Millennials and Their Influence on the Workplace

Since essentially the inception of the term “Millennials” (those born between 1981-1996) those who fall in that generation have been taken the blame for a lot of societal shifts. Housing market isn’t doing as well as it was? Blame Millennials. Certain business industries are suffering? Those darn Millennials. Eating too much avocado toast? You guessed it….Millennials. Back in 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation claimed that “Millennials are likely the most studied generation in history,” and the claim isn’t that far off. Although, they forgot to mention that the generation would also likely be the most scrutinized.

With nearly 80 million Millennials in the United States, this generation makes up the largest segment of the current labor force. It is safe to say that Millennials aren’t going anywhere, much to the chagrin of previous generations. However, according to a study from HR research firm ClearlyRated and freelancing website Upwork, this generation’s (and the one immediately after – Gen Z) influence is causing four major shifts in the workforce. They are as follows:

Reskilling

In these days with technological advancements making work easier, and sometimes even replacing jobs all together, if you don’t adapt you will fall behind and ultimately fail. According to the aforementioned study that surveyed over 1,000 hiring managers, over 96 percent said that they think reskilling is important for employees.

There is a generational difference when it comes to reskilling. Most Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964) believe that their employer should be responsible for training the staff and facilitating the reskilling efforts. Millennials, on the other hand, are more prone to taking the task of reskilling upon themselves and proactively search for training.

Planning Ahead

The Millennial generation has fallen victim to being labeled as “job hoppers.” While 44 percent of Millennials say they will leave their current position within two years, according to Pepperdine University, but that is due to the fact that this generation is more likely to prioritize future workplace planning.

As trends change, such as remote working, Millennial managers are two times more likely than Baby Boomers to develop a “flexible talent strategy as well as investing in technology to support a remote workforce,” according to Karen Gilchrist. Which leads to the next shift ⤵️

Remote Working

Thanks to technology and the ability to remain constantly connected to the office, remote working has become an increasingly popular workplace perk. There are many benefits and downsides to working remotely, but Millennials are more likely to embrace this movement. Nearly ¾ of Millennial (and Gen Z) managers have team members who work remotely at least part of the time, compared to 58 percent of Baby Boomers. Additionally, Gilchrist says by 2028, 73 percent of all teams are expected to have remote workers.

Embracing Freelancers

When you need something for a certain project that your team is unfamiliar with, or doesn’t have time for, enlisting a freelancer is a good option. Millennials are more likely than previous generations to utilize this resource for multiple reasons, including, cost efficiency and productivity.

Baby Boomers on the other hand, may not see the value of enlisting the help of freelancers when they have employees who are capable of doing the work.

Wrap Up

Bob Dylan so eloquently stated, “The Times They Are A Changin’” way back in 1964, when ironically the last of the Baby Boomers were born. While this timeless song wasn’t exactly intended to highlight the workforce, its message rings true. As each generation slowly exits the labor market, the times change and we must figure out ways to keep up.

Although Millennials have taken the brunt of the blame of all that is wrong with society, this generation is influencing the workforce in ways like never before. There have been lots of jokes about these individuals wanting a more relaxed work environment, among other things, but even big companies with tried and true traditions, such as Goldman Sachs are adapting to appease the younger generations and remain competitive in the talent acquisition space.

One day maybe we will be able to look back on at Millennials and realize the monumental societal shifts their generation was responsible for instead of the amount of blame that they get.

Before You Go
View Current Job Openings
Follow NexGoal on Twitter
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn

Read More

Three Qualities That Make a Great Leader

Leadership is a quality that people are constantly looking to improve. There is a lot of literature available on whether or not leadership is a trait that you’re born with or that you can develop into. One of the best ways to learn more about what works and what doesn’t in leadership is to take advice from those in leadership positions.

It is no secret that Microsoft is under the tutelage of some great leaders. CEO Satya Nadella has spent over two decades with the software and technology giant and learned some great leadership tactics along the way. He spoke to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona about what he has learned about his own leadership and three traits that he looks for in a leader. You can read the full article here.

Provide Clarity

Just as a captain navigates the rough seas, employees will look to their boss to navigate them through difficult times. One way to do this is by remaining transparent and providing clarity as to what is going on within the company.

According to Nadella, “You can’t call yourself a leader by coming into a situation that is by nature uncertain, ambiguous – and create confusion.” He added, “[to be a leader] you have to have clarity, where none exists.”

Generate Energy

Being able to generate energy for your team will provide a vibrant environment for employees to look forward to being in each day. Often times throughout the course of the year, the day to day grind can cause even the best workers to simply go through the motions and lack productivity.

As a leader, you have to motivate your employees if you want to keep them at your company. One way to do this is to create an energetic environment.

Drive Success

Contrary to popular belief, success usually doesn’t happen right away. In fact, many companies do not meet their expectations of success and end up folding before they ever have the chance. Just as there is no blueprint for success for everyone to follow, companies may experience failure in order to reach their pinnacle.

