Working with Gen Y

We want to live for more than work. We like to feel that we are living for more than just ourselves. Corporate social responsibility initiatives make a company more attractive to us, creating the perception that by not just living selfishly, employers are somehow better people.
THE economic downturn has thrown up many challenges to employers. One of the most publicised issues is retrenchments necessitated by cost-cutting. Employers know that there is a fine balance – they have to be mindful of the immediate need to keep the business afloat while ensuring good talent is retained.
With this in mind, the ability to understand the needs of employees – keeping them happy and motivated – is more important than ever. Globally, surveys have shown that employers struggle when it comes to the younger work force.
Popularly known as “Generation Y” or “millennials”, they include those born between 1978 and 1988.
My generation is apparently a bit of a conundrum for senior management. Why is this so? Are we really that different and difficult to decipher?
In short, no – provided that employers take time to understand the context in which we grew up, and the generational uniqueness in which we continue to work and live.
We millennials in the nascency of our careers are accustomed to living life at breakneck speed. Unconvinced? Consider the following.
Things which used to take generations (or at least one generation) to change – institutional structures, economic cycles, industrial shifts, linguistics, and socio-cultural norms now happen in a matter of years, sometimes more than once.
Since we’ve moved into the workplace, we millennials have experienced two major market crashes, the biggest single terrorist attack in history, two wars, two deadly pandemics and the bursting of no less than three global economic bubbles (dot-com, property and credit).
Technological obsolescence occurs in the blink of an eye. We have collected cassettes, CDs, minidiscs and now digital music. Innovation used to be permitted an occasional breather – for millennials, essential gadgets such as the Discman, iPod, mobile phone, computers and gaming platforms rarely last longer than two years.
And I haven’t even mentioned the fastest-changing medium of all – the Internet with its blogs, Friendster, mySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
Business owners and senior management from the “baby boomer” and “Generation X” era need to understand that the world that we millennials have grown up in has shaped the way that we think, live and work. In Malaysia, it is estimated that Generation Y account for a sizable chunk of the workforce at around 40%.
Broadly speaking, here are a few generalisations of what makes Generation Y tick.
> We look at the concept of a career differently. Generation Y has the highest number of qualified, skilled employees of any generation in history. However, millennials generally have a reduced sense of urgency in forging a career path.
Sociologists partly attribute this to the increased comfort level: working is no longer a matter of survival, and most graduates move back in with their parents after university, affording them the luxury of taking time to choose a job that they really enjoy.
Greater opportunities for success beyond the realm of traditional professional boundaries; huge success stories like Facebook were born straight out of college dorm rooms also contribute to the attitude that building a career can wait.
The concept of taking a year out to travel, experience new things or just relax is no longer the big black mark on a resume that it used to be.
> Work-life balance is not what you think it means. When it comes to keeping millennials happy at work, the concept of “work-life” balance is almost antediluvian. Merely being able to get off work early is not enough for Generation Y. In fact, studies show that millennials are happy to work late, provided that they enjoy their work.
Employers who display trust and grant flexibility to employees – not requiring them to rigidly work, work and work throughout the work day – in turn gain more productive and loyal employees.
Generation Y appreciates being allowed to take short breaks, come in slightly later, enjoy long lunches, or even work from home, without being judged. As long as the quality and quantity of their work is not affected, why should this concern an employer?
Surveys confirm that millennials who are granted flexibility during the week do not even mind being in touch with their work (such as by Blackberry) through weekends. Studies show that millennials view their work and life as a merged identity and look negatively upon employers who are too straight-laced.
The fun and social side of office life is valued by Generation Y, and we tend to be more willing to work hard in an office environment that is permissive of humour, concepts such as casual Fridays, office socials and is not all work and no play.
> We want to live for more than work. We like to feel that we are living for more than just ourselves. Corporate social responsibility initiatives make a company more attractive to us, creating the perception that, by not just living selfishly, the employers are somehow better people.
Statistically, more than 50% of millennials would prefer to work for a company that provides opportunities for employees to actively give back to the community.
> We thrive on overcoming challenges. Generation Y has grown up in the midst of the greatest knowledge boom in history – the Internet. It is irrefutable that information has been more widely accessed by millennials compared to previous generations.
Experts opine that the competitive and fast-paced world of millennials has evolved us into better problem solvers, able to handle big decisions quickly and properly, and even cope with failure better.
> Technology is crucial to us. We are the first generation to have built social networks online. We develop close friendships based on online interaction. We blog, tweet and update our Facebook status.
