Are Gen Yers Being Underutilized?

A View From the Top with Joyce Grillo

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” “We tried that once before and it didn’t work.” “That’s an interesting idea but it won’t fly here.” How often have you heard these words? More times than we care to remember? Yet this kind of thinking is what stifles creativity and it’s happening in workplaces every day between seasoned older workers and younger employees.

According to a study done by Mercer Delta, one of the key business challenges U. S. corporations face is the failure to innovate and to exploit emerging technologies. They also found that our leadership ranks are rife with people strong in cognitive skills – business acumen - but not enough in the leadership competencies that are necessary for growth, innovation and to respond quickly to emerging opportunities.

Even though the current economic downturn has forced U.S. industries to focus on cost efficiencies and managing risks, we cannot lose sight of the global competitive pressures, which will only increase in the coming years. Where will we find tomorrow’s new breed of leaders? The answer is right before us – Gen Y (a.k.a. Millennials)!

A few years ago I attended an event for small business owners. One of the panelists made a comment, which at the time didn’t have an impact on me. We were talking about business innovation and she said, “Any business person who doesn’t have someone on his or her staff who is 25 and younger will not be competitive in today’s world.” In my work as a leadership and generational consultant I’ve come to realize she was spot on. This new wave of workers packs a lot of power and has tremendous untapped potential. We desperately need their talent and creativity. America will not regain stature in the world economy if we do not once again excel and lead the way in innovation and technology. We just need to look at President Elect Obama’s agenda to realize the myriad of challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us.

So how can we effectively leverage the talents of younger workers? To answer this question we need to first understand the current work environment and then Gen Y – what defines them and how they got to be the way they are.

Current Environment

For the first time in history we have four generations working side by side: Matures born before 1946, Baby Boomers 1946 - 1964, Gen X 1964 - 1994 and Gen Y 1994 – 2000 all with differing values, work styles and work ethics often causing conflict and frustration for many managers. Due to these generational differences, a schism exists between the more experienced seasoned workers and the new entrants.

Who Is Gen Y?

What Shaped Them

There is no definitive agreement on their birth years; some say somewhere between 1978 and 1995; most say 1981 to 1993. Narrower definitions put Gen Yers as those ages 20 – 26 in the workplace today. As children of Baby Boomers they were coddled since birth and overprotected. These “helicopter” parents hovered over them with unprecedented parental supervision and advocacy. They were raised by overly indulgent parents causing this generation to have an overly inflated ego, and a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. They could do no wrong and the world was theirs for the taking. The challenge now facing many companies and managers is how to channel their “sense of entitlement?”

What Defines Them

It is not surprising that the way they came into the world is the way they want to enter the workplace. They are seen as arrogant, self-centered, not wanting to pay their dues and having a poor work ethic. What is interesting is that the Boomers who profess not to understand this new generation and are frustrated by their so-called demands are the very ones that helped shaped them. Many corporations experience their biggest conflict between Boomer managers and younger employees that do not fit the mold they created.

Yet, according to Marcus Buckingham, “Their (Gen Y) demands and sense of entitlement mesh perfectly with the demands that companies have for employees who are creative, innovative, resourceful, resilient, persistent and engaged.”

Unfortunately these differences overshadow the value added by each of these cohorts. Organizations are focused more on what separates the Boomers from the Gen Yers than what they could do together to be a powerful force.

It is important that these disparate groups join forces and combine their talents to create the workforce that will get us through the difficult times ahead. Patricia Martin in her book, “GenRen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What It Means to Your Business,” believes we will eventually evolve from a mentor-mentee model and into a master-apprentice relationship. That time has arrived!

With maturing careers and retirement on the horizon, Boomers want to leave a legacy and are looking for renewed meaning in their lives and jobs. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience that only comes with lessons learned. Gen Y has an optimism that brings a freshness and naïveté untarnished by the notion, “we’ve already done that.” Gen Y wants role models to look up to and guide them about career choices, personal growth and the ability to make a difference.

