Call them Generation Y, Millenials, or the Peter Pan Generation; they are the generation born between the late 1970s and the late 1990s and nobody in the recruiting/talent management space knows what to do about them. They feel entitled to the best jobs, they change jobs like like the flip-flops they insist on wearing in the workplace, they are skilled and intuitive in the ways of Web 2.0, they are inscrutable. Full disclosure: I am a member of Generation Y (shout out to my Millenial bretheren!).
If, as the conventional wisdom seems to agree, each generation is defined by the major cultural/economic/political events that took place as they came of age:
- The Baby Boomers were defined by the Vietnam War the Civil Rights movement, and the post-War economic boom
- Generation X was defined by the sluggish economy of the 70s and 80s (and the layoffs that went with it), the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and the demise of Led Zeppelin
- Generation Y is defined by the wholesale uncertainty caused by events such as the Enron scandal, the rise of Microsoft, Apple, and Google, and the fall of the Twin Towers.
These are, of course, generalizations. But generalizations have their uses: while all generations live with a measure of uncertainty, Generation Y has undeniably come of age during a time of profound uncertainty (see Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, Dot Com bust, housing bust). This "randomness" is a defining feature of Gen Y according to Harvard Business Review blogger and author, Tammy Erickson.
According to Erickson, this appreciation for the randomness of the universe has made Gen Y a "live for today" kind of people which is why we flit from job to job and care more about perks like company sponsored happy hours and flex time than our parents. NOTE: Be sure to register here for Tammy's upcoming webcast on Talent Management in the Oil and Gas "HR in an Aging Industry."
Another key feature of Gen-Y workers is the way we were raised. Speaking from first-hand experience, Generation Y was raised in a culture where, as one wag put it, "raising a child with low self-esteem was the greatest crime a parent could commit." If I saw a movie, book, tv show, that had a moral other than "be yourself and you can achieve anything" during my formative years, it was because I was at the house of my friend with the more permissive parents watching "The Terminator" (although the Terminator was just trying to be himself too when you think about it). The parents of Gen-Y were, for whatever reason, more protective of their children than any generation of parents before them. My generation was the first to be leashed as toddlers and shielded from the myriad perils of:
- stranger danger
- the game of tag
- competitive sports
- Satanic cults
- failure of any kind
All joking aside, Generation Y is a crucial part of the workforce in any organization as the Boomers retire and Generation X moves up the ladder to take their places. What is it then, that attracts Gen-Y to an organization? With our famous self-assurance and self-worth, we want to work somewhere that we feel our opinions are heard and valued. We like to collaborate with greenhorns and veterans alike. We want to feel as though we have choices about where we are going.
However, as the adage goes, "pride goeth before the fall." Being part of a generation that is nicknamed by some "Generation Trophy" because of the trend among team sports to adopt an "everyone wins" policy has its disadvantages. We're not as used to failure as previous generations are and often lack the benefits that it brings: self-reflection, problem solving, and caution. Working under managers that are able to provide constructive criticism and continuous feedback will help us learn how to fail gracefully and learn from each
bump in the road.
Other advice such as "using Social Media to relate to them" looks and sounds like a business trying to be the "cool" teacher by talking about hip-hop and MTV in class.
Social Media is a tremendous tool for sourcing candidates, but won't necessarily get us to join your organization (much less stay there). We don't need our bosses to dress,
act, or talk like us so much as we need them to value our input and be invested giving us interesting and varied work.
In effect, the way to attract and retain the Gen Y worker is to simply manage and develop us ...better. Gen Y is not shy about sharing our opinions about our jobs online and, thanks to sites like Glassdoor.com and vent.com, word gets out about our experiences at a given company pretty quickly and anonymously. For better or worse, Generation Y workers only stay in jobs they hate as long as they must.
