January 16, 2024 • 28 mins
Ready to shatter stereotypes and understand what truly drives the younger workforce? Dr. Jason Wiggins, an authority on multi-generational dynamics, joins us to reveal the surprising truths behind millennial and Gen Z professionals. Far from the lazy, tech-obsessed caricatures often presented, these generations are reshaping the landscape of productivity and work-life balance. As a millennial myself, I offer personal insights into the unique hurdles we've leaped over and the innovative ways we've turned technology into a formidable ally in the quest for efficiency. We also tackle the profound shifts brought on by COVID-19, especially the new normal of remote and hybrid workspaces, and how Gen Z, in particular, is navigating this evolving terrain. Tune in for an episode that promises to equip business leaders with the knowledge to harness the strengths of a diverse, multi-generational team.
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Episode Transcript
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Spring Richardson Perry (00:01):
Welcome to the Spring Forward podcast.
I'm your host, springRichardson Perry, the
organizational change agent thatis going to help your business
achieve the excellence youdesire.
If you're a business leaderlooking to take your business to
the next level or simplylooking for new ways to spring
your business forward, then thisis the podcast for you.
(00:21):
So let's get down to businessand spring forward into
excellence.
Welcome, welcome to anotherepisode of the Spring Forward
podcast.
It is me, your host, springRichardson Perry, and, of course
, our wonderful co-host, littleMiss Winter.
(00:42):
Today, we have a fantasticguest lined up for you Dr Jason
Wiggins.
He's an accomplished author,keynote speaker, consultant and
a university professor, and hebrings over two decades of
leadership experience to thetable.
He's specifically studiedmillennials and Gen Z in the
(01:03):
workplace, and so we are goingto dive deep into that topic
today.
So welcome, dr Wiggins.
Welcome.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (01:11):
Well, thank you very much for the great
introduction.
It is fantastic to be here andI'm looking forward to providing
some great foundation andconcepts to your listeners today
.
Spring Richardson Perry (01:24):
Yes, I'm excited to explore this
because this has become a verybig topic lately in the
workplace, and so I am superexcited to have you on today to
be exploring this.
And so, dr Wiggins, you've beenexploring multi-generational
dynamics in the workplace for 15years now, I believe it is, so
(01:46):
talk to us about what led you todive into this generation, into
the realms of retention andmotivation in the workplace for
these two generations.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (01:59):
Well, one thing first started was I
started leading teams and reallygoing through the motions back
in the late to early, to excuseme, late 90s to early 2000s and
what I noticed right off wasthat every individual is
different.
And I started looking at, youknow, the older generation and
(02:24):
the new generation and mycurrent generation, and I
started to see that every singlegeneration is different on how
they view work, how they havelife and work balance, what's
important to them and how reallythey are impacted by employers
and what the employers expect.
(02:46):
And it was interesting, as Iwas recently at Universal
Studios and one of the things Ilearned about was how the making
of movies and all of thebackground work they do to make
these movies and what it is is.
Things are not what they appearbecause of all of the different
(03:07):
editing and whatnot.
And that's the same thing.
If you start looking atgenerations, everybody has these
mystique about what ageneration is, who they are and
how they operate, and there's alot of misconceptions like, for
example, millennials they'relazy, they don't want to work,
(03:30):
they just want to collect apaycheck, they're not motivated.
And then you can go to Gen Zall they want is electronics,
they want to be on their phone.
They don't really want to work.
There's a lot of similaritiesand differences among
generations, but the key thingis is they are all different but
(03:51):
they all have a foundation towant to work.
But it's how you're going toexpress that work, it's how an
employer is going to be able tounderstand that work and how can
they get the most out of anemployee.
And that's kind of where Istarted looking at the
foundations and learning aboutthe different aspects of just to
(04:14):
give a brief history so yourlisteners understand it.
For example, you know the babyboomers.
They were born between theyears of 1945 to 1964.
And then there's generation Xfrom 1970 excuse me, 1965 to
1979.
That's the forgotten generation.
And then there's themillennials, again 1980, roughly
(04:38):
to 1995.
And then now you have thegeneration Z from roughly 1996
to 2012, and we had the currentgeneration that's not in the
workforce, that winter wouldfall on and that would be
generation alpha.
(04:58):
So that's kind of a long-windedway of showing you how,
demonstrating how I got intointo the understanding the
generations and understandingthe importance of being able to
retain and motivate all of thegenerations, but particularly
generation Z and the millennials.
Spring Richardson Perry (05:22):
Well, I can remember when I'm a
millennial and so I can rememberwhen my generation was entering
the workforce and there was allthis talk about we are lazy and
we don't want to do this and wewere Entitled, and all these
things about my generation, andI remember thinking, no, we're
not lazy, we work smarter.
Number one, because mygeneration, we grew up as
(05:45):
technology grew up, and so I canremember AOL and doll up and
all that good stuff, but we sortof we sort of learned how to
use technology and integratethat into our lives, and so it
it really made us learn how toWork smarter and not harder.
(06:05):
Whereas a lot of us had babyboomer parents and and Either
they were either baby boomers orgeneration X if you had younger
parents but my parents werebaby boomers and so I saw how
hard my mom worked.
