I am a member of the “Me” generation (also known as the Millennials). According to this Wall Street Journal article, my generation is “often criticized as spoiled, impatient, and most of all, entitled.” I will agree with most of that. One of the things that comes up over and over again about my generation entering the workforce is the desire for flexibility in the workplace. We want to leave the office at 2:00 and work from a cafe for the rest of the day or take a day off in the middle of the week to go snowboarding. Were we spoiled by our Baby Boomer parents? Yes. Do we want to work from home in our pajamas a few days a week? Absolutely. But we aren’t the only ones.
Flexibility is becoming the norm for a lot of small businesses and it is proving to increase productivity, job satisfaction, and lower employee turnover (as this Forbes article points out). Flexibility is a core value of Independent Actuaries, Inc. and we are excited to receive national recognition as a recipient of the 2012 Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility. This award highlights employers across the country that have effective, flexible workplaces and how these workplace policies and values help employees exceed at work and at home.
Maybe it is just the “spoiled” characteristic so common of my generation, but being able to wake-up and work from home without having to battle rush hour traffic or wait in line at Starbucks to get my morning cup of iced coffee, is a big factor in my level of job satisfaction. And job satisfaction, no matter the generation, is a key point in retaining quality talent and supporting a successful business.
