Are millennials ready for the work place?

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2013 Bloomberg Business Summit panel on millennials in the workforce. 

2013 Bloomberg Business Summit panel on millennials in the workforce. 

I have been employing millennials since they entered the workforce. Since they spend most of their high school career in activities to support their college application, they lack an early work history common to GenXers. How is this lack of beginning jobs skills going to hurt them as they search for their post college job? This was discussed at the the “Millennials in the Workplace” panel discussion at the Bloomberg Business Summit in Chicago on Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

Bentley University President Gloria Larson said, "Businesses who find success with millennials have found ways to link workforce production with the passions of the individual. When millennials can align passions with businesses’ needs, they get it done every time, better than any generation.” 

All the millennials I have employed are hard workers, bright, quick to learn, and eager to make an impact. They need some coaching to turn their raw talent into strengths that can point in a chosen direction. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and long time employer of millennials, I am passionate about helping people hone their raw talents. It is a commitment I have to my workforce that takes extra time and patience. Businesses are not going to get ready-made workers like they did 20 years ago. 

The "Millennials in the Workplace” panel discussed a key insight from Bentley University’s Preparedness Study: the fact that the majority of business decision-makers, corporate recruiters and higher education influential give recent college graduates a “C’ or lower on preparedness. This means more work for employers once they are hired. For those employers who don't have the time or resources to provide this training, WorkStrengths has both in person and online training as well as ongoing professional development for your millennials recruits. 

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Jennifer Selke

Dr. Jennifer Selke is a UC Berkeley-trained educational psychologist, veteran program director, and workplace strengths and engagement expert. She helps the military and corporate community maximize their strengths to reach goals, regulate complex emotions, and find purpose and work that is fulfilling. Dr. Selke spent 26 years at UC Berkeley as a program director and faculty member. In 2019, she retired from UC Berkeley and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to work for Zac Brown, the Grammy award-winning musician. At his non-profit, Camp Southern Ground, Dr. Selke is the director of the nationally acclaimed Warrior PATHH program, the nation's first-ever program designed to cultivate and facilitate Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) in combat veterans and first responders, and enables these remarkable warriors to transform times of deep struggle into profound strength and growth.