The need of Boomers to be recognized and acknowledged for their business savvy meshes perfectly with Gen Y’s voracious appetite to learn. Following the master- apprentice model, Boomers can teach Gen Y the soft skills of Emotional Intelligence – the organization and political savvy they lack and in return reap the benefits of what Gen Y has to offer. As Bogey’s character Rick in Casablanca said to Claude Raines at the movie’s conclusion, “It’s the beginning of a great friendship.”

What Value Do Gen Yers Add?

Technology is part of their DNA

Gen Y has never known a world without computers, the Internet, cell phones, texting and instant messaging, You Tube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. They are techno-savvy like no other generation – it’s in their genes. They not only grew up with it, they participated in its creation. This is one area they know they excel in, which gives them their “sense of entitlement” and for which they want to be acknowledged and respected and rightly so.

Technology is universally recognized as critical to a company’s success and is often seen as a necessary evil to Boomers. To stay at the cutting edge of a rapidly changing marketplace, companies must keep up with the most current technology, which comes easily and naturally to Gen Y. This is an area where they can add value and yet are not being utilized as much as they could. This represents a role reversal for Boomers relegating them to a back seat and admitting they can learn from Gen Y. For Boomers who have ruled the corporate world for the last 40 years, this can be both humbling and difficult. Companies can benefit from drawing on the knowledge and seasoning of Boomers while learning from the technical sophistication of Gen Yers.

Inspire a Climate for Innovation

Gen Yers are independent thinkers and were raised to speak up and challenge the status quo and they are not afraid to do so. They refuse to blindly conform to the traditions of time-honored institutions. Instead they ask, “Why?” according to Eric Chester in “Employing Generation Why?”

They don’t want to hear, “that’s not the way we do things here.” As a client recently said to me, “they ask a lot of questions, which can often lead to answers and solutions that are actually more efficient and effective. It’s a good thing.” And as one Gen Yer put it, “It’s not only about having experience. It’s about having good ideas and having someone to listen to you.” Gen Yers want to work in an environment where creativity and independent thinking are looked upon positively.

This can be frustrating and aggravating to a 50-year-old manager who is working 24/7 and who just wants to get the work done. Older generations have to be more open to opposing views and differing ways of approaching things. For example, Xerox is using the slogan “Express Yourself” as a way to describe their culture and appeal to Gen Yers desire to be innovative. Boomers have ruled for years and are comfortable with the world they created. However, the time has come to step back, listen and learn.

Embrace Social Media

Social media is changing the world and how business works. Business Week recently published an article about the power of social media and how companies are beginning to embrace it because they really don’t have a choice. They are desperately looking for ways to be part of the Web 2.0/user-generated content, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube phenomenon.

The global company, IBM with 400,000 employees uses social networking with its in-house version of Web 2.0. They view it as a substitute for face-to-face meetings. They believe it allows their people to share knowledge and experience, which ultimately will lead to innovation.

Starbucks is another example of a company embracing social networking. When things were on the downturn for them they started a social networking site to ask for help from customers. This was a strategy to reach “the customer” en masse in a way, which without social media would never have been possible. In order to survive companies have to come to realize that they must meet their customers on their turf or risk falling behind.

Gen Yer’s natural affinity for social networking has not been tapped into yet. They are connected to people from around the world, friends, family classmates, colleagues and even strangers in ways that are shattering traditional communication concepts. Who better to guide companies to the transition to social networking than Gen Yers?

Capitalize on Their Affinity for Networking

Collaboration is a business imperative. For years, companies have been trying to break down silos and build relationships across functional areas domestically and globally. To be competitive they need employees who can work collaboratively in a team based and highly matrixed organizational structure. Used to “play dates” and doing things in groups, Gen Yers do their best work as part of a team. They want to work with people they like and want to be friends with their coworkers. This generation is very loyal and committed to one another. They also have a desire to want to share knowledge, which ultimately will benefit corporations in terms of sharing best practices. However, they lack the seasoning that the older generation has which is invaluable. Many believe the reason dot.coms went bust is that Gen X and Gen Y started them without the wisdom of the Boomers.

Carving out a way for different generations to work together and to learn from one another can be very powerful. As one Gen Yer who sits next to a 65-year-older worker said, “He helps me all the time with gas industry questions and I help him with computer stuff. The knowledge he has – you can’t replace that. I’m trying to soak it in.”

