Still more...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal’s online version a couple of days ago. It was about what companies and Grad schools are expecting out of the batch of Millennials entering MBA programs in the US.
The article, “Millennial MBAs prompt B-Schools to Shift Gears,” did a very nice job painting a broad picture of what’s already happening in a lot of grad schools and businesses.
In essence, grad schools, recruiters, HR departments, and front-line managers are going to need to be ready for this youngest generation and all of the support and strength that they bring…from their parents! And I don’t mean the traits of hard-headedness or empathy one of their parents may have passed along.
No, I mean the way their Boomer parents set up school conferences to argue their grades (in elementary school!), the way their parents made sure that their lives were totally structured, supported, and protected, the way their parents showed up for all of the little league games and screamed at the Ump for blowing the call or at the other team’s coach for running up the score.
The way it will be translated as this generation enters the workforce is parents advocating for little Billy’s mid-term grade at the Fletcher School of Business. Or in disputing Sally’s year-end review that was, in her parent’s eyes, one-sided and biased against her. There will be parents coming along on job interviews and entrance interviews. There are other issues about workplace dynamics, technology, collaborating, and job meaning for this generation, but we’ll save that for later.
MB
