The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 24: April/May 2016 | Page 18

THE AGE OF THE MILLENNIAL

The Millennials – WHY BOTHER?
The term ‘Millennials’ pops up from time to time in business circles but few take the time to find
out what the term actually means – which is surprising because it’s critical to business sustainability.
TBE contributor Fiona Scott tells you everything you need to know in this special feature.
It’s important for all
businesses, especially SMEs,
to consider the power of
‘The Millennials’.
Why? Because the Millennials refers to the generation
born between about 1982 and about 2002 (thinking
varies on when this generation begins and ends). The
previous generation is known as Generation X, and
before that The Baby Boomers.
Often known as the Internet Generation, this group
has huge economic and social influence which is only
going to grow. It’s estimated they will number 17 million
in the UK by 2019. Last year they became the largest
generation in history, over taking The Baby Boomers.
Think of some of the events which have shaped
this generation – the World Wide Web became public
in 1993; mobile phones and texting became normal;
social media came into being with MySpace, Facebook
and Twitter; Google was founded as a search engine
in 1998. In other parts of life – same sex marriage
legislation became a hot topic. Nelson Mandela was
elected president in South Africa signalling the end of
apartheid and the Kyoto protocol was proposed.
Just like all of the generations before them, the
Millennials have been shaped by world events and
how those have impacted on their daily lives and their
actions once they’ve reached adulthood.
Research has shown for this generation there are
five major influencing factors in their lives:

their parents.
the self esteem movement.
the customer service movement.
technology including gaming.
social communication.

They are the first generation to have been brought
up in the digital age and they are first generation to
routinely spend an estimated 80 per cent of their time
engaged with technology of some kind.
Research has also shown when it comes to business
this generation has general principles when it comes
to working with, working for and buying from a
‘good’ company.
•
•
•

•
•

giving back to the community.
fair practices in the workplace.
products and services which deliver what they say
they will deliver.
products and services which help society.
being eco-friendly and having awareness of the
environment.

All of the above are important because this generation:
may be your target market.
may be your employees – and you want to keep them
may be your boss – and you want to understand them
and enjoy a fulfilling role.
may be a strategic partner or stakeholder.

18

THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2016

The questions
I’ve questioned a number of people who are
Millennials in a totally unscientific test to illustrate
how this generation can think differently from those
who have gone before.
This is something worth doing within your
own circles, in your business, in your department
or within your customer base. It’s interesting to
understand if you are a Baby Boomer or

Donna Gillingham

Generation X how this generation thinks and
therefore behaves. The following answers are
from three people who run their own businesses
in Wiltshire and are Millennials – James Eades,
aged 34, managing director of Systemagic; Donna
Gillingham, aged 27 founding director of Ardour
Recruitment and Samantha Whittingham, aged 27,
founder of Corporate Cakery Ltd.

James Eades

Samantha Whittingham

What three things
are important to you
when choosing a job?

You are a business
owner – why did
you choose that
career path?

What are your top
five things which
are important
about a company?

What makes a
‘bad’ company?

James – ‘I’d want
flexible working
arrangements, to
be engaged with
the business and
workmates and to be
fulfilled by the job.’

James – ‘I wanted to
create an environment
where myself and
others enjoy being.’

James – ‘Success,
whether that’s financial
or otherwise, an
engaged workforce,
being ethical and doing
things the right way, a
good brand and a great
product or service.’

James – ‘Where the
owners or senior team
are expecting people
to work to line their
pockets instead of
rewarding them as the
company prospers.”

Donna – ‘People,
challenge and career
prospects.’
Samantha – ‘Will it
challenge and interest
me? Will I enjoy it? Is
there lots of room for
self-development &
progress?’

Donna – ‘I want to
prove the stigma the
recruitment industry
has is wrong and make
a real difference.’
Samantha – ‘I wanted
to make more of an
impact than being
a small cog in a big
machine. I also found
after two years in any
job, I lost all motivation
and got fed up, as
there wasn't enough
to challenge me or
keep me interested.
I've always been
creative and having
control over my own
business lets me use my
creative skills but also
massively challenges
me, there's an endless
amount to learn!’

Donna – ‘Sticking to
the core values and
doing what they say
they will, listening to
their customers’ needs,
empowering staff,
social responsibility,
making a worthy
difference.’
Samantha – ‘Strong
integrity, high
professional standards,
being ethical, improving
an industry or an
element of the world,
and being trustworthy.”

Donna – ‘one that only
cares about money.’
Samantha – ‘Abusing
trust and 'ripping
people off', no regard
for the environment,
using jargon and not
being relatable or
easily understood, low
quality & standards,
bad customer service,
not being easily
contactable.’