“If you just wade through the noise, each generation holds a gem.” – L.A. Salami
Millennials
The study of the so-called Millennial generation, “the millennials”,(of which I am a part of) – born between the early 80’s and late 90’s/early 2000’s – garners a huge amount of focus as the corporate world looks to prepare for a generation that will soon dominate the global workforce and be entering its peak spending years.
There is a perception that millennials are much more socially conscious in their decision making than previous generations. Are we? Yes, some millennials are asking the right questions and some have adjusted their behaviours but as a generation we have a lot more to do.
In one report from Capgemini Consulting the authors assert: “Millennials’ decision-making criteria for everything—where to shop, where to work, how to invest, etc.—includes the societal impact of the action. Corporations must understand the weight that younger generations place on social responsibility and create new or leverage existing products and business models that reflect this attitude.”
Two observations:
Firstly, I don’t believe the majority of millennials are as social conscious in their actual decision making as could be interpreted from this statement. It portrays a sort of utopia where millennials are actively making decisions with respect to their consumption, where they work and their investments based on the societal impact of the underlying organisations.
It is fanciful to believe that consumption by the millennial generation is less dictated by price or fashion and more by the negative externalities of a company, that these individuals are less driven by the pay check at the end of the stick and more by what a company stands for and how they make a difference in the world and that they invest for the future only in companies that go beyond simply ‘maximising shareholder value’. For me, that is where we need to get to. We are only scratching the surface.
In a world full of such socially astute decision makers it would be hard to imagine a Canadian gold mining company existing that could be allowed to destroy the environment and lives of people in Guatemala, or a British bank laundering money for the murderous Mexican drug cartels or a German automaker fitting illegal devices in their cars to rig emission tests. These are the activities of some of the so-called leading companies of the world we live in, where millennials work, buy their products and invest in their shares.
Secondly, notice that the recommendation from the consulting firm said “Corporations must understand the weight that younger generations place on social responsibility and create new or leverage existing products and business models that reflect this attitude.” It didn’t say for instance ‘corporations need to explicitly incorporate social responsibility into their business practices, in order to positively contribute to society and save the environment for the next generation’.
It might be semantics but for me the difference is between a corporation adapting to appease a trend towards more socially conscious consumers and a corporation who is actually committed to leading the way whereby all decision making is made in a socially conscious manner for the good of stakeholders.
One is doing it simply to appeal to customers and the other is doing it because it’s the right thing to do. I see it as being the difference between a company that creates fancy marketing on how they are a sustainable company and the company whereby making a positive societal impact is genuinely ingrained within the organisation.
The Future
I think every generation has had a cohort of people who questioned the system and revolted against the abuses of power. The millennials are not special in that sense. What is different with the current generation is that the power of social media has amplified the voices of those speaking out or calling for change. It has also helped bring like-minded people together, social entrepreneurs and investors, companies and employees and the end product or service with consumers.
The positive development is that sufficient numbers are questioning social norms and the societal impact of organisations to the point that existing organisations are taking notice. But more importantly we have also seen a new wave of social entrepreneurs and investors keen to explicitly recognise the importance of delivering a social impact return alongside financial return.
This is where I place more of my hope for the future where those millennials genuinely driven by the desire to make a difference build better more socially conscious companies. I saw it first-hand working in the impact investment sector in Guatemala, well-educated millennials from a broad range of countries driven by a desire to make an impact, to contribute to a new way of doing business. Public and private investors need to support a new breed of socially conscious companies.
Conclusion
Generation after generation has ushered in new trends but our general trajectory as a human race, with our focus on extraction and wealth accumulation irrespective of the long term consequences, has put our ecosystem increasingly at risk.
The challenges have become so great that millennials cannot continue down the same path and leave it for another generation to make the changes needed.
In the workplace, as millennials begin to dominate the leadership positions across government and the private sector these individuals need to leverage their power to create more socially responsible institutions that operate for the benefit of all stakeholders.
With respect to consumption and investment, consumers and investors need to exercise their power to shun companies that fail to deliver a positive societal impact. Of course we need to make it far easier for individuals to be able to differentiate between the marketeers and the companies that are truly committed to delivering a positive societal impact.
Caring about social impact is a good thing but it will be our actions that matter. More connected than any previous generation, millennials have a real opportunity to shape society for the better. It just has to be genuine.
Sources:
- Capgemini Consulting – Millennials demand social impact-centric products, services, and companies
- Goldman Sachs: Millennials – coming of Age