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Brentwood, TN—By now, most jewelers who want to sell to Millennials have added at least one, if not more, Millennials to their payroll.

Three generations—Boomer, Gen-X, and Millennial—currently are in the workplace. A recent survey by CareerBuilder and reported in HR Daily Advisor examined the different expectations and attitudes of each of those generations, plus a fourth cohort, currently in high school, that soon will enter the workplace.

Not surprisingly, each generation has its own ideas of how to define success, as well as its own idea of what should and shouldn’t be acceptable in the workplace. Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder, said, "While workplace expectations can vary widely among different generations, one thing they have in common is the want to be successful in their positions. Introducing programs that promote learning and collaboration—such as mentoring—can help workers of all generations achieve that together."

Money provides an interesting divide between current and future workers. High school students are more likely than current workers to equate success with high salaries. More than half of current workers feel one can be successful earning less than $70,000 per year; only 36% of high school students say they would consider themselves successful at that income. 23% of current workers—vs. 39% of high school students—define success at a minimum of $100,000 per yeare. But students, more so than current workers, also equate success with making a difference and having a sense of accomplishment.

Other highlights:

• Both current and future workers prefer casual dress in the workplace
• Younger workers expect to be promoted more often—every 2-3 years—if they’re doing a good job. They’re also more likely to job-hop than older workers.
• Younger workers are more likely than older workers to say it should be ok to check mobile devices for family matters during work—but ironically they’re more likely than older workers to say it’s not ok to check them during a meeting.
• High school students also are surprisingly more conservative when it comes to emoticons in email or other electronic communications: only one in five say it’s ok to use them in business, compared to more than one-fourth of current workers.
• High school students and older workers (age 55+) both were least likely to expect flexible time—it’s younger current workers that believe when you get to work shouldn’t matter as long as your work gets done.

Read more here and here. And here is an essay from Forbes magazine, written by a young leader who was promoted to a department head at age 25 and how he won the respect of employees twice his age.

Top image: Forbes