I saw, you know, every day,getting up, going to work,
getting you know Beat down atwork with these antiquated rules
and all these things, but shewas thankful to have a job and I
(06:28):
remember, violent to myself,I'm not working like that, I'm
not letting anybody dictate tome All these different things,
all these different rules thatmy mom had to follow, and
especially when it came totaking time off from work, I was
like, oh no, like when I needto take time for me or if I have
something going on with my kids, I don't need a job making me
(06:49):
feel guilty for not being there.
Like you're the, the work goeson.
But my life, my children, ifthey need me, I'm gonna be there
.
And so I just remember feelingreally misunderstood in the
workplace Because, again, wedidn't work the way that Jent
the boomers worked, or we kindof didn't work the way gen Xers
worked either.
(07:11):
So it you know, we were likereally misunderstood, and so I
am glad that you are reallylifting this up and really
bringing light to thedifferences and the motivators
that you have and the thingsthat you know that that are
beneficial for employers to knowabout, how to create that
(07:31):
inclusive work environment forthis younger generation entering
the workforce.
So I want to talk about yourbook, and it's called how to
retain and motivate millennialleaders.
I want to talk about about that, how, what inspired you to
write it and you know how isthat helping to create these
inclusive workspaces?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (07:57):
Absolutely, thank you.
One of the key things about thebook was to provide a
foundation, a theoreticalfoundation to understanding the
different motivators, fromAdam's theory to Maslow
hierarchy and needs,understanding self-actualization
, the needs that each generation, and particularly in
millennials, leaders would needin this case.
And that was to understand,okay, if you have a certain
(08:17):
values and you have thefoundation.
And then we went ahead and didthe research on it.
So we we basically had 20different individuals that were
millennial leaders and we wentthrough a whole qualitative
study About what was importantto them, and that's what the
book emphasizes.
It emphasizes what the currentleadership Of millennial leaders
(08:45):
are looking for, what theyexpect in the workforce and why
it's so important to be able tokeep them motivated.
And when you lose that talent,you lose thousands of dollars.
Many cases it's two to threetimes what their salary is is
what it costs to lose them, orYou're not able to find those
(09:05):
Individuals to replace them in atimely manner.
And then about the knowledgeretention, that knowledge that
you're losing when they walk outthe door.
And then people also forgetabout the part of the culture
hit that it hits on yourorganization when you see
so-and-so, that was a big partof your organization, walk out
the door, then you've got tostart peeling the onion back and
(09:30):
finding out really what isgoing on.
So the foundation of the book isto understand why millennial
leaders are who they are, andthere are seven key points that
were demonstrated in the bookand a lot of them revolved
around work, life balance, theability to you know, understand
that they want to work.
(09:51):
So these foundations providedthe concepts of the book and
really it was for me, it wasjust, it was just inspirational
to write it for the fact thatthe motivators that it takes for
each individual to excel in theareas they choose and how
they're affected by thoseemployers that maybe don't know
(10:14):
how to motivate or don't knowhow to have those communication
abilities to to Bring out themost out of them, because it's
not up to the employee To alwaysmotivate themselves all the
time.
The employer has to provide agreat foundation to express the
ability that we find your workimportant, and that was another
(10:35):
concept that really showed upWas how is my work valued?
How am I recognized for thework I did?
And so just, we talk aboutdiversity, inclusiveness and all
of those things.
Those are all Important to notonly millennials, but we've seen
(10:56):
that with with generation z,and so those are just some of
the concepts and foundationsthat really motivated me to
write the book and demonstrateto the readers why and how they
can benefit from reading thisbook.
Spring Richardson Perry (11:13):
Yeah, I love that because, again, one
of the big things with mygeneration and I know with Gen Z
as well is that work-lifebalance and because I saw the
baby boomers, again with myparents being examples and
specifically my mom, just seeinghow much she was working day in
, day out, giving herself,giving so much of herself to
(11:36):
this company that to me reallychewed her up and spit her out.
And so, like I said, I vowednot to have that type of life,
to have more of a balance, to beable to enjoy the fruits of my
labor, because what's the pointof working, putting in all this
work and, yes, I may have thefinancial resources because of
(11:56):
the work that I do, but if Ican't enjoy those resources,
then what's the point of it allright, so I love, love, love
that.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (12:05):
And think about this.
Right now, 65% of millennialsand Gen Z are currently looking
for another job or they'verecently brushed up their resume
, and over 70% of millennialsand Gen Z plan to leave their
job within the next year.
So if you're an employer,you're an organization.
(12:27):
This should be one of yournumber one priorities to
identify what can you dodifferently.
Spring Richardson Perry (12:34):
Yeah, and because, again, with my
generation, no longer are westaying at company, just 20 and
30 years the way that ourparents did right, and
especially if this companynumber one doesn't have some
sort of social impact that wealigned with because that was
another thing that sort of cameabout with the millennial
generation was aligning yourselfwith companies that aligned
(12:57):
with your values as well, and soif they didn't have some sort
of value that aligned with ourpersonal value, our personal
motivations and those things, wequickly was like bye, we'll see
you in the next lifetime.
And so that speaks volumes whenyou give those numbers, because
no longer again, like I said,are we staying, are we sticking
(13:20):
around 20 and 30 years with onecompany.
