Millennials Plan to Redefine the C-Suite, Says New American Express Survey
November 29 2017 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Survey of Millennials in Four Countries
Reveals How Future Leaders’ Views and Values Will Change Upper
Management
Millennials plan to reorder the priorities in the workplace to
focus on building businesses based on both purpose and profit, and
give attention to employee well-being, according to a new survey
from American Express.
Redefining the C-Suite: Business the Millennial Way
surveyed more than 2,300 leaders and Millennial managers – the
future leaders of business – in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany
to better understand how getting business done will change as
Millennials rise to senior management roles. This release focuses
on the responses of the 343 Millennial survey respondents in the
U.S.
Seven in ten U.S. Millennials (70% vs 63% of U.S. Gen Xers),
defined as those born between 1980 and 1996, said that a C-Suite
role is attractive to them – the highest among the four countries
surveyed. But more than one-third (35%) believe in less than ten
years the CEO role will no longer be relevant in its current
format.
“Millennials have high expectations for the businesses they work
for – and will eventually lead,” said Susan Sobbott, President of
American Express Global Commercial Payments. “The successful U.S.
business of the future will need to have an authentic purpose and
foster employee well-being with passionate, committed leadership at
the helm. Millennials are seeking work with meaning beyond just
making money, and they’re willing to make tradeoffs to achieve
their own definition of success.”
Millennials are Holding the Business of the Future to Their
Same High Standards
Not only were Millennials from the U.S. most likely to say they
want to be known for making a positive difference in the world
(68%), but more than eight-in-ten (81%) say a successful business
will have a genuine purpose that resonates with people. Nearly as
many (78%) believe that the values of their employer should match
their own values. Yet the research also found that 62 percent of
Millennials recognize the importance of maximizing shareholder
value and profits – something often perceived as being at odds with
running a purposeful business.
Managing the Business of the Future: Millennials’ Priorities
Include Employees’ Happiness and Fair Pay
As part of their C-Suite shake up, U.S. Millennial leaders will
put employee well-being at the top of their agenda. This may be a
result of personal experience, because more than half of
Millennials (54%) said they feel pressure to always be available to
work. Three-quarters of Millennials (75%) said that a successful
business should be flexible and fluid in the face of volatile
working environments and not enforce a rigid structure on
employees, and nearly three-quarters (74%) indicated a successful
business will need to support employees outside of work.
When asked about the key challenges to businesses of the future,
Millennials identified the top five as paying employees fairly
(39%), retaining talented employees (37%), improving performance
(33%), keeping pace with innovation and technological change (32%)
and providing flexible working arrangements (29%).
If they were or currently are running their company, Millennials
are more likely to invest time and money in staff and strategy than
sales. An overwhelming majority said they would invest in employee
development (94%) and company strategy (92%), while slightly fewer
would invest in hitting sales targets (86%). They are also more
likely than Gen X respondents to invest in executive education (87%
vs. 77%).
To overcome future challenges over the next five to ten years,
Millennials said the key qualities of a boss will be their
integrity (43%), fairness (40%) and problem-solving skills
(37%).
Millennials Prepared to Make Tradeoffs for Personal
Success
On a personal level, U.S. Millennials are seeking validation
from their peers and looking to make a positive impact. Six-in-ten
(60%) said they care about what friends and family think about
their career and more than one-third define success as doing work
that has a positive impact on society (37%). When considering their
personal definition of success, Millennials rated enjoying the work
they do as very important to them (62%), followed closely by having
a good work/life balance (58%).
In order to achieve their vision of success, Millennials are
willing to make trade-offs. Over one-third said they would lower
their expectations around having responsibility at work (35%) and
lower their career advancement expectations (35%) to achieve their
vision of success, while three-in-ten said they were happy to lower
their salary expectations (30% vs 19% of U.S. Gen Xers).
Survey Methodology
This research was conducted by Kantar Futures on behalf of
American Express in June 2017 across France, Germany, the U.K. and
the U.S. and surveyed 1,363 Millennials who self-identified as
business managers and 1,062 self-identified business managers from
Generation X. Margin of error is 4% at cohort level in each
country, and 2% for the cohorts across all four countries. A
literature review and trends analysis was also conducted.
For the purpose of this research Millennials are defined as
those born between 1980 and 1996. Gen X is defined as those born
between 1965 and 1979. In the U.S. 343 Millennials who
self-identified as business managers and 262 self-identified
business managers from Generation X were surveyed.
About American Express Global
Commercial Payments
Through its Global Commercial Payments division, American
Express offers a suite of payment and lending products that
help businesses and organizations of all sizes gain financial
savings, control and efficiency. Global Commercial Payments
provides solutions for travel and everyday business spending, cross
border payments, global currency solutions, and business
financing.
To learn more about Global Commercial Payments
visit business.americanexpress.com.
About American Express
American Express is a global services company, providing
customers with access to products, insights and experiences that
enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at
americanexpress.com and connect with us on
facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress,
linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress,
and youtube.com/americanexpress.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171129005164/en/
M BoothJohn McLaughlin, 212-481-7000JohnM@mbooth.comorAmerican
ExpressFelicia Mowll, 212-640-1709Felicia.A.Mowll@aexp.com
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