In defense of Generation Y: Jack and Suzy Welch on why 'impatient' and 'demanding' millennials don't deserve a bad rap in the workplace
Sponsored by the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University
Demanding and self-absorbed? Or forward-thinking and entrepreneurial? Millennials are faced with a myriad of labels, but what exactly is their impact in the workplace?
Top business leaders Jack and Suzy Welch, who are raising four millennials, tackle this question in their recent podcast, and suggest that the voice of Generation Y is actually a hugely valuable asset.
Speaking to DailyMail.com CEO Jon Steinberg, Mrs Welch says she finds it perplexing that millennials are given a bad rap.
Generation Y: Millennials have seen young entrepreneurs such as Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (left), 31, and Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel (right), 25, make a big impact, and Suzy Welch believes that this makes them impatient and demanding
'The ones that I've encountered really care about how their work affects the world,' she adds. 'Because of the world that they've come up in, [they] have very entrepreneurial mindsets.
'They're very excited about starting their own thing or working for a small company. They don't have this corporate lockstep in their brain.'
'There's good and there's bad, but the good is very, very good,' she continues. 'Maybe I'm biased by our own kids; we think they really got a lot of "grr" and they want to change the world for the better with their work.'
Mrs Welch points out that although millennials are often viewed as impatient and demanding, these traits may actually be good for a company, and should be embraced.
'I think what's great about millennials - and maybe frustrating for the people who manage them - is that they have all these examples of people who are incredibly young who have had a big impact,' she says.
'So they see all these young entrepreneurs out in Silicon Valley, they see Mark Zuckerberg... and they think: "Well, I don't want to wait to have impact. I don't want to wait to make a difference", and so they're impatient.
'But I actually think impatience is a good thing.
'I think that companies that are managing millennials are saying to them: "You don't have to wait to have your ideas matter here".
'That plays into what they believe because they have so many examples of people who didn't wait to have their ideas matter.'
Mr Welch, executive chairman of the Jack Welch Management Institute, says that millennials are one of the most demanding groups he has seen, but agrees that this is not necessarily a bad thing for a company.
He points out that this pushes managers to create an environment of excitement that is going to make these young workers want to stay.
'The millennials today are much more ready to pick up and leave, wherever they are, if they're not getting the opportunities they see or the challenges, excitement and inspiration behind the work,' he says.
Mr Welch, who served as CEO of General Electric for 21 years, says that during his time at the company he would say that he wanted his employees to love being there – but also to be ready to leave.
He explains: 'It really put heat on managers [by saying]: "Hey, you better keep these people happy. You better create opportunity. You better show them excitement."
'You want a workforce that's turned on. You want it turned on all the time and you want people to have to do that.'
Mr Welch adds that millennials also push an organization to be more transparent, allowing everybody to see what promotions and opportunities are available and what the future of the company looks like.
'I love the challenge of forcing everyone to be more transparent,' he says. 'I can't tell you what that does for a company.
'When everybody knows what's going on, when knowledge is not kept by layers, when everybody is in the game... you've got a better company.
'You've got a more exciting company and you've got a faster growing company. You get more productivity.'
Mrs Welch suggests that the desire and demand to be included is because this generation is used to having a voice and sharing opinions, thanks to social media.
She says: 'If they have an opinion, they can go on Facebook or Twitter or Snapchat or Instagram.
'They feel like their voice matters because they are heard in a way that young people were not previously heard.
'So when you have this attitude like "I can be heard" and then you come to work and no one hears you, it's maddening. You want to be heard and taken seriously and I think companies must respond to that.'
Mr Steinberg agrees with this assessment, noting that this is something he has experienced in his own organization.
'Millennials expect to have a voice and they also expect to know everything because they have so much accessibility to information. If I'm going to send a memo to my senior staff, I often say to myself, "Well, could I just send this memo to the entire business team?"
'Even if it doesn't apply to them, they want to know what you're telling the core management team.'
Jack and Suzy Welch mention cases where millennials act entitled and refuse to take on work that they feel is beneath them, but they add that this is a problem faced by every generation.
'The difference is we had many more opportunities than they have today,' says Mr Welch. 'I mean we had people recruiting us. Ten people were giving us offers.'
Welchcast: Jack (right) and Suzy Welch (center) were speaking to DailyMail.com CEO Jon Steinberg (left) on their weekly podcast about business and career challenges
'For kids, even kids with a very good education and good summer work experience, it is hard to get a job today,' Mrs Welch adds.
'It's a big slog and you've got to start early. That is something the millennials face into more than previous generations.'
But the couple believes that this doesn't mean that millennials have to study engineering or technology to get ahead – although this certainly can help.
'Our kids went to liberal arts schools and we see that their friends who majored in engineering and went into coding and any kind of engineering all got great jobs.
'And then the people who majored in political science and American studies are... living at home and they're doing stuff that is administrative. So we're definitely seeing that.'
But she adds: 'The skills needed change all the time and I think people are learning a lot on the job.'
'You don't have to be a techie to win in this game, Mr Welch adds. 'I think there are many ways to cut this.'
Welchcast is a weekly podcast about business and career challenges brought to you by the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University.
Supercharge your leadership skills and get ahead in your career with a Jack Welch MBA. Visit www.jwmi.com to learn more.
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