Employees With Multiple Skills

Overscheduled as children they learned how to juggle school, sports, music lessons and other activities. This is a generation of exceptional multi-taskers. They can be emailing on their iPhones, talking on cell phones and simultaneously surfing the Net – all behaviors frowned on by many Boomer managers.

A client recently told me that they took instant messaging away from their interns because they saw it as “slacking off” on the job. In fact, the interns were using it as a way to more efficiently get and receive information to do their jobs. Technology has also played a role in making it easier for them to learn multiple tasks. Their ability to do things faster, quicker and easier than have been done in the past can help organizations as Gen Yers will likely have to fill the gaps of downsized staffs and retiring Boomers. Cross training and learning multiple tasks and jobs comes naturally to Gen Yers and to them it’s just another way to build their portfolio of skills.

Boomers need to keep in mind that there is more than one way to get things done and it may not necessarily be their way. Provide Gen Yers with appropriate challenges and support and recognize the value of their proficiency with technology for obtaining information and getting the work done – their way.

A Feedback Rich Culture

For years, human resource professionals have tried everything and anything to get employees to give each other honest and direct feedback without success. Feedback is important for building one’s self-awareness and continuous growth and development. Gen Yers view feedback as critical to their need for on-going learning. They want strong coaches and mentors who can help them with their personal development. This is a way for Gen Yers to calibrate their learning and determine if they are on the right track to building their portfolio of skills. Not only do Gen Yers like to receive feedback, they are also at ease giving it. I predict that because of the way Gen Y embraces feedback, feedback will not just be a yearly event during an annual review, but will become part of the fabric of day-to-day interactions among employees at all levels.

Environmental Activists

Highly developed social consciousness and their concern for the environment, Gen Yers make great advocates and champions for a greener world. Social responsibility is on the agenda of most corporations including President Elect Obama’s. With concerns about climate and sustainability becoming key business drivers, companies are looking for innovative ways to meet these challenges. Gen Yers passion for a better environment and world combined with their knowledge of technology make them ideal candidates for companies looking to advance in these areas.

An “Inclusive” Generation

Gen Y is the most multi-cultural generation to be born in the 20^th Century. They are characterized as being more racially and culturally tolerant than previous generations. Technology has also helped shape Gen Yers view of culture as distinctly international and diverse and without boundaries.

Gen Y is tolerant of diversity and working and interacting with people outside of their own ethnic group is the norm. Their desire for inclusion of people from all races may well diminish the word “minority” to future generations.

The best leaders are often those distinguished by their ability to work with a diverse range of people managing across organizational boundaries and building strategic relationships. We can learn from Gen Y to whom this is as instinctive as the air they breath.

What Lies Ahead

In the near term Boomers will continue to reign and Gen Yers will similarly be measured against their standards for success of working long hours and following the rules they put in place. The wheels of change inevitably move slowly. However, with companies such as Xerox, IBM, Google and others, who view this emerging workforce as the future of their organization, there’s hope!

These companies envision a future where knowledge is shared thus leading the way to innovation. Gen Y will have an incredible impact on making this happen. Boomers have been trying to change the world for years; Gen Years will make it happen.

This change can’t happen in isolation. The best companies capitalize on the talents and strengths of all generations. Or as Jack Welch said, “Any company wanting to succeed must engage the minds of all its employees.”

Joyce Grillo is the principal of Grillo Leadership Initiatives. She’s a leadership and generational consultant and coach working with Fortune 500 companies.
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Are Gen Yers Being Underutilized?

Keeping Up With The Joneses

By Maria Elena Duron

Multi-Cultural Networking Editor

If you’re thinking that this might be a title of a new reality TV show (similar to Keeping up with the Kardashians), think again. In fact, I am actually referring to the “Lost Generation” better known as Generation Jones. You’ll be surprised to know that aside from Generation X, there’s another generation that sprang post World War II. So how do we keep up with them? The best thing to do at this point is to really get to know them.

