Next week, we will swear in a new class of lawyers in Illinois. Many of these new lawyers will be millennials – young people born between 1980 and 2000 – who have had a tremendous impact on the legal workplace. We at the Commission on Professionalism have written a number of articles on workplace millennials. […]
In my four and a half years of working at the Commission on Professionalism, and speaking around the state and country, absolutely nothing has gotten my audience as engaged (read: riled up) as talking about millennials in the workplace. As regular readers of our blog, and students of our online course on intergenerational communication, know, […]
A few weeks ago, I attended one of my favorite events of the year, the PILI Illinois Forum on Pro Bono. Part of the session focused on recruiting volunteer attorneys to work pro bono for many of the organizations in attendance. And while they recruit volunteers from all walks of life, much of the discussion […]
On January 1, 2011, the first Baby Boomer turned 65 years old. Every day since, 10,000 Boomers have turned 65. This will continue for the next 14 years. And then one December night, in 2029, the very last Baby Boomer will reach that once traditional retirement age. And if she is employed, she might think […]
Recently, we swore in a new class of lawyers in Illinois. Many of these new lawyers were Millennials — people born between 1980 and 2000 — who have had a tremendous effect on the legal workplace. A recent American Lawyer article on millennials at large law firms pointed out the number of firms recognizing their […]
Two years ago, I was sitting in my living room, binge watching Netflix, when my phone rang. I looked down. It was my mother. Now this was surprising as my mother and I, living in two different countries, have an almost exclusive texting and Facetime relationship. I answered the phone quickly, worrying that some disaster had […]
Over the past several years, I have heard many older workers complain about young people in the workplace. They leave work early, don’t complete their assignments on time, are not dressed professionally, request constant feedback, speak to their superiors as if they were peers, repeatedly job hop, and often desire the rewards without the work. […]
Canada’s new prime minister has a certain distinction (other than being the son of Canada’s former prime minister). Justin Trudeau is the first Gen X prime minister in Canada’s history. His appointed cabinet is the most diverse cabinet in Canada’s history, jam-packed with even more men and women born between 1965 and 1979, Generation X. […]
As a millennial, I often hear the same complaint from my fellow millennial women lawyers: “Why is it so hard to find a female mentor?” Digging deeper, there are often two complaints. The first: there aren’t any female partners at my firm. The second: OK, yes, there are some female partners at my firm, but […]
What will the future workplace look like? We all know that Millennials believe in flexible working hours and working from home. Millennials do not see work and life as two opposing weights that need to be balanced, but rather as two puzzle pieces that need to fit. These Millennials are now the largest generation in […]
For the past year, I have been writing about the different generations in the workplace. I’ve talked about Millennials, and Baby Boomers, and Millennials again, and, let’s not forget them Gen Xers. But as the Commission approaches a massive roll-out of an exciting new multi-generational project (stay tuned!), I would be bereft if I left out […]
Last year, I wrote an article offering professionalism tips to Millennial attorneys. The feedback was terrific, but some of the responses pointed out that Millennials aren’t always first or second year attorneys. Instead many, like myself, have been practicing for almost 10 years. What they need now isn’t advice on how to start out. Rather, […]