This is not a bad thing, but the defining moment will be how the leader (you) inspire your team to learn from the experience and come out stronger. In Steve Jobs’ commencement speech to the 2005 Stanford University graduating class, he said:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

It is no secret that Jobs built Apple into the tech giant it is today, however, he had his fair share of obstacles as well.

Wrap Up

Leadership remains a hot topic in today’s professional world. Chances are we’ve all worked for a good leader, but also one that could’ve used some work in terms of his or her leadership skills and style. While it might not work for everyone, learning from successful leaders and being able to implement and apply their experience to your own role is a helpful tool to improve your leadership.

Before You Go
View Current Job Openings
Follow NexGoal on Twitter
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn

Read More

Want to Retain Your Employees? Motivate Them

Often times throughout our daily lives, we can fall into the same routine; wake up, go to work, go home/to the gym, go to sleep and repeat. As a result, we might fall into a rut and lose motivation for our work. As an employer, this might lead to a high turnover for your employees. With such a low unemployment rate (currently around 4 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), it may become difficult to replace the employees who decide to quit.

Leadership IQ, a workplace training and research company, created an online assessment to determine what the biggest motivation driver that keeps employees happy and satisfied in their jobs. After analyzing the data from over 20,000 respondents, the team discovered five most popular motivating factors for employees:

  • Achievement – “people want to excel and continually reach for a higher level of personal best”
  • Power – “driven people want to take charge and make decisions that impact others”
  • Affiliation – “driven people want to build harmonious relationships and feel accepted by others”
  • Security – “driven people want to maintain continuity, consistency and predictability”
  • Adventure – “driven people want to seek risk, change and uncertainty”

According to the data, employees who are achievement-driven are 44 percent more likely to love and stay in their jobs. If you’re an employer looking to retain your employees, the question becomes “how do I motivate the team, especially in terms of achievement?” Leadership IQ founder and Forbes contributor Mark Murphy suggests a few ways to do so:

Find a Goal That You Can Control

Often times throughout our careers we shoot for the stars when setting goals. While there is nothing wrong with that, these goals are often out of our control, and as a result, become unattainable. This could lead to feelings of failure which can derail your career trajectory. If one of your goals is to gain a 10 percent raise, that decision is mostly out of your control. You can control how hard you work and how productive you are, but you cannot control whether or not your company can make the raise happen due to budget, etc.

Instead, set attainable goals (see: SMART goals), write them down and set out to accomplish them. Murphy gives the examples of making eight sales calls a day or completing your online MBA program. Further, he mentions that people who describe their goals are 1.2-1.4 times more likely to achieve them.

For employers, setting these goals for your staff can provide motivation and reinvigorate them into their jobs.

Look for Projects You’ve Never Done Before

It has been said that “life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” and this rings true in terms of motivation at work. As an employee it may be common to settle into a routine at work and become comfortable doing the bare minimum. However, this can lead to a lack of career fulfillment and create turnover.

On the employer side, challenge your employees to do new things. You can create inter-department tasks or set up team building exercises to test the limits of their comfort zone. In doing so, you might create a new focus and perspective of the employees. After all, perspective is the fire that ignites change.

Start With A Plan

Having a plan of attack for what you want to accomplish each day is important throughout your career. As an employer, you can start each week with a meeting outlining the plan of attack or course of action for the team to follow. By doing this, you create tasks for the team to accomplish and set a vision of how the week should go. You can revist this plan throughout the week and look back on how successful it was at a later date.

Leadership IQ found that people are 45 percent more likely to leave work feeling happy and fulfilled if they start their day/week planning rather than diving straight into emails and playing catch up.

Wrap Up

In today’s competitive, candidate-friendly job market the challenge of finding and retaining top talent is magnified. Instead of continuously having to rehire employees, figuring out ways to keep them motivated and fulfilled at your company becomes increasingly important. If you’re looking for ways to do so, consider the aforementioned tips. They can also be used on a personal level if you find that you’re lacking motivation yourself.

Before You Go
View Current Job Openings
Follow NexGoal on Twitter
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn

Read More

How to Fall in Love with Your Job (Again)

It is that time of year again where love is in the air – Valentine’s Day. Much to the dismay of some folks, February 14th rolls around every year. Regardless of your relationship status, you can probably benefit from falling in love (again) with your job.

As the old saying goes, “love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.” While we all strive to live this mantra in our careers, the unfortunate truth is many of us don’t. Similar to the beginning of a relationship, when we first start our jobs we might be caught up in the “honeymoon phase.” Everything seems great and you’re learning a lot because it is all new. However, once this wears off, you might start noticing things that you realize you don’t actually like about the job. Once this doubt creeps into your mind it is key to nip it in the bud before you fall into a rut.

If you have found yourself in this position, you’re not alone. Sometimes we all need a little help falling in love with our jobs again, and that is perfectly okay. Believe it or not, unlike some relationships, the one you have with your job can be revived. In an article for The Balance Careers, Alison Doyle lists 10 simple ways that you can (re)learn to love your job. Check out a few of them below:

Work With Your Supervisor to Set Goals

Far too often we get caught up in the day-to-day routine and simply end up going through the motions. If you have felt this before, you likely know that it is usually a one-way ticket to falling into a rut. Work becomes boring and your motivation and productivity take a nose dive.

