Generation Y: They've arrived at work with a new attitude

This is a great archive article I have that I feel EVERYONE should read to understand Gen-Y people better. We have to be more and more dynamic when it comes down to Inviting, Opening, and maintaining this demographic in your Teams. I highly suggest this read. ~ Alan :-D

By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

They're young, smart, brash. They may wear flip-flops to the office or listen to iPods at their desk. They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life.

This is Generation Y, a force of as many as 70 million, and the first wave is just now embarking on their careers — taking their place in an increasingly multigenerational workplace.

Get ready, because this generation — whose members have not yet hit 30 — is different from any that have come before, according to researchers and authors such as Bruce Tulgan, a founder of New Haven, Conn.-based RainmakerThinking, which studies the lives of young people.

This age group is moving into the labor force during a time of major demographic change, as companies around the USA face an aging workforce. Sixty-year-olds are working beside 20-year-olds. Freshly minted college graduates are overseeing employees old enough to be their parents. And new job entrants are changing careers faster than college students change their majors, creating frustration for employers struggling to retain and recruit talented high-performers.

Unlike the generations that have gone before them, Gen Y has been pampered, nurtured and programmed with a slew of activities since they were toddlers, meaning they are both high-performance and high-maintenance, Tulgan says. They also believe in their own worth.

"Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce," says Jordan Kaplan, an associate managerial science professor at Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York. "They've grown up questioning their parents, and now they're questioning their employers. They don't know how to shut up, which is great, but that's aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, 'Do it and do it now.' "

That speak-your-mind philosophy makes sense to Katie Patterson, an assistant account executive at Edelman Public Relations in Atlanta. The 23-year-old, who hails from Iowa and now lives with two roommates in a town home, likes to collaborate with others, and says many of her friends want to run their own businesses so they can be independent.

"We are willing and not afraid to challenge the status quo," she says. "An environment where creativity and independent thinking are looked upon as a positive is appealing to people my age. We're very independent and tech savvy."

A great deal is known about Gen Y:

•They have financial smarts. After witnessing the financial insecurity that beset earlier generations stung by layoffs and the dot-com bust, today's newest entrants into the workforce are generally savvy when it comes to money and savings. They care about such benefits as 401(k) retirement plans.

Thirty-seven percent of Gen Yers expect to start saving for retirement before they reach 25, with 46% of those already working indicating so, according to a September survey by Purchase, N.Y.-based Diversified Investment Advisors. And 49% say retirement benefits are a very important factor in their job choices. Among those eligible, 70% of the Gen Y respondents contribute to their 401(k) plan.

Patterson, who works at Edelman, has already met with a financial planner, and her co-worker, Jennifer Hudson, 23, is also saving for the future.

"I knew what a Roth IRA was at 17. I learned about it in economics class," says Hudson, an assistant account executive in Atlanta and a University of Alabama graduate. "My generation is much more realistic. We were in college when we saw the whole dot-com bust."

•Work-life balance isn't just a buzz word. Unlike boomers who tend to put a high priority on career, today's youngest workers are more interested in making their jobs accommodate their family and personal lives. They want jobs with flexibility, telecommuting options and the ability to go part time or leave the workforce temporarily when children are in the picture.

"There's a higher value on self fulfillment," says Diana San Diego, 24, who lives with her parents in San Francisco and works on college campuses helping prepare students for the working world through the Parachute College Program. "After 9/11, there is a realization that life is short. You value it more."

•Change, change, change. Generation Yers don't expect to stay in a job, or even a career, for too long — they've seen the scandals that imploded Enron and Arthur Andersen, and they're skeptical when it comes to such concepts as employee loyalty, Tulgan says.

They don't like to stay too long on any one assignment. This is a generation of multitaskers, and they can juggle e-mail on their BlackBerrys while talking on cellphones while trolling online.

And they believe in their own self worth and value enough that they're not shy about trying to change the companies they work for. That compares somewhat with Gen X, a generation born from the mid-1960s to the late-1970s, known for its independent thinking, addiction to change and emphasis on family.

"They're like Generation X on steroids," Tulgan says. "They walk in with high expectations for themselves, their employer, their boss. If you thought you saw a clash when Generation X came into the workplace, that was the fake punch. The haymaker is coming now."

Tulgan, who co-authored Managing Generation Y with Carolyn Martin and leads training sessions at companies on how to prepare for and retain Generation Yers, says a recent example is a young woman who just started a job at a cereal company. She showed up the first day with a recipe for a new cereal she'd invented.

Conflicts over casual dress

In the workplace, conflict and resentment can arise over a host of issues, even seemingly innocuous subjects such as appearance, as a generation used to casual fare such as flip-flops, tattoos and capri pants finds more traditional attire is required at the office.

