As encouraging as this new generation is, I do find their sense of entitlement annoying. I had the benefit of interviewing the first batch of millennials before I left my work life. One informed me that she "definitely" required a door on her office instead of a cube (sorry, maybe in 10 years). Another wondered why we did not allow alcohol in the offices "for, you know, loosening up after a long day".
There are surely some bad eggs in any bunch, but I think it would be worth betting on whether either of these Millennials fall into that category. To understand why, we old people have to open our minds a bit and set aside our preconceived prejudicial assumptions against the generation. We have to see these examples through the lens of the unique characteristics of the generation. Remember: The generation isn't about money; it's about (among other things) working together to achieve a common goal.
We Baby Boomers go home and have our drink with our spouse. The GenXers perhaps go to the local bar where they can drink with friends. That Millennial was saying that s/he would appreciate kicking back with co-workers, forging stronger bonds of community within the work-group through sharing a social drink, and perhaps even letting some out-of-the-box ideas related to achieving the mission of the organization come out of these more relaxed working/not-working activities. Your characterization of it makes it seem to me that you missed an opportunity to improve your organization for the long-term.
Both the alcohol-in-the-office candidate and the office-with-a-door candidate are presenting another common trait of Millennials: Unlike we Boomers, who see nothing wrong with wringing every last bit of life out of ourselves and the people who work for us, in the interest of furthering the profit$ of the business, Millennials understand clearly the value of work-life balance (perhaps even
because they've seen how badly
we've lived
our lives). The employers that acknowledge work-life balance garner the most talented staff. Those that seek to perpetuate that "wringing every last bit of life out of ourselves and the people who work for us"
modus operandi of the past are likely digging their organization's grave.
Incidentally, along the same lines, if we ever see the trend toward less and less seat pitch and seat width on aircraft slow down or stop (or [gasp] perhaps even get reversed), we can thank the Millenials for that.
Those we did hire had a hard time grasping that doing a good job is what they were getting paid for and, sadly did not merit a special party--or worse: a promotion-- to celebrate a completion of a fairly mundane project.
Or perhaps its was the managers at your company who had a "hard time grasping" the actual value and importance of celebrating jobs-well-done, and that it should be, and perhaps always should have been, a routine part of their responsibilities.
The article I mentioned earlier would be a good read for you (UPDATED: well, a good read for people who are still working and still managing the work of others in an organization). It's very instructive for managers who have no clue how to be an employer in an age when the entry-level and younger employees are invariably going to be Millennials.
