Working With Generation Y Employees

One of the interesting things that’s happening in the workplace today is having four “generations” working together. In particular, the new hires known as Generation Y. Generation Y, also called Millenniums and the Echo generation, were born between 1981 to 1999. (Baby Boomers were 1946 - 1964, Generation X is 1965 to 1980 and Traditionals are pre 1945.) They are called the Echo Generation because they want (reflect/echo) what Baby Boomers have created for themselves over the past 40 years. Boomers have worked hard all their lives and now can have some rewards for it. The Gen Y, having grown up with it, just expects to have it. All their lives they have been asked questions and had their opinions acted on. For example, “Where do you want to go for vacation? Where do you want to go for dinner? What room in the new house would you like? What color would you like it? Where shall we go for dinner? Shall we go shopping for new clothes for you? The world revolves around them. They need to be treated a little bit differently as a result. For one reason, are they having choices of jobs. So you as an employer, you need to understand how do you motivate and work more effectively with a Generation Y employee in order to get and keep their enthusiasm and loyalty they bring to a new career,

Here are a few quick insights. They want a workplace that promotes balance. You need to give them plenty of advice on career management and career growth and succession planning.

They want to be treated as equals even if they don’t have the experience. They don’t want people to be over authoritative or paternalistic because they’ll just leave. They are sensitive, feelings are important.

We need to communicate vividly with them so use words like amazing and not good. So get to the point - quickly, because they have a short attention span and that’s because of all the media today. Show them the growth in the job they can look forward to. Give lots of feedback and stretch them, so they have something to brag about.

Keep them in a team environment and never say, “When I was your age” because that tends to annoy them. So if you’re hiring Generation Y, there is a lot of enthusiasm and loyalty to employ and retain..

Their main strength is technology! Take advantage of that knowledge.

For more details, go to this free webinar I recorded recently: http://XiosoftPresenter.com/?eventid=3849834

Demographers:

•  Generation Y 1981 – 1999 20% of workforce
  •  14% are over 55, and will retire in 10 years
  •  Canada faxes potential employee shortage of 1.2 m by 2020
  •  Called Millennial’s
  •  Called the Echo Generation
•  Baby Boomers 1946 – 1964 (age 44 – 62) 42% of workforce
•  Generation X 1965 – 1980    29% of workforce
•  Traditionalists: Pre 1945    9% of workforce

• Aged 19 – 27 today.
• Less deference to authority
• Bosses to earn their respect
• Work in a business they respect
• Lifestyle matters
• Prefer texting over phoning, read online than meetings
• Have higher than average motivation & work ethic
• High job supply means quitting on impulse
• Parents coddle them, not hold them accountable

And to provide the origin of the terms Generation X and Generation Y

Generation X : A term popularized by the Canadian fiction writer Douglas Coupland in his 1991 book “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. Coupland’s title came from the work of Paul Fussell. In his book “Class” from 1983, the term "category X" designated a part of America's social hierarchy rather than a generation. As Coupland explained in a 1995 interview, "In his final chapter, Fussell named an 'X' category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence." Coupland felt that people his age were being misclassified as members of the Baby Boomer generation. He made no explicit request for a new generation to be named, but did want to set the record straight that people towards the end of what is typically classified as the baby boom generation really had almost nothing in common with those at its beginning and middle. As a final FYI, the term McJob came from this book and all characters are named after Antarctic geographic locations.

In the UK the term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by Woman's Own magazine to conduct a series of interviews with teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," which was deemed unsuitable for the magazine because it was a new phenomenon. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.

Generation Y : alludes to a succession from Generation X.

Generation Z : is a tentative name for the generation born after Generation Y. According to the book “Generations”, this generation, which the authors (William Strauss and Neil Howe) simply call "New Adaptive" pending a name reflecting their observed character, will be born from 2004 to 2025.