A lot of times the best you'llget these days is what?
Five to 10 years out of youremployees.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (13:31):
Long-term employee.
A long-term employee is nowconsidered over one year.
That's what millennial and GenZ's consider.
They consider long employment.
I worked over there about overa year, so for them that's
long-term employment, whichthat's really concerning.
If you're an employee, employer, one year is considered
long-term and I've looked at alot of resumes and when I view
(13:53):
them, if I see anything over twoyears, I go wow, they've got a
long work history.
Spring Richardson Perry (14:00):
Yeah, it's the same for me too.
Right, I don't consider oneyear long, but I think two years
to me makes up long-termemployment, which is
considerably different than ourparents' generation.
So yeah, that is very, veryinteresting.
So I know that you had apodcast I don't know if you
still do, dr Wiggins, but it wasyour motivational Gen Z and
(14:23):
millennial expert.
Do you still actively recordfor that or what's going on with
that?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (14:29):
No, absolutely.
Thank you for asking.
No, I have about 148 episodescurrently and we did take about
a two and a half year break onit, but we did restart it here
about four months ago and Ithink we have an additional 20
episodes, since it's a weeklypodcast episode and what it
(14:50):
details is anything that'simportant, professionally and
personally, to millennials andGen Z, and there's always a
motivational spin on it.
It can be catered towardsorganizations, it can be catered
towards specifically a Gen Zand millennial, but it's all
wrapped around what's importantto Gen Z, what's important to
(15:15):
millennials, and there's alwaysa positive spin.
It's always about because theone thing I found is the Gen Z
and millennials.
They're extremely intelligent,they are by far the most
intelligent generations.
I keep saying that everygeneration, with the resources
that they have available, theyare smarter, they have the
(15:36):
abilities, because Gen X, whichis my generation, we had nothing
.
We had the newspaper to lookfor jobs.
We had the telephone book tofigure out where somebody, what
their phone number was, but now,oh, we had encyclopedias.
That was the thing I love toread the most.
But now, with instantgratification of the social
(15:59):
media, we have everything now.
So everything you wanna learn.
You see kids looking down attheir phone.
They just barely learn how towalk and they're reading their
phone as they walk with theirparents.
So, again, the generations areextremely, extremely intelligent
and that's what this podcastreally revolves around.
(16:20):
It's the aspects that areimportant to Gen Z, millennials,
and we have a greatlistenership.
And it's important because Iget excited about the emails
that I get from the listenersthat say hey, you always have a
positive spin, you're alwaysvery transparent and and you're
real, and I think that's reallyimportant in the podcast that we
(16:42):
do.
Spring Richardson Perry (16:43):
I Love that.
So what?
What advice, then, would yougive to Employers that are
trying to figure this wholeGenerational gap out in their
workplace?
Like what?
What advice do you give?
Is it something you do on yourpodcast, where you offer advice
(17:03):
as well?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (17:04):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
We offer advice, we offer waysof doing things.
The first advice I would givean organization is Stop rolling
over and playing dead.
And what I need right back yes,take your head out of the sand
and realize that this is not thebaby boomer generation.
(17:24):
They are not going to.
Just as soon as you jump,they're not going to ask you how
high.
Now, if you ask somebody to jump, they're going to ask you why,
why should I jump?
Why is it important?
What would you like me to dowhen I do it?
So they're going to actuallypursue additional questions.
(17:45):
So, as an employer or anorganizational leadership, you
have to be able to Communicate.
You have to be able to providethem the foundation of why it's
important, how it's going tobenefit the organization, how
it's going to benefit them, andso those are many of the
concepts that we cover Withinthe podcast.
(18:08):
And then how does Gen Z andMillennials?
How do they answer back to that?
And then how can they promotethe growth of their career
Through being able to identifywith their employer and those
key concepts.
Spring Richardson Perry (18:24):
Yeah, that was the first question that
came to mind when you said whensomebody says they want to ask
you to jump, the first thing inmy mind was like why, why am I
doing this?
What am I going to do that for?
What is the benefit of me doingthis?
How's it going to benefit me?
I know it's going to benefityou, but where's the, where's
the mutual benefit here?
So that makes perfect sense.
So all season two is all aboutcommunity, as you know, and so
(18:50):
talk to me about Buildingcommunity.
How is the work?
How does the work that you doBuild community, either in
business, either locally or evenat home, if you still have
small children at home?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (19:05):
Well, first of all, first and foremost, it
revolves around Understandingand communication within what
we're doing, how we're doing itand really that the important
part is to how do you retain andMotivate?
And motivation, I think, is thekey word that I'm going to take
out of this, because being ableto motivate you talk about
young kids.
(19:26):
At home I have a seven year old.
I have to figure out ways tomotivate him to understand.
This is why we do something.
This is your opportunity toshine, but at the same time, we
have to understand it tosomething you don't want to do.
Then we're not going tocontinue to push it upon you.
We're going to either find anew way to do it or find
(19:48):
something else that's going tobe more important to you, and I
think about community in theworkplace, in the classroom and
having young kids.
It's about finding your place,finding your understanding of
where you fit in in this crazyworld that we live in.
There's, we are there's.
