Following Friday’s post, Young Workers’ Characteristics Require Union Reform, which detailed the challenges unions face as younger members enter the workforce with their own perspectives and attitudes.  Today’s post looks at what glimmers of opportunity for unions the research points out.

Drawing on the body of existing research on millennials in the workplace, Karen K. Myers and Kamyab Sadaghiani in Millennials in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective on Millennials’ Organizational Relationships and Performance explain what they believe is a liability for young workers: their preference for working in groups.  While favoring group decision-making might be a bad thing in the workplace, its a great thing for potential union activists.  Millennials’ preference for groups might be due in part to the heavy emphasis schools placed on group-based learning while they were growing up.  It is also a reflection of changes in social dynamics, think of the way millennials prefer to “date” in groups.  Groups can be difficult in the workplace because they are slow-moving, might impede creativity, and can be manipulated by powerful members.  We have certainly seen these effects with unions.  However, since young workers prefer evaluations based on outcomes rather than age, tenure, or experience, they will likely not stand for the negative forces that can diminish the work quality of groups.  And given that millennials “are impatient about becoming recognized as valuable contributors”, they will quickly be pushing team-based unions to innovate.  So what can unions do to take advantage of young workers unique ability to improve unions through their commitment and experience?  Invite young workers into the group-based decision processes of the union, ask them for their thoughts and to contribute to making the union better.

Another advantage for unions from millennials joining the ranks is the opportunity to expand their technological capabilities.  Young workers are the first generation to grow up with household computers and spend more time using digital media than any other age group, according to Pew Research.  Some have suggested that young workers have an opportunity to be “employee lead users” of communication/information technologies in the workplace, essentially meaning that they will drive their workplaces to digitalize.  There is no reason why they could not also do this in their union.  Young workers can help their locals go online by creating websites, facebook pages, and even teaching older members simply how to send a txt message.  What can unions do to facilitate this?  Just ask young members to take on this task.  This could be a great way for younger members to make that valuable contribution to the group.

So while young workers entering the workplace has some significant risks for the role of unions and the way they interact with their members, young workers also bring a lot to the table.  Most importantly they bring an appreciation for working together, the most basic virtue of a union.  Clearly, young workers have the ability to rebuild the labor movement and make it more relevant to today.  Let’s just make sure they have the opportunity.

The attitudes of millennials in the workplace will inevitably determine how relevant and attractive they view unions.  In today’s post, I review some of the challenges unions face with young workers: reliance on seniority and changes in labor-management relationships.  In Monday’s post, I will review some of the opportunities unions have in engaging young workers, particularly their favoring of collaborative and egalitarian work environments.

Calling the young folks entering (or trying to enter) the labor market unprepared, recent news reports and “studies” have stereotyped young workers as unmotivated and self-centered.  (See the self-serving report from York College’s Center for Professional Excellence to get a full sense of the criticisms.)  Often this sentiment has seeped into the way more seasoned union leadership see new additions to the workplace.  But a review of more scientific literature  reveals particular insights for these leaders on how to best engage young union members.

In an overview of the popular literature and research on millennials organizational relationships in the recent edition of the Journal of Business and Psychology, Karen K. Myers and Kamyab Sadaghiani reveal an important difference that presents a particular challenge for unions: the sense among older workers that newbies need to “pay their dues”.  Boomers put a significant emphasis on “career” formation and building.  And while the idea of a company job is largely just a memory for many,  it is still embedded in one of the cores of unionism: seniority based on time with the organization.  However, the current high-level of young worker mobility is not conducive to climbing seniority ladders.  (Check out the Freelancers Union for more on how unions need to change to accommodate the new work environment.)  Changes in the nature of work, and the over-confidence that many millennials have from being over-nurtured, inspires young workers to ask to be involved in significant projects early on and to be hurt when not consulted on important decisions.  Within the union context, providing opportunities for young workers to take some responsibility and have a sense of ownership is clearly important.  Of course, taking a look at ways to measure seniority to reflect the new realities of the labor market would also be helpful.

Another challenge, but a related one, is that young workers expect to have a closer relationship with their boss.  In some industries, like in the building trades, unions and management see each other for the most part as in this together.  However, generally in the union context, management is the enemy.  Young  workers may not be as motivated by the same adversarial messages as older workers; and may be more forgiving of mismanagement – or timid to risk their personal relationship.  I have certainly heard my fair share of older members say that the new folks think “management gave them everything” – well thats a symptom of young workers looking for workplace parents.  Millennials are looking for their workplace parents to give them the same kind of compliments that their parents gave them growing up.  (In a guide to managing young workers, AllBusiness advises: “younger employees require a lot of attention and feedback, demanding more of a time commitment.”)  So what can unions do?  Mentor, mentor, mentor.  If young workers are looking for workplace parents, union leaders should fill that role – don’t let the management do it.  Also, within that context, give them the structure and positive feedback they need to stay motivated.

Most importantly, these challenges make clear that seasoned members need to be more open to understanding the characteristics of younger workers and the next generation of leaders need to be more patient in understanding the perspectives of older members.