Millennials vs. Generation X in the workplace: differences and similarities

What are the main differences between millennials and Generation X?

For starters, Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) came in on the cusp of mobile phones, the internet and social media, while most millennials (born between 1981 and 1997) grew up in an era when these things were a regular part of daily life.

The experiences of growing up in dissimilar environments have produced generations of employees who differ significantly from each other. And yet, they share certain similarities that are worth understanding in more detail.

Throughout this article we’ll review key findings on millennial vs. Generation X employees and explore how their relative similarities and differences has an impact on the how your organisation should treat them.

Their presence in the workplace is now greater than any other generation. According to the U.S.’s Pew Research Center, the population of American millennials in the workplace has steadily increased since 1995 and, since Q1 of 2015, they’ve been the most populous generation in American companies.

Given their constantly increasing presence in the office, understanding who these employees are and what they want from your organisation is crucial. To help you tackle this question, we ran a recent study with Ladders, focusing on millennial vs. Generation X employees. Here are some key insights arising from our research, in addition to other data points in the market:

78% of millennials use LinkedIn for job hunting, which is 20% higher than the second most popular option: networking through friends and family. As this generation is comfortable with using the latest technology and leads the pack in mobile adoption – with, according to Nielsen, over 97% of them owning a smartphone – using a site that often demands research and constant updates isn’t an issue at all.

Another reason why LinkedIn and social media, which was ranked third in terms of job hunting for millennials, at 44%, are such popular platforms for networking is because of the social and communal ties they offer. Millennials want to feel as though they are part of something bigger than themselves and, given their constant reliance on the web, these platforms provide them with that opportunity.

So what does this mean for your organisation? Focus on ensuring that your LinkedIn page and social channels are engaging and up to date, with clear descriptions of the roles that your organisation is currently hiring for.

Are you daunted by the prospect of working for a new manager, having new responsibilities and switching employers?

Well, millennials aren’t. In the U.S., a study conducted by EAB (formerly the Education Advisory Board) revealed that millennials change jobs up to 20 times during their career. This figure is significantly higher than that of any other generation and twice as high as that of baby boomers.

Looking to stem turnover? Try helping your millennial employees by promoting the possibility of transferring into other roles internally.

To identify how many of your employees are looking to change jobs and what they are looking to transfer into, send them an engagement survey on a quarterly cadence. The survey should be anonymous to enable them to respond candidly and should include a few questions about their happiness in their current role and other opportunities that they’d be interested in pursuing. The latter question can be free response as we don’t want to limit the respondent’s options.

Once the responses arrive, make sure you review them at the team, department and organisational level. Depending on the level of demand, it may be worth communicating your internal transfer policies and letting the appropriate segments know which positions are currently open.

With 66% of employees looking to transfer internally first, prioritising and promoting your internal transfer policies will ultimately benefit your entire base of employees.

Why would they want to work at your company? Demonstrating that you care about the overall wellbeing of your employees goes a long way towards attracting millennials. In the U.S., research by the Pew Center found that millennials consider being a good parent, having a successful marriage and helping others more important than any work-related agendas.

To accommodate these preferences and become a desirable place to work, organisations need to effectively communicate and demonstrate their commitment to a work-life balance by offering flexible working hours and generous paid time off.

For the sake of making things less complicated when attracting and retaining workers, we’re fortunate that there aren’t any significant differences between millennial and Generation X employees. For example, Generation Xs also rely on the internet when job hunting and change jobs more often than older generations. However, there are a few key differences between millennial and Generation X employees that are worth mentioning:

Generation X employees are approximately 25% more eager than millennials to know in advance what’s expected of them before they go on to tackle their problems.

To meet their demands and align on expectations, it may be worth scheduling a meeting and/or sharing a document before they begin any time-consuming projects.

Is your company really helping its customers?

Hopefully, the answer to this question is a resounding yes, and if it is, make sure that your Generation X employees know this. With only 40% of Generation X employees – 50% less than is the case for millennial employees – being confident that their company is effectively addressing their customer experience, their motivation in their role is at risk of dwindling until they find a new job.

Prevent and identify Generation Xs who take this viewpoint by adding a question or two in your employee survey/s. The questions may look something like these:

1a) On a scale of 0 to 10 (with 0 being the lowest impact and 10 being the highest), how would you rate the impact that our solution/service has on our customers?

1b) In a sentence or two, please explain why you chose that rating.

As much as we’d like to assume that everything we’ve said about millennial vs. Generation X employees is accurate, we can’t. Individuals ultimately differ from each other and applying generalisations to groups of employees can lead to negative consequences for any organisation.

Make sure that you truly understand who your employees are at the individual level. This may require more face time, walks around the office and employee surveys that ask questions about who they are and what they are hoping to accomplish at work. Ultimately, the time invested in understanding your employees will allow your organisation to improve engagement and retention in the long term.

Looking to understand employee engagement in depth? Survey your team today and find out. Get started →