Access to technology is important to us. One consistently common theme that arises in every workplace survey done around the world is this: millennials are unhappy and unmotivated when the employer blocks access to the Internet or social networks.
Employers who do so are viewed as lacking the trust and flexibility mentioned previously.
Our grasp of technology is not purely for personal reasons – our ability to find information that is relevant to our work in a very short time enables us to be more efficient, and results in a more productive and successful company.
The above are just broad brush strokes of the Generation Y picture. Each employee is unique, and companies will need to take into account local cultures and their own corporate agenda when formulating employment policies.
But employers need to acknowledge the importance of making a conscious effort to understand and adapt to the mindset and needs of the millennials. After all, in time, we will be the ones running your businesses.
Source: The Star online
(It’s taken from The star today’s newspaper written by Putik Lada, i find it very interesting)
What Gen Y Really Wants
With 85 million baby boomers and 50 million Gen Xers, there is already a yawning generation gap among American workers–particularly in their ideas of work-life balance. For baby boomers, it’s the juggling act between job and family. For Gen X, it means moving in and out of the workforce to accommodate kids and outside interests. Now along come the 76 million members of Generation Y. For these new 20-something workers, the line between work and home doesn’t really exist. They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are.
The first challenge for the companies that want to hire the best young workers is getting them in the door. They are in high demand–the baby boomers are retiring, and many Gen X workers are opting out of long hours–and they have high expectations for personal growth, even in entry-level jobs. More than half of Generation Y’s new graduates move back to their parents’ homes after collecting their degrees, and that cushion of support gives them the time to pick the job they really want. Taking time off to travel used to be a résumé red flag; today it’s a learning experience. And entrepreneurship now functions as a safety net for this generation. They grew up on the Internet, and they know how to launch a viable online business. Facebook, for example, began in a college dorm room.
With all these options, Generation Y is forcing companies to think more creatively about work-life balance. The employers who do are winning in the war for young talent. The consulting firm Deloitte was alarmed by the high turnover of its youngest employees, so it asked one of its consultants, Stan Smith, to find out more about what attracts them to and keeps them at a job. His research reveals that job hopping is not an end in itself but something young workers do when they see no other choice.
“People would rather stay at one company and grow, but they don’t think they can do that,” he says. “Two-thirds of the people who left Deloitte left to do something they could have done with us, but we made it difficult for them to transition.” So Smith, who is now in charge of recruiting and retaining Generation Y as national director of next-generation initiatives, created programs at Deloitte that focus on helping people figure out their next career move. Smith is betting that in many cases, the best place for a restless young person is simply another spot in Deloitte. This saves the company the $150,000 cost of losing an employee–not to mention the stress for employees of changing jobs.
Old assumptions about what employees value in the workplace don’t always apply with Gen Y. Friendship is such a strong motivator for them that Gen Y workers will choose a job just to be with their friends. Boston-based Gentle Giant Moving once hired an entire athletic team. “It looked like a great work environment because of the people,” says rower Niles Kuronen, 26. “It was huge to be able to work with friends.” It feels normal for Gen Y employees to check in by BlackBerry all weekend as long as they have flexibility during the week. Sun Microsystem’s telecommuting program, for example, has kicked into high gear in response to Generation Y’s demands. Today more than half of Sun’s employees work remotely.
Generation Y’s search for meaning makes support for volunteering among the benefits it values most. More than half of workers in their 20s prefer employment at companies that provide volunteer opportunities, according to a recent Deloitte survey. The software company Salesforce.com gives 1% of profits to its foundation, which pays for employees to volunteer 1% of their work time. Salesforce.com staff will do 50,000 hours of community service this year. “This program has dramatically increased our ability to recruit and retain high-quality employees,” says CEO Marc Benioff. It’s what attracted Eliot Moore, 26. “When I heard about the Salesforce.com Foundation, it was plus after plus for me,” he says. “It’s a way to take the skills I learned in the corporate arena and give back to the community without leaving the company.”
Understanding Generation Y is important not just for employers. Older workers–that is, anyone over 30–need to know how to adapt to the values and demands of their newest colleagues. Before too long, they’ll be the bosses.
By Penelope Trunk dated Thursday, Jul. 05, 2007, www.time.com
Thanks for an additional information from HD4020 (bb6622@hotmail.com)
“Interesting blog, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X). GenYers are primarily the offspring of GenJones parents, and parental influences are hugely important in understanding generational personalities.
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press’ annual Trend Report forecast the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here’s a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978″

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