Managing the New Generation: A practical guide for understanding and meeting workplace expectations of Generation Y

Table of Contents

Managing the New Generation

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

Preface

Why this book?

What this book covers

Who this book is for

How to read this book

Conventions

Reader feedback

1. Generation Y – Who Are They?

So, what's burning?

Unpacking the attributes of Gen Y

Exploring Gen Y's needs and expectations

Can you live up to Gen Y's expectations?

Can your organization live up to Gen Y's expectations?

Shattering myths about Gen Y

Myth number 1 – Gen Y is entitled

Myth number 2 – Gen Y has no work ethic

Myth number 3 – Gen Y is disrespectful

Myth number 4 – Gen Y is self-centered

Myth number 5 – Gen Y wants to run before they can walk

Shattered myths? So what now?

Meeting the Gen Y community

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it...

Summary

2. Attracting Gen Y Talent to Your Company

So, what's burning?

Turbo-charging our job ads

Converting our ads from mild to sizzling hot!

Putting the lion's roar in your content

Tapping into social media – are you digitally networking?

Tweeting away your time - #tellmeyourstory

Blogging back to the basics

Facebook – do you like me?

The ABCs of heading back to school

Selecting the perfect candidate

Meeting the Gen Y community

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it…

Summary

3. Acclimatizing Gen Y to Your Workplace – Training that is Sticky, Stickier, and Stickiest

So, what's burning?

Revealing the learner within – the 360 degree request

Gen Y – who shows up for training?

Delivering training – how do YOU show up?

Orienting Gen Y to workplace realities – everyone on board?

Creating an unrivalled first impression

Designing training programs – shiny new tools for your toolbox

Diamonds in the rough – podcasts, vodcasts, and so much more!

Podcasts – get you headsets on!

Vodcasts – now I can see you!

Meet me online?

Once upon a time...

The polls are now open

Thinking outside the tank

Do you want to play a game?

Debate twister

Search and find

Mystery learning?

Upside down? Backwards? No, flip it!

Making transfer of learning stickiest

Forming sticky teams

Post-training collaborations

Evaluating your training – did you earn an A?

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it…

Meeting the Gen Y community

Summary

4. Unlocking the Secrets to Awesome Conversations with Gen Y

So, what's burning?

Stretching the elastic band–a new role awaits you

Let go–getting out of your own way

Learning a new language–from crushers to connectors

Checking assumptions

Giving and receiving feedback–what to say and how to say it

What to say

What not to say

How to say it

Navigating the super highway of conflict – potholes, puddles, and ditches

Shifting gears

Signaling a new direction

Seeing what's in the rear view mirror

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community

Summary

5. Inspiring Star Performance– Reaching Seriously for Sirius

So what's burning?

Transmitting new messages – Why? What? How?

Exploring change within–an invitation to try something new

Tuning in to Gen Y's wavelength

Responding to Gen Y's input – are we clashing or collaborating?

Exploring new horizons for Gen Y – the galaxy beyond their jobs

Ideas that come from Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn

Responding to the pitch

Encouraging them to keep pitching!

Looking through the telescope

Falling stars – learning how to fall with grace and grit

Falling, falling, rising!

Morphing into a culture that knows how to fall

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing…Peggy Liu!

Summary

6. Performance Management– Becoming Hyperintentional About Sustainability

So, what's burning?

Managing daily performance – the secret sauce for getting things just right

What's too much

What's too little

What's just right?

Developing performance appraisals – a new GPS for Gen Y

How to evaluate

Coordinate 1 – Blue sky dreaming: your head in the clouds again

Coordinate 2 – Developing a blueprint for success: getting from here to where?

Coordinate 3 – Contributing to Gen Y's success: YOUR GPS matters too!

Who evaluates

Appraisal interviews – from OH NO to OH YES!

Navigating the unexpected – when performance gets a flat tire

Navigating the unexpected

Deja vu – when the behavior recurs

When it's time to say goodbye

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing...Abdulmohsen Almuhanna!

Summary

7. Rewarding Peak Performers – Goodbye Plaques, Trophies, and Recognition Pins

So, what's burning?

Incentivizing peak performance with financial rewards

Performance-based reward system – rewarding superstars

Identifying the superstars

Fine-tuning our process – differentiating between low-end, middle, and top performers

Determining fund size – how fat is your wallet?

Rewarding team performance

Recognizing staff – possibilities beyond cash

E-recognition – congratulatory messages go viral!

Personalized recognitions – beyond another gold-plated watch

Spontaneous bursts of caring – just because

Incorporating a few tantalizing workplace perks

Work space – here, there, and everywhere

Expatriate opportunities – pack your bags!

A philanthropic generation

Sometimes, it's about doing nothing at all

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing...Victoria Kovalenko!

Summary

8. Mentoring the Next Generation of Leaders – Legacy Building, One Gen Y at a Time

So, what's burning?

Getting YOU primed for the mentoring journey ahead

An invitation to get over ourselves

Blueprint for your training – yes, training for YOU too!

Parachuting Gen Y into their future – their wish list and your map

The great revelation – what's on Gen Y's wish list?

Your map – guiding Gen Y to their career destination

Can I get a little support here? – mentoring the mentors

Throwing a mentoring life raft to YOU

Throwing a life raft to Gen Y too!

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing...Hande Gulsen!

Summary

9. Retaining Gen Y – What Else Does it Take to Keep Them?

So, what's burning?

