Millennial Myths & the Call Center By Colin Taylor I read an interesting article by Jennifer J Deal at strategy+business looking

at five myths we hold about Millennials. For the past number of years we have all heard horror stories about organizations that gave away iPads, spot bonuses, soc ially conscious and social responsible activities, but still had staff leave for greener pastures. This point has been used time and again to characterize the l ack of loyalty that Millennials are supposed to posses, which makes hiring and r etaining them difficult. Call centers I know of have changed their mobile phone policies to allow millenn ials to have the phones on and with them at their desks and they are free to che ck facebook or twitter between calls. These same centers often speak of millenni als feeling entitled to the fast track to easy street, their lack of interest in their work and difficultly managing them. This all fits well with our stereotypes and our expectations around millennials, but it may be all wrong. The article cites research involving thousands of resp ondents and dashs five of the major millennial myths completely. Conventional wisdom would have it that Millennials don t want to be told what to do or follow direction. The research (Center for Creative Leadership) however shows that Millennials are more likely to follow direction than are Gen Xers or Baby Boomers. 41% of Millennials agreed with a statement that Employees should do wha t their Manager tells them, versus only 30% for each the Gen Xers and Baby Boome rs. If you think about this the results really are not too surprising, Millennia ls know that following direction from authority figures often ends well (at leas t it has done so often for most of us a children). This perspective on Millennia ls also creates an opportunity to engage with these individuals by ensuring they understand and appreciate the organizations culture, values and expectations. Myths also surround Millennial loyalty or rch shows that Millennials have a similar Xers and Baby Boomers. It is a fact that re frequently, even the Baby Boomers were ing was even true when jobs were often perceived lack there of, but the resea level of loyalty and commitment as Gen younger workers tend to change jobs mo guilty of this. This young age = job hopp perceived to be for life.

Similarly Millennials are just as motivated as their Gen X and Baby Boomer prede cessors were by work. As with job hopping above the lower you are in the hierarc hy regardless of your generation the less motivated you will be. There is no link between your generation and you motivation by perks and high pa y. Everyone loves perks and who wouldn t want high pay, but neither of these attribu tes is unique to Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers display the same behavio r and there is no evidence in the research to show these perks improve loyalty r egardless of age. So what does this mean to you in managing your call center? Well first of all I think you can lose the generational labels. Increasingly Millennials look just t he same as you and I, only younger. Second forget trying to attract them with th e perceived hot-buttons around perks, toys and special treatment. Nothing the re search shows that these tactics work. the ability to take direct is one area whe re Millennials perform better than Gen X or Baby Boomer workers and this provide s you with a great opportunity to share what your company is about and to show t hem how they make a difference. Be specific with how they will be judged and ass essed and what you expect of them. Transparency is also valued by workers of eve ry generation and Millennials are no different. So be open, transparent and spec ific about what they are to do and what you expect them to achieve and you can b e well on your way to a successful working relationship.