Angie Ping, 23, of Alvin, Texas, lives in flip-flops but isn't allowed to wear them to the office. "Some companies' policies relating to appropriate office attire seem completely outdated to me," says Ping, at International Facility Management Association. "The new trend for work attire this season is menswear-inspired capri pants, which look as dressy as pants when paired with heels, but capri pants are not allowed at my organization."

And then there's Gen Y's total comfort with technology. While boomers may expect a phone call or in-person meeting on important topics, younger workers may prefer virtual problem solving, Tulgan says.

Conflict can also flare up over management style. Unlike previous generations who've in large part grown accustomed to the annual review, Gen Yers have grown up getting constant feedback and recognition from teachers, parents and coaches and can resent it or feel lost if communication from bosses isn't more regular.

"The millennium generation has been brought up in the most child-centered generation ever. They've been programmed and nurtured," says Cathy O'Neill, senior vice president at career management company Lee Hecht Harrison in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. "Their expectations are different. The millennial expects to be told how they're doing."

Matt Berkley, 24, a writer at St. Louis Small Business Monthly, says many of his generation have traveled and had many enriching experiences, so they may clash with older generations they see as competition or not as skilled. "We're surprised we have to work for our money. We want the corner office right away," he says. "It seems like our parents just groomed us. Anything is possible. We had karate class, soccer practice, everything. But they deprived us of social skills. They don't treat older employees as well as they should."

Employers are examining new ways to recruit and retain and trying to sell younger workers on their workplace flexibility and other qualities generally attractive to Gen Y.

At Abbott Laboratories in Chicago, recruiters are reaching out to college students by telling them about company benefits such as flexible work schedules, telecommuting, full tuition reimbursement and an online mentoring tool.

Perks and recruitment

Aflac, an insurer based in Columbus, Ga., is highlighting such perks as time off given as awards, flexible work schedules and recognition.

Xerox is stepping up recruitment of students at "core colleges," which is how the company refers to universities that have the kind of talent Xerox needs. For example, the Rochester Institute of Technology is a core school for Xerox recruiting because it has a strong engineering and printing sciences programs. Others include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois and Cornell University.

Xerox is using the slogan "Express Yourself" as a way to describe its culture to recruits. The hope is that the slogan will appeal to Gen Y's desire to develop solutions and change. Recruiters also point out the importance of diversity at the company; Gen Y is one of the most diverse demographic groups — one out of three is a minority.

"(Gen Y) is very important," says Joe Hammill, director of talent acquisition. "Xerox and other Fortune-type companies view this emerging workforce as the future of our organization."

But some conflict is inevitable. More than 60% of employers say they are experiencing tension between employees from different generations, according to a survey by Lee Hecht Harrison.

The survey found more than 70% of older employees are dismissive of younger workers' abilities. And nearly half of employers say that younger employees are dismissive of the abilities of their older co-workers.

As an executive assistant, Jennifer Lewis approves expenses and keeps track of days off for employees, which she says can be awkward because she's so much younger than her co-workers. She reports to the president of her company's design department.

"People who have been here 10 years, and they have to report to a 22-year-old," Lewis says. She also says in an e-mail that "I often have to lie about my age to receive a certain level of respect that I want from my co-workers."

Lewis, a senior at Hunter College in New York, tries not to tell people she is a student for fear it will make her seem like "the young schoolgirl." She pays rent and pays for her own school and spends her free time taking cooking and pottery classes.

But there are advantages to being young as well. "I am computer savvy," she says, "so people come to me for everything."

Who is Gen Y?

There is no consensus over the exact birth dates that define Gen Y, also known by some as echo boomers and millennials. But the broadest definition generally includes the more than 70 million Americans born 1977 to 2002. Generation X was born roughly 1965 to 1976.

Narrower definitions put Gen Yers as those ages 16 to 27, born from 1978 to 1989. This narrower view is based on the thinking that as the pace of change in society accelerates, the time frame of a generation gets shorter.

Effect on Workforce

Under the narrow definition, as they take their first jobs, Gen Y would be the fastest-growing segment of the workforce — growing from 14% of the workforce to 21% over the past four years to nearly 32 million workers.

About Gen Y Workers

High expectations of self: They aim to work faster and better than other workers.
High expectations of employers: They want fair and direct managers who are highly engaged in their professional development.
Ongoing learning: They seek out creative challenges and view colleagues as vast resources from whom to gain knowledge.
Immediate responsibility: They want to make an important impact on Day 1.
Goal-oriented: They want small goals with tight deadlines so they can build up ownership of tasks.

