experience. Geographical comparisons also proved
enlightening. As the study shows, differences in attitudes and perceptions
from one country or culture to another can be dramatic, reminding us to never
make generalizations, even in a world where the boundaries that define us
become more blurred each day.
At age 30 or younger, Millennials are the future of business the world over.
Companies and Millennials will do well to listen to each others expectations
and find the common ground on which to build mutual success.
21
Methodology
MSLGROUP partnered with Ashridge Business School in the UK to conduct
a quantitative research project to explore Millennials attitudes and beliefs
about work. In February 2014, an email invitation with a link to an anonymous
questionnaire was sent to an online research panel of Millennial employees
aged 18 to 30 years.
The survey used closed-ended questions (multiple choice, rating scale and
ranking scale) to explore topics based on relevant existing literature.
These included:
22
Research Notes:
These findings describe individual attitudes and perceptions of Millennials
invited to complete the survey. Interpretation of results represents the
opinions of those who participated, not the entire Millennial population. Text
or table percentages that do not add up to 100% are due to multiple answers,
computer rounding and/or the exclusion of neutral, dont know or not stated
responses.
Brian Burgess
Jason Frank
Global Co-Director,
Employee Practice
Global Co-Director,
Employee Practice
Sue Honor
Consultant
Brian Burgess
Jason Frank
MSLGROUP.COM