The key thing is is we are notall in one box.
(20:12):
We are all different.
We all have different views, weall have different backgrounds,
we all have different Aspectsof our life that are important
in everything we do, so we can'tbe molded Into just being one
sort of key Be component in theworld.
We have to be able to diversify, we have to be able to jump at
(20:34):
opportunities, and that's wherecommunity employers, the
foundation that we have, is Setup for us to continue to promote
grow, not only within our work,our personal life and our
overall ability to Make the mostof who we are.
And so for me, as as a, as amotivator, my goal is always to
(21:00):
say okay, we all struggle indifferent pursuits in life, but
what are we good at?
Let's focus on the aspects thatwere really good at that make
us who we are, and that's whyit's important to ensure that we
have a foundation that sets upfor success.
(21:20):
And that's where I think mygoal within either career,
workplace, classroom and justoverall, you know, being able to
motivate is important.
Spring Richardson Perry (21:35):
Okay, so talk to me about this.
This is the last thing beforewe wrap up, because I'm thinking
about this new way of work thatcame about because of COVID and
it's not really new, right,because this was going on long
before that but it's a lot moreprevalent now.
And so talk to me about thegenerations and remote work
(21:56):
versus this hybrid and on-sitework.
I'm sure you've done a lot ofwork around this.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (22:01):
Yes, and what's interesting is obviously
COVID and the pandemic shiftedeverything, especially for Gen Z
.
They were right in the heightof their high school career and
all of a sudden, for two years,they're either starting to have
to do remote work, and so whatwe see now is many of these Gen
(22:24):
Zs have kind of shut themselvesoff a little bit from real life
because they're so used to theonline type of work or
socializing.
I mean, when I grew up, wewould go to the baseball field
and we would play baseball, wewould ride our bikes around.
You know, we did all that stuff, but now everything is focused
(22:45):
to online.
But here's the key thing is GenZ, surprisingly enough, is
getting tired of growing uponline.
They're getting tired of justbeing boxed into online format.
So what we're going to see, andwhat we're starting to see now,
is they're starting to shift.
(23:06):
They're going to start wantingto be outside with people.
They're going to start wantingto work within the different
aspects and not remote.
So it's kind of opposite ofmillennials to a certain degree,
because millennials are hey, Iget to work from home, I'm good.
Spring Richardson Perry (23:22):
Yes, that is me all day.
I'm like I get to be at home inmy office like nobody's going
to bother me.
Sign me up.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (23:32):
But remotely.
Remotely is the key for, youknow, being able to have a
hybrid or type of, you know,work-life balance.
And so what's going to be keyis, you know, I think the
generations as a whole are goingto start seeing a lot more
online type of work, and wewon't get into it today.
(23:53):
But let's introduce AI briefly.
Ai is going to open up thedoors to anything and everything
, because 20% of the jobs byroughly 2030 or so, are going to
be gone, and that's why Gen Zand maybe millennials to a
certain degree, are going tostart having to focus on, you
(24:15):
know, managing AI, how it goesabout, and one day they could be
managing robots to do theirwork.
So that is going to be aninteresting concept.
So I mean, all the cars arethrown out the window right now
for Gen Z and millennialsbecause we don't know what the
future is going to hold, butit's safe to say that it's going
(24:37):
to continue to be a challengingenvironment, and that's what's
been key for Gen Z andmillennials up to date is
they've had all the challenges,obviously, particularly the
millennials, from 9-11 to therecession, to the boom, to the
recent great resignation, where4 million people quit their jobs
(25:02):
because they're not going towork the way they're told to
work.
They're going to work the waythat is beneficial, and it
doesn't mean you have to sit inyour office for eight and a half
hours a day with a 30 minutelunch.
What it means is you might workfor four hours, you might work
(25:22):
from 8 to 12, take a four hourbreak and maybe you're going to
work from 8 to 12 the next dayor the next or that night, so
everything is thrown out thewindow.
So as an employer, as anorganization, it's going to be
vital to ensure that you'refinding that work-life balance
and being able to find theemployee's way of working and
(25:45):
then promote that work throughthe way they want to work.
Spring Richardson Perry (25:49):
Ooh, I love that.
Listen, guys.
Flexibility is key here.
So employers, leaders,listening, flexibility so well.
Thank you so much, dr Jason.
I appreciate your insights here.
Of course, my little co-host ishaving a fit down there.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (26:11):
He's been great, by the way.
Spring Richardson Perry (26:15):
So we are going to wrap this up, but I
appreciate you for coming ontoday.
Thank you so much for giving usyour insights and thank you.
Thank you so much, guys.
I hope you took some nuggetsaway from this and I hope that
this helps you spring forwardinto expert.
(26:36):
If you'd like to get in touchwith Dr Jason Wiggins, you can
reach him at jasonwigginsphdcomor genzandmillineoexpertcom, or
you can email him directly atjasonatgenzandmillineoexpertcom.
You can also catch his podcastcalled your Motivational
(27:00):
Genzandmillineo Expert on allplatforms where podcasts are
located.
Thanks for listening to theSpring Forward Podcast.
I hope you were able to capturesome of the gems that were
dropped and are excited to startusing the information to help
your business spring forwardinto excellence.
