It’s not so easy to predict, so getting it right is critical! 80% of people in the workforce don’t want to go to work at the beginning of their work week and 97% of them would change occupations if they became financially independent.

ATTITUDE – APTITUDE – EMPLOYABILITY

Eligibility or Suitability?

This depends so much on where in the world you live and what the demographics are related to your population of youth. Here in the Middle East, North Africa and Africa, itself the triangle is the opposite way up to that of the West and this is well demonstrated in the fascinating book ,‘Unlocking the Paradox of Plenty’ (David Jones and Radihika Punshi, Motivate Publishing)“The key in today’s market for talent is differentiation in terms of your people strategy and employee value proposition’’.

The phrase “generation gap” and “intergenerational’’ implies that a vast chasm exists between the old and young, and that it must be immensely difficult to overcome. Although these conditions do exist, they are actually not that common, even though there are major variances across countries and regions. What we see are the ways that previous generations have had great influence on younger generations, despite also having differences that are influential but not controlling!

To quote a section of a recent BBC WORLD item;

‘’General Electric’s strong selling point with university graduates is it’s renowned leadership training programs, but it changes the emphasis to fit the country. In Saudi Arabia, the company highlights success stories of female leaders, while it finds that opportunities to work abroad excite students in Turkey.

“But in the United Arab Emirates, the communication is more about work-life balance,” said Hisham Al Muthanna, talent pipeline development leader for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “Family is a fundamental element of culture in the UAE, so we tell university students we’re flexible about work hours.”

Of course, attitudes about work and career goals will differ, as is clearly demonstrated when you look at either Talent Finder or Career Match, two of the leading reports produced from PRISM Brain Mapping Neuroscience profile tools.

However, the Millennial generation is even more complex than might be expected, as too often it is someone from another generation that is making the statement or observation. This is not helpful or insightful. The Millennial’s themselves need to be included so that it is not onlyDiversity but also Inclusion!

In an extensive new study of more than 16,000 Millennials in 43 nations, consulting firm Universum and the INSEAD business school’s Emerging Markets Institute found surprising generational disparities across countries within the same region.

Some fascinating examples are then provided as follows: 
Companies may also gain an edge in retention if they cater to local preferences. For example, Eastern European Millennials defined challenging work differently in the study, depending on where they lived. The majority of Russian Millennials (57%) want to work with talented people who inspire them, while the Polish (64%) hope to learn new things and the Czechs (39%) like being involved in innovative work.

In Latin America, Brazilian Millennials would like managers to be role models and technical or functional experts. Those in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico believe it is most important that supervisors empower their employees.

Millennials want to be ‘happy’ at work and Sh. Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum has recognised the value of this,(as have the Scandinavians) and has appointed a Chief Happiness Officer CHO in the Prime Minister’s Office. What a great position!

The happier we are at work and in a job that suits our preferred behaviours the better for everyone.

These Millennials are onto something!