The importance of purpose to millennials

Much has been said about the need to entertain the millennial generation (those born after 1980) as part of any learning experience in an organization. In many ways, this is the foundation for the focus on gamification. Millennials are perceived as having short attention spans and a limited ability to dig deeply, so the thinking is that they need to be entertained. While the effectiveness of entertainment as a learning tool has been strongly discredited—people don’t learn through entertainment—it is still justified, specifically as a requirement for millennials. But new research published in a New York Times article, “Millennial Searchers,” suggests something very different. Millennials appear to be as purpose driven as everyone else, perhaps even more so. This means that the intense focus on purpose that we have been advocating works just as well with millennials. If an organization wants to improve performance, especially in its younger workers, take the time to collectively define a common purpose. Purpose is a greater social good for the team, organization, customer and/or society. When the purpose is compelling, everyone—even millennials—will work hard to achieve the end.]]>