Cal Newport, assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University, US, and author of 'So Good They Can’t Ignore You', on how to engage the Millennials, both inside your organisations and on the show floor.
How do we solve a problem like Millennials? The complications that arise from accommodating a new generation of potential visitors and employees is one that affects trade show directors around the world.
Cal Newport, writer and assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University, tackles issues relevant to this young generation, a generation that reportedly struggles with focus and a sense of belonging, in their search for career development. And thankfully, these are two issues that the exhibition industry is predisposed to resolving.
“The Millenials are not Generation X; they are not slack,” says Newport. “In fact they are a very earnest generation. They’re entering the workplace with a lot of motivation and a lot of ambition. They’ve been told work should be an important part of their life, it should be something they’re impassioned about, they’re not trying avoid work like Gen X did; they’re going out to try and make work an important part of their life.”
Managing Millennials in the workplace
A York College report released earlier this year claimed 38 per cent of respondents blamed multi-tasking for the lack of focus among younger workers. Newport says that it’s not just that a high percentage of employers are complaining about the lack of focus among their millennial employees, but that the Millennials do not understand that this is a problem.
“The idea that they are checking email, Facebook, and Twitter, interspersed with trying to write that important sponsorship proposal you’ve tasaked them with, seems fine to them. They think that’s what work is and they don’t realise it is an issue,” says Newport.
Focus is the subject of Newport’s second book, currently in development, and listening to him you quickly become aware of why this is so important for running both our businesses and our events.
“All age groups now have a problem with focus, because our phones now have email and the internet. But Millennials have more trouble with giving persistent attention to cognitively challenging tasks,” he says. “This is mainly because most Millennials have no experience of a time in which they actually had to do cognitively demanding task without distraction. The rest of us at least remember what it was like.”
No laptop or cell phone for Newport before his final year then. Strolling to his dorm to watch television was too much hassle, instead he just did the work. Not so, for today’s student able to plug straight into the Internet through their phone.
“I’m being a little hyperbolic here, but I think this is a big problem for our economy. Focus is the new IQ; in the 21st century economy the fact you have a 180 IQ does you no good if you can’t focus for more than 180 seconds without checking Twitter,” he says. This means the millennial generation, while it might have a high intellectual capacity, is leaving most of its mental capacity on the table. If you give your employees or show directors of the future a cognitively demanding task, it’s not something they can do if they keep checking their email or tweets.
“But there is nothing intrinsic about focus. Unlike IQ, it is a skill that can be taught. But they’re not going to learn it at school, it will be up to you as the manager to actually give this skill to your millennial employees,” says Newport.
Thriving in the right culture
The most important thing Newport says you can do for these employees is set up a culture that respects quality work that results from focusing on something difficult. A culture where if an employee turns in something that is clearly of the ‘minimal necessary effort’ doctrine – a big issue in academia, apparently – then this is the same as not doing it at all. You’re supposed to struggle; it helps. Your Millennials will realise they have to do this type of work.
“It’s equally important to remember that if you expect them to spend a lot of time focusing without distraction, producing quality work, then you can’t say ‘by the way why did it take you five minutes to answer my last email?’. They’re going to notice that incongruity. You must walk the walk and not just talk the talk,” says Newport.
The Millennials had to start using social networks very young and most of these social networks came to prominence about the time Newport was in college. The oldest Millennials had these in place by the time they were in high school, but there is a backlash underway. By the time they leave school and enter the workforce, they’re starting to see the obligations of social networking tools such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. Newport argues they’re now seeing these tools as intrusions into their lives because they have to spend all this effort updating their profiles; there’s a genuine sense of resentment about it. “Talk to anyone over the age of 25 and they’re always very quick to say ‘I barely go on Facebook’ – it’s become kind of badge of honour now,” says Newport.
This is a new trend, the author claims, and because of this, he’s seeing face-to-face contact suddenly given a real increased value among the Millennial generation. “I think they feel social media is now too intrusive in their lives, and this is the backlash. They’re valuing, at a very high premium, face-to-face connection. It’s why you can have 99u [a conference at the South By South West festival in the US] that sells a million dollars of tickets in a week, where the presentation rooms are empty and everyone is out networking in the halls. They crave face-to-face interaction,” he says. And as Newport points out, the participants at that event work specifically on digital brand strategy. “They’re some of the most connected, digital, social media-type strategy people in the world, and they couldn’t wait to get to a building where they could stand in a hall, have a drink with someone and actually talk to them.”
So Newport’s lesson for those looking to attract Millennials, with exhibitions or with conventions, is that face-to-face contact is now hugely attractive to them, and a prime selling point. Just make sure you factor the reason they should be focusing on it into your marketing plans.
And don’t overdo the social media.
This was first published in issue 3/2013 of EW. Any comments? Email exhibitionnews@mashmedia.net