(27:21):
I would love to hear some ofyour biggest takeaways from this
episode, so connect with me onLinkedIn or Facebook, or tag me
on Instagram at springyunderscore springtime.
And don't forget to subscribeto the show so you don't miss an
episode.
And if you'd like to learn moreabout how we can work together,
visit the website attime2springforwardorg.
(27:44):
And until next time on theSpring Forward Podcast.
Welcome to the Spring Forward podcast.
I'm your host, springRichardson Perry, the
organizational change agent thatis going to help your business
achieve the excellence youdesire.
If you're a business leaderlooking to take your business to
the next level or simplylooking for new ways to spring
your business forward, then thisis the podcast for you.
(00:21):
So let's get down to businessand spring forward into
excellence.
Welcome, welcome to anotherepisode of the Spring Forward
podcast.
It is me, your host, springRichardson Perry, and, of course
, our wonderful co-host, littleMiss Winter.
(00:42):
Today, we have a fantasticguest lined up for you Dr Jason
Wiggins.
He's an accomplished author,keynote speaker, consultant and
a university professor, and hebrings over two decades of
leadership experience to thetable.
He's specifically studiedmillennials and Gen Z in the
(01:03):
workplace, and so we are goingto dive deep into that topic
today.
So welcome, dr Wiggins.
Welcome.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (01:11):
Well, thank you very much for the great
introduction.
It is fantastic to be here andI'm looking forward to providing
some great foundation andconcepts to your listeners today
.
Spring Richardson Perry (01:24):
Yes, I'm excited to explore this
because this has become a verybig topic lately in the
workplace, and so I am superexcited to have you on today to
be exploring this.
And so, dr Wiggins, you've beenexploring multi-generational
dynamics in the workplace for 15years now, I believe it is, so
(01:46):
talk to us about what led you todive into this generation, into
the realms of retention andmotivation in the workplace for
these two generations.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (01:59):
Well, one thing first started was I
started leading teams and reallygoing through the motions back
in the late to early, to excuseme, late 90s to early 2000s and
what I noticed right off wasthat every individual is
different.
And I started looking at, youknow, the older generation and
(02:24):
the new generation and mycurrent generation, and I
started to see that every singlegeneration is different on how
they view work, how they havelife and work balance, what's
important to them and how reallythey are impacted by employers
and what the employers expect.
(02:46):
And it was interesting, as Iwas recently at Universal
Studios and one of the things Ilearned about was how the making
of movies and all of thebackground work they do to make
these movies and what it is is.
Things are not what they appearbecause of all of the different
(03:07):
editing and whatnot.
And that's the same thing.
If you start looking atgenerations, everybody has these
mystique about what ageneration is, who they are and
how they operate, and there's alot of misconceptions like, for
example, millennials they'relazy, they don't want to work,
(03:30):
they just want to collect apaycheck, they're not motivated.
And then you can go to Gen Zall they want is electronics,
they want to be on their phone.
They don't really want to work.
There's a lot of similaritiesand differences among
generations, but the key thingis is they are all different but
(03:51):
they all have a foundation towant to work.
But it's how you're going toexpress that work, it's how an
employer is going to be able tounderstand that work and how can
they get the most out of anemployee.
And that's kind of where Istarted looking at the
foundations and learning aboutthe different aspects of just to
(04:14):
give a brief history so yourlisteners understand it.
For example, you know the babyboomers.
They were born between theyears of 1945 to 1964.
And then there's generation Xfrom 1970 excuse me, 1965 to
1979.
That's the forgotten generation.
And then there's themillennials, again 1980, roughly
(04:38):
to 1995.
And then now you have thegeneration Z from roughly 1996
to 2012, and we had the currentgeneration that's not in the
workforce, that winter wouldfall on and that would be
generation alpha.
(04:58):
So that's kind of a long-windedway of showing you how,
demonstrating how I got intointo the understanding the
generations and understandingthe importance of being able to
retain and motivate all of thegenerations, but particularly
generation Z and the millennials.
Spring Richardson Perry (05:22):
Well, I can remember when I'm a
millennial and so I can rememberwhen my generation was entering
the workforce and there was allthis talk about we are lazy and
we don't want to do this and wewere Entitled, and all these
things about my generation, andI remember thinking, no, we're
not lazy, we work smarter.
Number one, because mygeneration, we grew up as
(05:45):
technology grew up, and so I canremember AOL and doll up and
all that good stuff, but we sortof we sort of learned how to
use technology and integratethat into our lives, and so it
it really made us learn how toWork smarter and not harder.
(06:05):
Whereas a lot of us had babyboomer parents and and Either
they were either baby boomers orgeneration X if you had younger
parents but my parents werebaby boomers and so I saw how
hard my mom worked.
I saw, you know, every day,getting up, going to work,
getting you know Beat down atwork with these antiquated rules
and all these things, but shewas thankful to have a job and I
(06:28):
remember, violent to myself,I'm not working like that, I'm
not letting anybody dictate tome All these different things,
all these different rules thatmy mom had to follow, and
especially when it came totaking time off from work, I was
like, oh no, like when I needto take time for me or if I have
something going on with my kids, I don't need a job making me
(06:49):
feel guilty for not being there.
