Facts about Gen Y at work

What do Gen Y want at work?

I read this recent article with much interest. It is regarding a recent study about what Gen Y really want and does dispel many myths.

The main points are:

• Gen Y think merit should be considered over tenure when advancement is considered. And I agree – best person for the best job is the best policy.

• Gen Y is a results-oriented group. They’re not going to wait patiently for their turn when it comes to promotions, raises, etc. if they’re doing higher quality work than someone with greater tenure. The data shown throughout the survey also suggests that they expect regular performance reviews and feedback. While Gen Y believes tenure is still an important factor when making decisions pertaining to advancement, rewarding performance comes first.

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The RPG (Role-Playing Generation)

What Business can learn from Gaming – Heledd Straker

At lot has been written and discussed about Generation Y and its use of social networking sites, but there isn’t so much at the moment on how businesses can gain insights into leading this cohort by observing how it uses other technologies, such as online role playing games.

While both MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) and social networking sites are used by Generation Y to hold conversations and so build trust-based relationships, the method of communication is different. On the one hand, social networking sites are designed to manage relationships and span the bridge between online and offline communities. On the other hand, MMORPGs focus on completing tasks and building up one’s identity and skill set in a virtual world; but skills which can be transferred to the real world.

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Employing Youth – 10 things to never do

Employing Generation Y.

This list by Jim Taggart is one of the best example I have seen on how not to treat Generation Y in the workplace.
#10 – You’re the boss, and make sure that everyone knows it. Shared leadership is for sissies. Keep that ego well oiled
#9 – Speak to your staff through email; God forbid, don’t talk to them in person. What the heck is “Management by Walking Around?”
#8 – Keep your staff in the dark – keep ‘em guessing since it strengthens your hold on information and power
#7 – Don’t trust your staff’s judgement; you make all the decisions. After all, you’re the boss!
#6 – Constantly change your mind, leaving your staff confused as to what are the priorities
#5 – Have no sense of humor, especially not being able to poke fun at yourself
#4 – Laugh at others misfortunes or mistakes. Losers!
#3 – Micromanage your staff to death; double check everything they do, including rewriting their work reports, etc.
#2 – Assign tasks to staff that you would never consider doing yourself. If it involves, for example, having to deal with a known cranky customer or supplier, better have one of your subordinates do it.
Drumroll please…
#1 – Don’t stand behind your staff, even when they make a mistake; cover your own ass. Hey, people are expendable. What counts is your career advancement.

Innocent smoothies show others how to employ Gen Y

How to make Gen Y want to work for you

When it comes to marketing and employing Generation Y and youth no one has it as right (in my mind) as much as Innocent smoothies. They are the bees knees when it comes to youth appeal. They are fun, engaging and have social currency plus their product is great too. This company is authentic and transparent through and through you only have to read their blog to get that. We could all learn a lot from them.

In this video we get a tour of their H.Q. aptly names fruit towers (although it is not a tower). Some day I want to interview them about the HR polices…just need to get brave enough to ask

Check out Innocent smothies

Manage Gen Y Like You’re Marketing To Them

Marketing to young people can teach you valuable lessons about managing Millennials.

I think this is such a great piece and some of the most sensible thing I have read on managing Gen Y. From Brazen Careerist.

Which Wich, a quick casual sandwich concept has a very cool offer here in Colorado. If you take a picture of yourself and a Which Wich bag on top of one of Colorado’s 54 peaks that is 14,000 feet or higher and bring that picture into Which Wich, you get a free sandwich.

Now, in addition to being a very cool word-of-mouth marketing tactic (I heard about the plan from a couple of climbers on the top of Torrey’s Peak), I think that this could be a very effective model for managers looking to build relationships with their Generation Y employees.

Imagine that you put up an “Employee Achievement” bulletin board in back. Each period (week, month, quarter, etc.), your employees can bring in a picture of themselves accomplishing something impressive, and you can hook them up with something cool and post the picture.

Off hand, four things I would consider impressive:

* Climbing a mountain
* Swimming with a dolphin
* Accepting a scholarship
* Building a house for Habitat for Humanity

Now, not only are you celebrating what your employees do, you’re getting to know who they are. You’re learning about their interests, their hobbies, and their passions. You’ll be tapping into the same impulse that drives employees to post pictures on Facebook, and you don’t even need an internet connection to do it.

Read Manage Gen Y Like You’re Marketing To Them

Don’t stick Gen Y in cubicle

Employing Gen Y

Today’s digital generation thinks differently, but corporations are not dealing with them effectively, said Don Tapscott.

Tapscott, nGenera Insight’s chairman and author of Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, said such corporations include companies and advertising agencies, which are trying to interact with the “Gen Y” crowd.

He spoke to ZDNet Asia about how the digital generation thinks differently, and how companies should manage the arrival of this group of people to the workforce.

Q: We’ve had Gen X, and now Gen Y. What defines this group?

Tapscott: This is the first generation to come of age in the digital age. This is affecting their brains and how they think. My generation, the baby boomers, spent 24 hours a week watching TV.

When you’re the passive recipient of video, that gives you a certain kind of brain. Young people today that have grown up using the technology are using an equivalent amount of time being active users instead. They’re handling information, thinking, scrutinizing, multi-tasking. And this is affecting young people’s brains. And it’s for the good.

They come into the workforce, the market place, and society…there is no force more powerful.

Read Don’t stick Gen Y in cubicle

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