Duration
2020-2022
- Funding Stream
Erasmus+
MILC in a Nutshell
The last few years European Union swims in unchartered waters and struggles to find answers on the following crucial and interrelated issues: how to achieve co-creation, how to apply open innovation, and how to deal with the rippling effects of the economic crisis.
In this already, complex world, the Covid-19 crisis has invaded our lives and has driven the global to an unprecedented remote way of communication. Millennials’ needs seem to be more apropos than ever with flexibility, autonomy, alignment, and collective ownership by some of the core principles of their preferred way of working.
In addition, European Commission, according to the latest publication of EU on Innovation (2019), wants to create an Innovation Union by increasing investment in knowledge, promoting better funding for innovation and effective use of resources clearing out that “The method should be “frugally” innovation, i.e. using minimal resources by developing highly innovative business models that can do much more for much less.”
But despite the fact that the above goal is supported by almost every official document published by European Union, the current situation, according to Cedefop’s (2020) report “Empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways”, is not even close to what was intended. Four out of ten EU employers had difficulty finding people with the right skills, while unemployment rates peaked.
Rapid digitalization, Covid-19 crisis, and technological skills obsolesce have also raised concerns about the extent to which the EU workforce is adequately prepared for the fourth industrial revolution. And this is mainly because the millennials (considered as innovation generators) either refuse to work on the current SMEs or quit their jobs in less than three months. And the reasons are: a) they believe their workplaces aren’t smart enough, b) technology in the working environment is far behind from what they have in their homes (it is very obvious during the Covid-19 crisis), and c) co-creation that leads to innovation is not happening as fast as they desire.
New researches of 2019, a project that 75% of the workforce at a Global level is going to be fulfilled by Millennials until 2030 – and in leadership roles, for which well-being in the workplace is the most important factor to choose a job. By creating a work environment that prioritizes work-life balance, employers can create a sustainable and healthier workforce. And for Millennials, such work environments drive them to a career path that will support their “lifestyle”, which in this context, means their life outside of work. According to the 2018 Deloitte Millennial survey with more than 10,000 millennial respondents, a culture of collaboration on work projects is one of the top priorities, millennials desire from potential employers. Technology is part of this, allowing for a creative flow of ideas and communication and they consider autonomy and reciprocity as foundational to the future of business leadership.
But how today’s workplace strategies can bridge the culture and approaches of old organizations with the “new” employees? The answer might come via the “chaordic” leadership approach, a combination of the words chaos and order, meaning a state in between that adapts the principles and properties of both. The chaordic organization or system is one that is ever learning and adjusting to the environment and, therefore, it is flexible. A minimal set of rules and processes are established to ensure the appropriate amount of order. This is overarched with a common sense of purpose and a set of six lenses that are shared by the chaord approach.