Like you're the, the work goeson.
But my life, my children, ifthey need me, I'm gonna be there
.
And so I just remember feelingreally misunderstood in the
workplace Because, again, wedidn't work the way that Jent
the boomers worked, or we kindof didn't work the way gen Xers
worked either.
(07:11):
So it you know, we were likereally misunderstood, and so I
am glad that you are reallylifting this up and really
bringing light to thedifferences and the motivators
that you have and the thingsthat you know that that are
beneficial for employers to knowabout, how to create that
(07:31):
inclusive work environment forthis younger generation entering
the workforce.
So I want to talk about yourbook, and it's called how to
retain and motivate millennialleaders.
I want to talk about about that, how, what inspired you to
write it and you know how isthat helping to create these
inclusive workspaces?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (07:57):
Absolutely, thank you.
One of the key things about thebook was to provide a
foundation, a theoreticalfoundation to understanding the
different motivators, fromAdam's theory to Maslow
hierarchy and needs,understanding self-actualization
, the needs that each generation, and particularly in
millennials, leaders would needin this case.
And that was to understand,okay, if you have a certain
(08:17):
values and you have thefoundation.
And then we went ahead and didthe research on it.
So we we basically had 20different individuals that were
millennial leaders and we wentthrough a whole qualitative
study About what was importantto them, and that's what the
book emphasizes.
It emphasizes what the currentleadership Of millennial leaders
(08:45):
are looking for, what theyexpect in the workforce and why
it's so important to be able tokeep them motivated.
And when you lose that talent,you lose thousands of dollars.
Many cases it's two to threetimes what their salary is is
what it costs to lose them, orYou're not able to find those
(09:05):
Individuals to replace them in atimely manner.
And then about the knowledgeretention, that knowledge that
you're losing when they walk outthe door.
And then people also forgetabout the part of the culture
hit that it hits on yourorganization when you see
so-and-so, that was a big partof your organization, walk out
the door, then you've got tostart peeling the onion back and
(09:30):
finding out really what isgoing on.
So the foundation of the book isto understand why millennial
leaders are who they are, andthere are seven key points that
were demonstrated in the bookand a lot of them revolved
around work, life balance, theability to you know, understand
that they want to work.
(09:51):
So these foundations providedthe concepts of the book and
really it was for me, it wasjust, it was just inspirational
to write it for the fact thatthe motivators that it takes for
each individual to excel in theareas they choose and how
they're affected by thoseemployers that maybe don't know
(10:14):
how to motivate or don't knowhow to have those communication
abilities to to Bring out themost out of them, because it's
not up to the employee To alwaysmotivate themselves all the
time.
The employer has to provide agreat foundation to express the
ability that we find your workimportant, and that was another
(10:35):
concept that really showed upWas how is my work valued?
How am I recognized for thework I did?
And so just, we talk aboutdiversity, inclusiveness and all
of those things.
Those are all Important to notonly millennials, but we've seen
(10:56):
that with with generation z,and so those are just some of
the concepts and foundationsthat really motivated me to
write the book and demonstrateto the readers why and how they
can benefit from reading thisbook.
Spring Richardson Perry (11:13):
Yeah, I love that because, again, one
of the big things with mygeneration and I know with Gen Z
as well is that work-lifebalance and because I saw the
baby boomers, again with myparents being examples and
specifically my mom, just seeinghow much she was working day in
, day out, giving herself,giving so much of herself to
(11:36):
this company that to me reallychewed her up and spit her out.
And so, like I said, I vowednot to have that type of life,
to have more of a balance, to beable to enjoy the fruits of my
labor, because what's the pointof working, putting in all this
work and, yes, I may have thefinancial resources because of
(11:56):
the work that I do, but if Ican't enjoy those resources,
then what's the point of it allright, so I love, love, love
that.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (12:05):
And think about this.
Right now, 65% of millennialsand Gen Z are currently looking
for another job or they'verecently brushed up their resume
, and over 70% of millennialsand Gen Z plan to leave their
job within the next year.
So if you're an employer,you're an organization.
(12:27):
This should be one of yournumber one priorities to
identify what can you dodifferently.
Spring Richardson Perry (12:34):
Yeah, and because, again, with my
generation, no longer are westaying at company, just 20 and
30 years the way that ourparents did right, and
especially if this companynumber one doesn't have some
sort of social impact that wealigned with because that was
another thing that sort of cameabout with the millennial
generation was aligning yourselfwith companies that aligned
(12:57):
with your values as well, and soif they didn't have some sort
of value that aligned with ourpersonal value, our personal
motivations and those things, wequickly was like bye, we'll see
you in the next lifetime.
And so that speaks volumes whenyou give those numbers, because
no longer again, like I said,are we staying, are we sticking
(13:20):
around 20 and 30 years with onecompany.
A lot of times the best you'llget these days is what?
Five to 10 years out of youremployees.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (13:31):
Long-term employee.
A long-term employee is nowconsidered over one year.
That's what millennial and GenZ's consider.
They consider long employment.
I worked over there about overa year, so for them that's
long-term employment, whichthat's really concerning.
If you're an employee, employer, one year is considered
long-term and I've looked at alot of resumes and when I view
(13:53):
them, if I see anything over twoyears, I go wow, they've got a
long work history.