Meet Generation Jones: the largest adult generation in the US with serious spending power. This generation refers to those people who were born in the US (or UK) between 1954 to1965. So how exactly did they become a lost generation? Before American social commentator Jonathan Pontell discovered about the Jonesers, they are either classified as Baby Boomers or members of Generation X. But then again, Pontell made a good point that they are too young to be a Boomer and too old to be an X-er. He found that they are not as idealistic as the Boomers and not as cynical as Gen X-ers. Pontell believes that this generation that put their idealism on hold has achieved financial security and is rediscovering their idealism as they enter middle age. This is maybe due to the fact that they rode on to the lingering promises given to the Boomers before them and then a new world came as did sizable disappointment.

Why Jones? It’s not like Pontell can’t think of a cool name to call this group. Actually, the name originated from the word “jonesing” or from the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses.” This is because this generation tends to yearn or crave for a better life while having many unrealized expectations. Raised on TV and turmoil, they inherited a good economy that later on turned sour. They are also the kind of people who care about their relative standard of living in relation to their societal peers especially in terms of acquiring material goods. In the book Generation Blend by Rob Salkowitz, he described this generation as a generation that “share many of the values and assumptions of their elders but came of age under somewhat different historical circumstances. Too young to participate in the Civil Rights marches of the early 60s, experience the Summer of Love or Woodstock firsthand, or to be subject to the draft, young American Boomers reached their late teens in a period of cultural exhaustion and drift. They were still products of the postwar consumer culture, still optimistic and full of high ideals, but they arrived at the big party just as it was heading into its weird late-night mode.”

How do you know if you’re a member of this cohort? Some people don’t even know that they’re a part of Generation Jones. If you grew up watching Twister and The Brady Bunch until Watergate interrupted them, then you are most likely a Joneser. During a typical Gen Jones’ formative years, they’ve must have seen Neil Armstrong step on the moon, the fall of Saigon, the Missile Crisis, hyper-inflation, as well as how Oswald was shot on live TV. They are also the first ones who can’t recall not having a television at home or going to a disco. They are also techno-savvy, having played Pong (their first video game) and owned (or at least desperately wanted) a Sony Walkman. The Jonesers have a wallet-full of credit cards and they were happy (before the bills arrive). About 1/3 of internet-users in America are actually members of Generation Jones. It was said that they are the early computer pioneers like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. The fact that they are internet-savvy makes them an extremely powerful market to technology industries. They have the skill to use the latest gadgets, the yearning of not being left out in terms of accumulation of material things, plus the spending power to boot.

The Jonesers at work. According to Gen X innovator Dr. Scott Mills, they were perhaps the “First Yuppies.” “The Jones’ have a very different way of viewing the world. They were a little too late for the great expectations; we can change the world, attitude of the Boomers. And a little too early for the crushing sense of being completely powerless in a world gone mad that X-ers inherited. So they are the roll of your sleeves folks who have been described as practical idealists.” Aside from this, inflation and recession are not exactly new or foreign words to them. Since they’ve known about these hardships, this turned them into practical people who wanted to see measurable results. Finally, while Boomers are starting to retire, Jonesers are expected to work until they are about 70 years old.

Generation Jones and Politics. One of the things that people talk most about Generation Jones is how they played a big role in politics. An article from the Huffington Post mentioned about how the Jonesers, “unlike Xers, embrace the 1960s' idealism and beatified its heroes, while both generations view of government is colored by Watergate and Washington gridlock. As a result, Jonesers adopted a less ideological and more nuanced approach to politics than Boomers and this has made them key swing voters in the last few elections. In general, Jonesers have rewarded candidates exuding confidence and decisiveness but have punished the timid.” Aside from this, the Jonesers are thought largely responsible in the US for the election and re-election of President George W. Bush, but also for the 2006 turnaround when voters successfully elected a Democratic majority Senate and House of Representatives. Barack Obama, another member of this lost generation, has shown one distinctive characteristic of a typical Joneser – someone who wants change from your not-so-typical kind of politics. Jonesers are more likely to vote for a candidate out of their political party if they want change.