Source: Bruce Tulgan of RainmakerThinking

July 13, 2006
LiveWire

Mary Riekert looks at a new generation in love with screen culture - but not television.

CALL them gen Y, the millenium generation or echo boomers, they are the generation that has grown up with access to technology every day of their lives.

Born between 1982 and 1995, the offspring (or echo) of baby boomers number more than 250 million worldwide.

Their parents grew up in homes with a limited number of TV channels, no remote control and usually a single phone. If they wanted to play video games they had to go to the local arcade or milk bar.

Echo boomers, the "always-on" generation, have grown up with mobile phones that take pictures and play video, portable media players, the internet, instant messaging, Voice over IP, cable TV, online games. With access to all this technology they're the new wave of consumers marketers are desperate to reach.

Echo boomers in the US have yearly incomes totalling $US211 billion ($A281 billion) and spend about $US170 billion a year, according to a report by Harris Interactive. In Australia, echo boomers make up more than 20 per cent of the workforce, a figure expected to double during the next five years. That means they have a considerable slice of the financial pie and consumer clout.

Thanks to the raft of personal technology available to them, echo boomers are watching less television and are not great consumers of print media, the traditional marketing channels.

According to media analyst Bob Peters, director of Global Media Analysis, significant changes have occurred in television usage among young consumers, who typically are more avid adopters of new distribution platforms. "Between 1994 and 2004 there appears to have been a reduction in average daily television usage of between 17 per cent and 21 per cent among all viewers under the age of 24," he says.

The impact of pay television, online services, DVDs, computer games and mobile phones, which have been around for about a decade, has been small but incremental and it is only now that their effect is being realised, Mr Peters says. "This doesn't show up in the ratings figures until you drill down and analyse what is really going on," he says. "TV in particular is responding to this shift with programming targeted specifically to deliver the younger demographic audience to their advertisers. Programs such as Big Brother, sport and music videos broadcast later in the evening are an example of this shift."

The advent of digital television and personal video recorders (PVRs) makes the situation more complex, according to Mr Peters. "This generation want their entertainment on the device of their choice when they want it and this is a big challenge for advertisers," he says.

Nearly half of US households are expected to own PVRs in 2010, according to JupiterResearch.

PVRs, of which the Tivo, the best known, is widely available overseas but needs to be modified for use in Australia, can skip the ads. For about $500 Australians can now buy a PVR able to record more than 20 hours of video which can be watched at leisure without the ads that are the free-to-air broadcasters' primary source of income.

Also, internet protocol television (IPTV), which integrates the web with television, video, music, and general computer content, has the potential to allow viewers to control and customise what they watch. IPTV has been tested and is now in homes in the US and Britain.

So it is no surprise that in Australia the free-to-air broadcasters are watching as the telcos here crank up their bandwidth offerings and promise commercial deployment soon.

In fact, US tech giant Tellabs harnessed the echo boomers to secure business with Telstra in upgrading its networks.

Tellabs advertised on a billboard opposite Telstra's Melbourne head office with the message that the "Echo boomers are coming and they need bandwidth".

Tellabs' Europe and Asia-Pacific marketing communications manager, Sonny Waheed, says the company believes echo boomers will reshape telecommunications.

"By having a better idea of what makes this generation tick we can understand their network needs and we aim to provide a future-proof network," Mr Waheed says.

"There are significant shifts in their social behaviour because of the technology they have access to, the fundamental difference being in the way they communicate.

"Take today's 12-year-old. When she is 27 her interaction with technology is going to be greater than with any other generation.

"Companies are going to have to change everything because of what she and her generation will demand - the services they offer, how they market products, their employment policies."

Portable media players and podcasting are also eating into the time echo boomers spend in front of the television.

The Apple iMusic Store advertises that "for $1.99, you can own the latest episode of your favourite show just one day after it airs, and you don't have to sit through a single commercial".

The iTunes Music Store has television shows from ABC, NBC, MTV, ESPN, Sci Fi Channel, Comedy Central, Disney, Nickelodeon and Showtime.

Suddenly, Australia's echo boomers don't have to wait until commercial TV stations air the next episode of The OC or Desperate Housewives.

Increasingly, advertisers are turning to media such as SMS, email, blogs and viral marketing online to try to reach this elusive youth market. In 2004-05, in Australia there were 16.2 million mobile subscribers, according to Telstra.

Mobile phone marketing is now considered mainstream, with the Mobile Marketing and Advertising Awards recognising excellence in integrated advertising and marketing campaigns, content and applications for mobile phones.

Internet advertising has also seen exponential growth as advertisers go online.

