As I explained in my strategy, millennials and Gen Z today face a workplace culture that is vastly different than the past. In this post, I am going to explain the three major workplace trends that drive today’s corporate cultures and how to adapt to it.
Humble beginnings
I started my first-ever job as an engineering coop student back in 2006. Naturally, like every other newbie, I felt excited and anxious at the same time. Getting paid was the exciting part but the fear of not being able to deliver kept me on the edge of my seat. I had been through university sessions where program coordinators had drilled the students on the do’s and don’ts of coop terms. However, most of that was vague, generic advice that I did not really know how to apply in my situation.
So, when it came to careers, I decided to simply listen to my co-workers. I was fortunate enough to be part of a team that had a mix of new grads, mid-career and experienced people. I heard a variety of perspectives about a lot of different subjects – performance reviews, promotions, layoffs, new projects, good bosses, bad bosses, retirement plans, etc. When I asked some of them during casual conversations on what they could have done differently in their careers, the replies often referred to decisions made (or not made) at the start of their careers.
“If only I had not bought that house when I first started..”
“If only I had turned down that assignment in my early days..”
“Only I had a good mentor when I was a junior engineer, things would have been different..”
Why the first five years are really important
This is the key message that I want to get across – the success of your career is almost invariably determined by the decisions that you make during the first five years of employment. Why the first five years? Because your professional learning curve is the sharpest in the first five years where you transition from a rookie to an experienced hand. Also, during the first five years, you will in all likelihood make a number of important decisions in your personal life as well which will affect your career – getting married, buying a house, maybe moving to a different city (or a different country!). Its what Daniel Pink labels as foundational regrets – decisions that put too much value on “now” rather than “later”.
Now, there is a catch. As a millennial or Gen Z, the circumstances that you are going to face are vastly different to that of the boomers or Gen X. Relying on popular advice such as buying a house (no matter what the price) and working in the same company for 30 years at a stretch in the prospect of a juicy pension at the end is likely to land you in trouble. It may have worked wonderfully in the past but it unlikely to do so in the future.
So, what decisions do you need to make? What actions do you need to take in the first five years? For that, you need to understand three different workplace trends. Let’s go through them one by one.
Trend#1 – Employer-funded pensions are a thing of the past
Most corporations today have largely shifted away from defined benefit (DB) plans and tilted towards defined contribution (DC) plans. Due to the volatile business landscape, increasing proportion of retirees vs. active workers and sharply escalating healthcare costs, it has become difficult for companies to guarantee their own financial success over the long period of time they are required to dole out employee benefits. Companies today have shifted towards DC plans where they have offloaded the investment risk to employees. The only risk the company carries is the commitment to make the matching contribution. In simple words, DB plans place the onus on the employer while DC plans place the onus on the employee.
What does it mean for you? Given that you have to bear all the investment risks, it is vitally important that you have an understanding of how the financial markets work. Unfortunately, most schools today do not provide that education. To make matters worse, there are far too many shenanigans out there to prey upon the uninformed.
Trend#2 – Most jobs are shifting from full-time to contract
The reasons for corporations shifting to contract work are similar to those for pensions – the need to cut overhead costs. More importantly, it gives companies the flexibility to rapidly adjust to business cycles – which is not always good news for the worker. During my years in the oilsands industry, the company I worked for famously claimed that they had never executed any employee layoffs, even during the worst economic times. That was indeed true. However, what they did not reveal publicly was that they had been steadily increasing their ratio of contract personnel to permanent employees. The contractors were subjected to layoffs during the hard times while at the same time the company was always able to stay true to its marketing claim!
What does contract work mean for you? Well, you have to deliver high performance to survive. Also, you will be held to a higher standard than that for the permanent staff. Also, you have to learn the key aspects of your job with little or no access to formal training or mentorship.
Trend#3 – Lip Service to Work-Life Balance
The concept of work-life balance first started emerging in the late 1980s when women started entering the workforce. Since then, it has only intensified. Companies have made accommodations to allow employees to balance work and personal lives. However, the hard reality is that work-life policies are nothing more than bland statements in the company’s promotional brochures. With the availability of laptops and smartphones, the situation has unfortunately gotten worse. Employees are now expected (but not explicitly stated) to make themselves available during off-hours as well. Otherwise they will find themselves on the rough side during performance reviews.
What does it mean for you? The pace and intensity of today’s workplace means that at some point during you career you will experience burnout. As Anne Petersen says in her article, millennials have become the burnout generation. You should not expect too much help from your company. Management will NOT invite their people to decrease their productivity in the name of work-life balance.
So, is there any hope?
I will be the first to admit that the above three workplace trends I griped about seem quite pessimistic. Maybe enough to deflate a new grad out of school into giving up on work completely. However, I believe the devil you know is far better than the devil you don’t know.
Knowing the three distinct workplace trends, your aim of your career should be to achieve financial independence. That is why I compiled a series of posts on financial independence. I go into a considerable amount of detail on developing a rich mindset. Why so much detail? Well, not only because it is important (you have to bear the investment risk) but because how little an understanding most people have about it. I encourage you to go through it.
Importance of personal branding
Given the workplace trends, it is important for you to build your personal brand. Building your own brand based on your unique abilities and skills sets will allow to set yourself apart from the competition, increase your value in the job market and most importantly reduce the power imbalance between you and your employer. The specific elements of a strong personal brand are:
1. Hard skills – specialising in knowledge to develop your niche and choosing the right experiences to get there.
2. Soft skills – understanding the dynamics of teamwork, communication, managing workplace relationships and navigating through performance reviews.
3. Marketing – highlighting your achievements and making yourself stand out.
In future posts, I will go over each one of these elements.
Yours truly,
Rizwan.