In order to avoid these feelings, work with your supervisor in order to set goals. Not only can these goals help you advance your career, but they serve as motivation to get the job done and provide something to focus on.

Make a List of Things You Want to Improve

Regardless of where you’re at in your career, there are always things we can learn and continue to improve on. Maybe your Photoshop knowledge is at a novice level and with more practice you believe you can better contribute in your current role. Or, you don’t really have the confidence to speak up in meetings.

Doyle recommends taking some time to clear your head then write down everything you don’t love about your job. Once you complete this, you can figure out how you can make a game plan to improve upon them.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Support

One of the quickest ways to become unhappy at work is biting off more than you can chew. When you become overwhelmed your work-life balance can get out of whack and your productivity at work plummets. You might think that saying “yes” to everything shows that you are a hard worker and able to multi-task. However, there is no harm in asking for help or saying “no.”

By asking for help, you might be introduced to new ways to do certain tasks or even resources that you weren’t aware of to help make your job easier.

Remind Yourself Why You Took the Job in the First Place

Often times during our daily lives we may lose track of the reason why we do things; your job is no different. There is a reason that you decided to accept the job offer for your current role. Sure, things change throughout the course of your career and some of those things are out of your control, but it is important to remember why you decided to take the job.

Wrap Up

When you’ve gone along your career path, sometimes we may fall out of love with our current job and seek greener pastures. However, sometimes all it takes is some reflection to remember why you fell in love with your job in the first place. If you’re feeling sort of stuck lately and need to reinvigorate yourself back into your career, consider these tips!

Before You Go

View Current Job Openings
Follow NexGoal on Twitter
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn

Read More

Mistakes To Avoid During Follow Up Interviews

It is no secret that the interview process can be an anxiety-inducing time for job seekers of all experience levels. In the past, we have provided interview tips to stand out in the hiring process and often forgotten interview tips, but these tips and tricks have been in relation to the first interview. However, the interview process usually consists of multiple interviews, each of which can be prepared for differently.

If you get invited back for a second-round interview, it is a good sign! The company is clearly interested in getting to know you more for the role and wants to continue the conversation. Although you clearly did well enough in the first-round interview, you begin your second-round interview with a clean slate.

Not only can you expect this conversation to be more difficult and in-depth, but since the stakes are higher (this could be the make or break for getting hired) your anxiety will follow suit. According to and 20-year recruiting industry veteran and Forbes contributor Caroline Ceniza-Levine, the callback or second interview is not the same as the earlier rounds. She has interviewed thousands of candidates who have aced the first interview only to see them falter in later rounds.

In order to continue your momentum after the first interview, she has a few mistakes to avoid in follow up interviews. Check out all of her tips in the full Forbes article here.

Getting Annoyed At Repeat Questions

If you’re getting called back for a second or third-round interview, etc., chances are you will be meeting with different decision makers at the company. As a result, you might get asked a few of the same questions from your previous conversations. While you might get annoyed at having to repeat yourself, it is important to remember that it is the first time you’re discussing the question with this interviewer. As Ceniza-Levine says, “You need to be as enthusiastic in explaining it the 100th time as you are the first time.”

Losing Steam

Interviews can be a long, drawn out process. Depending on the company’s interviewing preference and procedure, you may go through multiple rounds before ever getting an employment offer. As a result, you may start to lose steam and focus. Even if you’re drained, you have to try to not show it. The company knows that this process can be tiring, but they want candidates who will remain engaged and high energy even if they might not feel that way. When you lose energy, your excitement about the opportunity and engagement with the interviewer drops. So too do your chances at moving forward in the process.

Forgetting Who You Met

If you’re speaking with multiple people per day, you might lose track of everyone you have met. It is important to remember who you have spoken with, especially before your follow up interview. It isn’t uncommon for interviewers to ask who you have already spoken to, so if you forget who you have already spoken with you might draw a blank in this conversation which will probably reflect poorly on you. Although some people are “terrible with names,” when you forget the name of someone you interviewed or had a conversation with, it portrays that you are not interested in them, the company or just forgetful. None of these qualities are really what an employer looks for in a candidate, so your chances of getting hired will likely dwindle.

Running Out Of Questions

Regardless of the stage you’re at in the interview process, it is important to do your research and prepare some questions to ask. Not only does this show that you take the interview seriously and are prepared, but it also shows that you are actually interested in the role. While some of your questions may get answered throughout the course of the conversation, you should definitely have others prepared. Not having any questions may be perceived as a lack of interest, even if that isn’t the case. Perception is reality, especially during interviews.

Wrap Up

Even the most experienced interviewers can experience some sense of pre-interview anxiety. While these feelings are usually quelled after the first interview, most companies have multiple rounds of interviews before making a hiring decision. As a result, many job seekers may become too relaxed and end up making mistakes during the second interview. If you have a second interview coming up, don’t make these mistakes!

Before You Go

View Current Job Openings
Follow NexGoal on Twitter
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn

Read More