Millennials in Law: Managing Expectations

Two recent pieces present the chicken/egg conundrum of dealing with Millennials and Boomers in the same institution: Who should adapt to whom?

Richard Bottner, a 22-year-old management consultant (I know, I know . . .) urges employers to meet the high expectations of Millennials:

Bottner, who founded Intern Bridge of Acton, Mass., which studies student
expectations and experiences, will present data from 12,000 college
students.

The study asked what young people expected from internships, supervisors
and orientation sessions. A “Millennial” himself (born after 1981) it wasn't too
long ago that Bottner served in internships while attending Babson College in
Wellesley, Mass.

“I had a really bad internship and a really good internship,” Bottner said,
adding the Millennial generation “in general has much higher
expectations.”

Companies that offer rewarding internships will have an easier time
retaining them as workers, Bottner said.

Here's the response of Dan Hull over at What About Clients? to similar advice:

From a marketing e-mail I received today:

Are you frustrated by young workers who feel entitled to success, need
constant praise, want everything to be 'their way' ...? [YES.] Are you
struggling to attract and retain a generation of workers whose commitment seems
more temporary than permanent? [NO, WE DON'T WANT THEM HERE.]

This is Generation Y, a workforce of as many as 70 million, and the first
wave is just now taking their place in an increasingly multigenerational
workplace. [THAT'S NICE.]

In this 1-day seminar, we'll show you how to motivate and manage Generation Y. You'll learn what makes them tick, how to retain them, and make them productive and energized. [WHAT A WASTE OF TIME.]

It's your problem, Gen-X and Gen-Y. Not ours. Work, figure it out, ask questions, and we'll help you--but it's your job to adjust to "us" and the often hard adventure of learning to solve problems for your employer and its clients.

Whether I'm preparing to speak to a group of faculty, a group of experienced lawyers, or a group of students, I can count on being asked one question: "Why should we be the ones to adapt? Shouldn't *they* have to adapt to *us*?" Yep. Absolutely.

Each generation is the darling of their time's greatest adult-vexing contribution. For Boomers, it's rock 'n' roll and the culture surrounding it. For Millennials, it's the Internet and its culture. If these two ground-breaking generations find a way to work together, it'll be a sight to see. If each insists on digging in, though . . . well, it'll still be a sight to see; it just won't be a very pleasant sight.

[Thanks to Prof. Meredith Miller for the heads up on Dan Hull's post.]