Spring Richardson Perry (14:00):
Yeah, it's the same for me too.
Right, I don't consider oneyear long, but I think two years
to me makes up long-termemployment, which is
considerably different than ourparents' generation.
So yeah, that is very, veryinteresting.
So I know that you had apodcast I don't know if you
still do, dr Wiggins, but it wasyour motivational Gen Z and
(14:23):
millennial expert.
Do you still actively recordfor that or what's going on with
that?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (14:29):
No, absolutely.
Thank you for asking.
No, I have about 148 episodescurrently and we did take about
a two and a half year break onit, but we did restart it here
about four months ago and Ithink we have an additional 20
episodes, since it's a weeklypodcast episode and what it
(14:50):
details is anything that'simportant, professionally and
personally, to millennials andGen Z, and there's always a
motivational spin on it.
It can be catered towardsorganizations, it can be catered
towards specifically a Gen Zand millennial, but it's all
wrapped around what's importantto Gen Z, what's important to
(15:15):
millennials, and there's alwaysa positive spin.
It's always about because theone thing I found is the Gen Z
and millennials.
They're extremely intelligent,they are by far the most
intelligent generations.
I keep saying that everygeneration, with the resources
that they have available, theyare smarter, they have the
(15:36):
abilities, because Gen X, whichis my generation, we had nothing
.
We had the newspaper to lookfor jobs.
We had the telephone book tofigure out where somebody, what
their phone number was, but now,oh, we had encyclopedias.
That was the thing I love toread the most.
But now, with instantgratification of the social
(15:59):
media, we have everything now.
So everything you wanna learn.
You see kids looking down attheir phone.
They just barely learn how towalk and they're reading their
phone as they walk with theirparents.
So, again, the generations areextremely, extremely intelligent
and that's what this podcastreally revolves around.
(16:20):
It's the aspects that areimportant to Gen Z, millennials,
and we have a greatlistenership.
And it's important because Iget excited about the emails
that I get from the listenersthat say hey, you always have a
positive spin, you're alwaysvery transparent and and you're
real, and I think that's reallyimportant in the podcast that we
(16:42):
do.
Spring Richardson Perry (16:43):
I Love that.
So what?
What advice, then, would yougive to Employers that are
trying to figure this wholeGenerational gap out in their
workplace?
Like what?
What advice do you give?
Is it something you do on yourpodcast, where you offer advice
(17:03):
as well?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (17:04):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
We offer advice, we offer waysof doing things.
The first advice I would givean organization is Stop rolling
over and playing dead.
And what I need right back yes,take your head out of the sand
and realize that this is not thebaby boomer generation.
(17:24):
They are not going to.
Just as soon as you jump,they're not going to ask you how
high.
Now, if you ask somebody to jump, they're going to ask you why,
why should I jump?
Why is it important?
What would you like me to dowhen I do it?
So they're going to actuallypursue additional questions.
(17:45):
So, as an employer or anorganizational leadership, you
have to be able to Communicate.
You have to be able to providethem the foundation of why it's
important, how it's going tobenefit the organization, how
it's going to benefit them, andso those are many of the
concepts that we cover Withinthe podcast.
(18:08):
And then how does Gen Z andMillennials?
How do they answer back to that?
And then how can they promotethe growth of their career
Through being able to identifywith their employer and those
key concepts.
Spring Richardson Perry (18:24):
Yeah, that was the first question that
came to mind when you said whensomebody says they want to ask
you to jump, the first thing inmy mind was like why, why am I
doing this?
What am I going to do that for?
What is the benefit of me doingthis?
How's it going to benefit me?
I know it's going to benefityou, but where's the, where's
the mutual benefit here?
So that makes perfect sense.
So all season two is all aboutcommunity, as you know, and so
(18:50):
talk to me about Buildingcommunity.
How is the work?
How does the work that you doBuild community, either in
business, either locally or evenat home, if you still have
small children at home?
Dr. Jason Wiggins (19:05):
Well, first of all, first and foremost, it
revolves around Understandingand communication within what
we're doing, how we're doing itand really that the important
part is to how do you retain andMotivate?
And motivation, I think, is thekey word that I'm going to take
out of this, because being ableto motivate you talk about
young kids.
(19:26):
At home I have a seven year old.
I have to figure out ways tomotivate him to understand.
This is why we do something.
This is your opportunity toshine, but at the same time, we
have to understand it tosomething you don't want to do.
Then we're not going tocontinue to push it upon you.
We're going to either find anew way to do it or find
(19:48):
something else that's going tobe more important to you, and I
think about community in theworkplace, in the classroom and
having young kids.
It's about finding your place,finding your understanding of
where you fit in in this crazyworld that we live in.
There's, we are there's.
The key thing is is we are notall in one box.
(20:12):
We are all different.
We all have different views, weall have different backgrounds,
we all have different Aspectsof our life that are important
in everything we do, so we can'tbe molded Into just being one
sort of key Be component in theworld.
We have to be able to diversify, we have to be able to jump at
(20:34):
opportunities, and that's wherecommunity employers, the
foundation that we have, is Setup for us to continue to promote
grow, not only within our work,our personal life and our
overall ability to Make the mostof who we are.