The Australian online advertising market grew nearly 50 per cent last year, with $605 million in revenue.

The figure is expected to increase significantly to more than $1.5 billion by 2009, according to a report by research group Frost & Sullivan.

The report attributed "the online industry's growth to the rapid migration of eyeballs from traditional media to the internet and the increase in online media consumption across all demographics; strong uptake of broadband by Australian households; the evolution of wireless technologies such as 3G, which allows for digital advertising across both online (large screen) and mobile (small screen); and an increase in online spend by major advertisers and agencies".

However, online marketing can be unpredictable.

According to US market research firm Yankelovich, echo boomers like to be in control and don't trust advertising in any media, something Coca-Cola Australia found out when it ran an $18 million viral marketing campaign to launch Coke Zero to the youth market at Christmas last year. The company launched the "zero movement" using a series of posters, coasters and a website with blog-type entries.

Bloggers reacted by creating a blog, The Zero Movement Sucks, with entries such as "Dude! My marketing campaign is sooo, like, you know, rad!" and a spoof site, the Zero Coke Movement.

Coca-Cola's division marketing director, John Wardley, dismissed accusations that Coke was commercialising the blog space, saying Coca-Cola was not the first company to use blogs for marketing purposes.

Last year, the BBC was accused of using Wikipedia, the collaborative online reference site, to market an online alternative reality game, when a fan posted a false entry to promote the game. The Wikipedia "talk" page was full of outraged comments from contributors but one anonymous reader said: "I can't say who I am, but I do work at a company that uses Wikipedia as a key part of online marketing strategies. That includes planting viral information in entries, modification of entries to point to new promotional sites or 'leaks' embedded in entries to test diffusion of information."

Interactive games are also being used by marketers hoping to get their products in front of echo boomers.

According to Bob Peters, young men are the hardest market to reach as they watch less television than young women. Online gaming sites are enormously popular with this group; for example IGN Entertainment, which has sites such as ign.com, and gamespy.com, says it averages 15 to 20 million unique users a month, 91 per cent of them male, with an average age of 22.

Brand communications specialist Neal Latto says that, while gaming offers a lot of exposure to advertisers, the younger generation of gamers are "pretty cynical" about product placement in games.

"In fact, it could have a negative effect as they feel they have been overexposed to advertising," Mr Latto says.

Generation tech

Liz Walker, student, 16.

Liz (below) has her own computer at home with a broadband connection and spends up to four hours a day on the internet. She chats to friends on MSN as well as using the computer for homework assignments and research, downloading music and to play games. She has bought books and music online. Liz has a mobile phone and got her first when she was 12, to keep in touch with home. She has an iPod, which she listens to every day, and she downloads music whenever she can. During the holidays this may take up a whole day. Liz also has a portable DVD player, a CD player, a Game Boy, a PlayStation and a Nintendo. She watches three to four hours of pay TV a day, usually while she is doing something else such as painting or drawing.

Bart Hodges, student, 14.

Bart (top) has his own notebook, which he uses mostly at home. It has lots of capacity so he can play games. He has a cable internet connection at home which he thinks is way too slow. On average he spends two to five hours a day on the net and at weekends about seven. He talks to friends on MSN but his real passion is World of Warcraft. "It's an online internet game that people play worldwide. I have many friends online, with some real-life ones here in Melbourne," says Bart. "I spend nearly every minute I can on the game since I use it to talk to every friend I have around the world. Instead of using the phone, me and my friends can talk to each other in one big group and have fun battling as well." Bart also uses the computer for research and school work. He has a mobile phone but doesn't text on it much, although he has friends who send 25 or more text messages a day. He has an iPod nano, a Game Boy 3 console, and he uses his mobile phone camera and the family digital camera. Bart watches on average an hour of free-to-air or pay TV a day.

Amie Saunders, solicitor, 26.

Amie (below) has her own notebook as well as sharing a computer at home. She has a broadband connection and spends one to three hours a day on the internet. She occasionally uses MSN but uses her computer for work, email, as an organiser, for shopping, downloading music and research. Amie got her first mobile phone when she was 18. She has an iPod, which she uses for an hour a day, and she spends about an hour a month downloading music. She also has a DVD player, digital camera, digital photo printer and a heart-rate monitor. On average Amie watches about an hour of free-to-air TV a day.

Generation Y Youtube Videos

Interview with a Generation Y Expert - Lindsey Pollak

The Gen Y Guy on 60 Minutes - Generational Speaker

Generation Y documentary

Managing Generation Y

Generation Y 2.0: from awareness to funky solutions

Generation Y! Commercial for Yahoo

Who is Gen Y?