Workplace 101: A Profiles Global Business Blog

When it comes to company size, bigger is not always better for many millennials. Members of Generation Y, as they are also called, prefer working at small companies and startups over large, established companies with a traditional culture. According to a PayScale study, 47 percent of millennials work at a company with fewer than 100 employees.  Only 23 percent work at large companies with more than 1,500 employees. As a company increases in size, it must implement more controls and regulations to make sure operations run smoothly. Salaries can also increase, but for many millennials, the decrease in flexibility is not worth the higher salary.

All organizations are different, big and small, public and private, but for all workforces, the fourth quarter of the fiscal year can be quite frightening. Some teams struggle to nail down a strategy plan for the coming year while others strive to reach that seemingly impossible end-of-year sales goal. Did you know that in the past 7 years, there have been more layoff announcements during the fourth quarter than any other three month period?

You have a large project or report due soon, so you get to work—busying yourself with unrelated, smaller tasks. It’s the familiar story of using work to avoid other work. The productive procrastination trap is one most of us have fallen into as a response to an overwhelming task. We don’t feel so bad about avoiding the real problems if we’re still getting something done, even if we’re not one step closer to finishing the most urgent task.

Many people, regardless of their role or level in the hierarchy, experience stress from work. The combination of quickly approaching deadlines, crashed hard drives, and too much coffee may seem like day-to-day annoyances, but they each contribute to a person's stress level. Some people work well under pressure, while others may fold like a cheap suit when the going gets tough. A manager’s ability to help employees to minimize work-related stress can have a significant impact on productivity and effectiveness.