And so for me, as as a, as amotivator, my goal is always to
(21:00):
say okay, we all struggle indifferent pursuits in life, but
what are we good at?
Let's focus on the aspects thatwere really good at that make
us who we are, and that's whyit's important to ensure that we
have a foundation that sets upfor success.
(21:20):
And that's where I think mygoal within either career,
workplace, classroom and justoverall, you know, being able to
motivate is important.
Spring Richardson Perry (21:35):
Okay, so talk to me about this.
This is the last thing beforewe wrap up, because I'm thinking
about this new way of work thatcame about because of COVID and
it's not really new, right,because this was going on long
before that but it's a lot moreprevalent now.
And so talk to me about thegenerations and remote work
(21:56):
versus this hybrid and on-sitework.
I'm sure you've done a lot ofwork around this.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (22:01):
Yes, and what's interesting is obviously
COVID and the pandemic shiftedeverything, especially for Gen Z
.
They were right in the heightof their high school career and
all of a sudden, for two years,they're either starting to have
to do remote work, and so whatwe see now is many of these Gen
(22:24):
Zs have kind of shut themselvesoff a little bit from real life
because they're so used to theonline type of work or
socializing.
I mean, when I grew up, wewould go to the baseball field
and we would play baseball, wewould ride our bikes around.
You know, we did all that stuff, but now everything is focused
(22:45):
to online.
But here's the key thing is GenZ, surprisingly enough, is
getting tired of growing uponline.
They're getting tired of justbeing boxed into online format.
So what we're going to see, andwhat we're starting to see now,
is they're starting to shift.
(23:06):
They're going to start wantingto be outside with people.
They're going to start wantingto work within the different
aspects and not remote.
So it's kind of opposite ofmillennials to a certain degree,
because millennials are hey, Iget to work from home, I'm good.
Spring Richardson Perry (23:22):
Yes, that is me all day.
I'm like I get to be at home inmy office like nobody's going
to bother me.
Sign me up.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (23:32):
But remotely.
Remotely is the key for, youknow, being able to have a
hybrid or type of, you know,work-life balance.
And so what's going to be keyis, you know, I think the
generations as a whole are goingto start seeing a lot more
online type of work, and wewon't get into it today.
(23:53):
But let's introduce AI briefly.
Ai is going to open up thedoors to anything and everything
, because 20% of the jobs byroughly 2030 or so, are going to
be gone, and that's why Gen Zand maybe millennials to a
certain degree, are going tostart having to focus on, you
(24:15):
know, managing AI, how it goesabout, and one day they could be
managing robots to do theirwork.
So that is going to be aninteresting concept.
So I mean, all the cars arethrown out the window right now
for Gen Z and millennialsbecause we don't know what the
future is going to hold, butit's safe to say that it's going
(24:37):
to continue to be a challengingenvironment, and that's what's
been key for Gen Z andmillennials up to date is
they've had all the challenges,obviously, particularly the
millennials, from 9-11 to therecession, to the boom, to the
recent great resignation, where4 million people quit their jobs
(25:02):
because they're not going towork the way they're told to
work.
They're going to work the waythat is beneficial, and it
doesn't mean you have to sit inyour office for eight and a half
hours a day with a 30 minutelunch.
What it means is you might workfor four hours, you might work
(25:22):
from 8 to 12, take a four hourbreak and maybe you're going to
work from 8 to 12 the next dayor the next or that night, so
everything is thrown out thewindow.
So as an employer, as anorganization, it's going to be
vital to ensure that you'refinding that work-life balance
and being able to find theemployee's way of working and
(25:45):
then promote that work throughthe way they want to work.
Spring Richardson Perry (25:49):
Ooh, I love that.
Listen, guys.
Flexibility is key here.
So employers, leaders,listening, flexibility so well.
Thank you so much, dr Jason.
I appreciate your insights here.
Of course, my little co-host ishaving a fit down there.
Dr. Jason Wiggins (26:11):
He's been great, by the way.
Spring Richardson Perry (26:15):
So we are going to wrap this up, but I
appreciate you for coming ontoday.
Thank you so much for giving usyour insights and thank you.
Thank you so much, guys.
I hope you took some nuggetsaway from this and I hope that
this helps you spring forwardinto expert.
(26:36):
If you'd like to get in touchwith Dr Jason Wiggins, you can
reach him at jasonwigginsphdcomor genzandmillineoexpertcom, or
you can email him directly atjasonatgenzandmillineoexpertcom.
You can also catch his podcastcalled your Motivational
(27:00):
Genzandmillineo Expert on allplatforms where podcasts are
located.
Thanks for listening to theSpring Forward Podcast.
I hope you were able to capturesome of the gems that were
dropped and are excited to startusing the information to help
your business spring forwardinto excellence.
(27:21):
I would love to hear some ofyour biggest takeaways from this
episode, so connect with me onLinkedIn or Facebook, or tag me
on Instagram at springyunderscore springtime.
And don't forget to subscribeto the show so you don't miss an
episode.
And if you'd like to learn moreabout how we can work together,
visit the website attime2springforwardorg.
(27:44):
And until next time on theSpring Forward Podcast.
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