This generation has proven that they are not truly a lost generation. Instead, they’ve made their presence known in the internet, heard in the world of politics, and of course, seen by their ability to pay for their luxuries. Apart from their craving to belong, it is also important to take note that they are media and culture savvy. With this in mind, they’ve become attractive targets, not only by political parties, but employers and advertising hooks as well. As Steve Kebler, founder of Kleber & Associates Marketing and Communications (K&A) puts it, “Now that they are all grown up and have accepted that life is (or at least seems) more complicated than it was for their parents, they expect the same comfort level from you that they get from their media-inspired memories of childhood.” So if you want to get a Joneser’s attention, you better be on the internet or at least have seen a couple of Brady Bunch episodes.

Maria Elena Duron is chief buzz agent and inspiring identity coach of buzz to bucks-a personal branding firm.

To claim your FREE gift, Crafting Your On Brand Intro Toolkit, visit her site www.buzz2bucks.com . Join our online growing community of people inspired to develop their identity at www.inspiringidentity.com

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Keeping Up With The Joneses

The X-Factor: Networking The Gen-X Way

By Maria Elena Duron
Multi-Cultural Networking Editor

If you ask someone to define the word “network”, you might get different answers depending on who you’re asking. In 2004, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) held a conference about Generational Learning Styles and in their Generation Gap Game, this question was asked. If you were talking to a Traditionalist, he/she might say that a network is something that a fisherman does. A Baby Boomer, on the other hand, might think that you are referring to a TV station. A Gen X-er would probably tell you that a network is the act of establishing a circle of business contacts. And finally, a Millenial is likely to tell you that a network is a work or home-based interface system which allows multiple users at different computers to link in order to share data. And that’s just one word with four different meanings for four different generations. Today, with the existence of so many social networking sites, I can only help but wonder whether Generation X had something to do with this kind of networking.

So, how does a Gen X-er build a network? I tried to make a research on this by reading books, browsing the web, the works. But I was not able to find a single article defining how Gen X-ers build relationships. However, if given a closer look, their characteristics and values define how they do this thing called networking.

Gen X: The Original Internet Babies. If you think that the Millenials are the real internet kids, think again. The first users of the internet are actually the members of Generation X. The X-ers were among the first to communicate with friends and colleagues via email. In a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it was found that about 87% of Gen X-ers use the internet for various activities like communicating via email and instant messenger, purchasing things, job hunting, as well as getting news.

The Latch-key Kids Who Didn’t Want To Become Like Their Parents. This generation was also known as the “latch-key” generation since most of their Baby Boomer parents were busy at work. The latch-key kids are now parents and didn’t want their own children to experience the same treatment they received from their parents. As a result, most Gen X parents are very hands on when it comes to their own kids: attending PTAs, recitals, field trips, and other school activities. Through these events, they are able to build network with the teachers and their co-parents.

X-ers like to have some fun at work. The members of generation X love social events. That’s why when there are parties and other company events; you can expect that they will be there to join the fun. Aside from the fact that these events help boost their morale and cultivate team spirit, it is also an opportunity for them to mingle with their colleagues, bosses, as well as clients. Aside from social events, they also work more smoothly with peers than with their bosses. Thus, there are more and more X-ers who volunteer as mentor among their peers.

Gen X wants work-life balance. As opposed to the myth that Gen X-ers are slackers, these people actually think that their career is important. But when it comes to family, X-ers are likely to prioritize their family over work. "Members of Generation X appear to place a much higher priority on personal and family-related goals than on their career goals, "says Dr. Paulette Gerkovich, Chair of the Catalyst Award Committee from Boston College and an expert on glass ceiling issues. In her study about Generation X and their work-life values, it was found that, "84% of the respondents stated that it was extremely important to them to have a loving family, 72% indicated that it was extremely important to have a relationship with a significant other, while 79% responded that it was extremely important to enjoy life." Aside from their families, Gen X-ers tend to have very strong peer relationships. This may be due to the fact that they were once latch-key kids and that there was a spike in the number of divorced parents, friends became increasingly important so it’s no wonder they value their personal relationships over their careers.

Great network, so what? Building relationships doesn’t just stop there. The members of Generation X actually use their network for so many reasons. It may be as simple as finding a great tutor for their kids or getting a new job. This generation proved that a network isn’t just about a computer network, or a fish net, or a TV station; more importantly a network is also about relationships. Just like what a Gen X friend would always say, “At the end of the day, all that matters are your relationships.” Good point.

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The X-Factor: Networking The Gen-X Way