Putting your organization's culture on your radar screen

The view under the microscope – one step back and two steps forward

Parking one's ego for incoming messages

Developing your sixth sense to the noise around you

Embracing the celestial sounds of whining

Silence ain't golden

Oh no! They're leaving!... Let them

Putting the stick down – don't beat yourself up

Holding the door open for Gen Ys as they leave

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing...Dr. Ganesh Ramachandran!

Summary

10. Multigenerational Unity – Singing in Semiperfect Harmony

So, what's burning?

Setting the right tempo for working together – maestro, please set the stage

Singing from a value-based song sheet

Establishing contractual agreements for our working relationships

Welcome to your team charter!

Checking in and checking out

Zero tolerance for B'ing flat!

Striking the right chord

Striking a different chord

Multigenerational collaborations – singing an octave higher

Leveraging the generational mix in unconventional ways

Informal conversations – a cappuccino moment

Establishing community circles that keep us singing in semiperfect harmony

Instruments of our success

How does feedback resonate with you – a prelude to success

Reframing challenges as opportunities

Leaning in to change

Google it

Meeting the Gen Y community – introducing...Gwen Hill!

Summary

Our last few minutes together...

Managing the New Generation

Managing the New Generation

Copyright © 2014 Impackt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author nor Impackt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Impackt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Impackt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: October 2014

Production reference: 1241014

Published by Impackt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78300-088-3

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Credits

Author

Carolin Rekar Munro

Production Coordinator

Melwyn D'sa

Cover Work

Melwyn D'sa

Content Development Editor

Sweny M. Sukumaran

Reviewers

Sue Honoré

Itamar Sharon

Acquisition Editor

Nick Falkowski

Proofreaders

Maria Gould

Ameesha Green

Copy Editors

Tanvi Bhatt

Simran Bhogal

Karuna Narayanan

Faisal Siddiqui

Project Coordinator

Venitha Cutinho

About the Author

Carolin Rekar Munro is the Associate Professor and Intellectual Lead for Leadership and Human Resources in the MBA and B.Com programs for the Faculty of Management at Royal Roads University in British Columbia. She is also an adjunct professor for Central Michigan University's Global Campus, teaching in the MA in Education. She received her Masters' and Doctoral degrees with a focus on developing human resources and leadership from the University of Toronto. She also has a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation from the Human Resources Professionals Association, a Certified Training and Development (CTDP) designation from the Canadian Society for Training and Development, and is certified in values-based leadership from the Barrett Centre, Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory, and Emotional Quotient Inventory.

Carolin manages a successful consulting practice, Eye of the Tiger Consulting (www.eyeofthetigerconsulting.ca), in which she collaborates with leaders on change management, employee engagement, organizational renewal, strategic planning, performance management, developing and sustaining high performing teams, succession management, and leadership development (for aspiring leaders, executives, and the youth community). Carolin has worked with clients in Canada, the U.S., South America, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe. She is also a national and international conference speaker.

Since 2008, Carolin's research portfolio has focused on Generation Y. Specifically, she has been investigating the following three key issues: the leadership role and competency profile required by GenY as they move into leadership; the organizational initiatives that need to be in place to identify, develop, and retain GenY talent; and the anticipated changes as leadership roles are filled by GenY, and how these changes can be navigated to ensure a smooth transition in organizational functioning and staff relations. Carolin is currently embarking on a study of how organizations internationally are preparing GenY for leadership roles, the competency profile required of GenY to lead internationally, and the changes GenY plans to make in doing business globally.

Her published work includes: the emerging organizational landscape with Generation Y at the helm; developing and sustaining high performance teams; Return on Investment (ROI) from training and development initiatives; leadership models to transition teams from dependence to interdependence; best practices in teaching and learning; wellness management of HR practitioners; transitioning to e-learning environments; bridging multi-generational differences; and the mentoring needs and expectations of Generation Y human resources practitioners. This is Carolin's second book, the first was Management of Human Resources, which is required reading for courses in Human Resources in many Canadian colleges and universities.

In the community, Carolin is involved in a number of national and international initiatives. For Education Beyond Borders, she is Chair of the Advisory Board, member of the Strategic Partnership Committee, and member of the facilitation team, who recently returned from Tanzania as part of a leadership development and community education project. As well as this, Carolin serves on the Human Resources Association's Educational Standards Committee and on the National Steering Committee for the Canadian Society for Training and Development.

I am indebted to a number of people who guided and coached me along the way, inspired me to persevere and give my best, and listened patiently to my many escapades into the world of Gen Y. A resounding and heartfelt thank you to: my mom and dad; my sister, Angela and her family—Steve, Robbie, Ashleigh, and Jessica; my brother, Steve; my dear friends, Wendy and Kieran; my family at Royal Roads University, especially Dr. Stephen Long, Shirley Russell, Cyndy Mason, Dr. Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell, Don Caplan, and Dr. Pedro Marquez; and the team at Impackt Publishing, especially Nick Falkowski and Venitha Cutinho. A special note of gratitude to the many Generation Ys who I met along the way, and a special thank you to those of you who graciously accepted the invitation to be interviewed for this book. All of you inspire me. Thank you for your presence in my life. A special heartfelt asante sana to Allen E. Mollel for always being at the other end of a text message when I needed encouragement to go one more mile.

About the Reviewers

Sue Honoré is an independent business researcher, a learning consultant, and a project manager. Over her career, she has held international managerial roles in both, global blue chip organizations and small companies. She is a cross-functional consultant and has worked in Strategy, Learning and Development, Research, IT, and Logistics.

At Ashridge Business School in Hertfordshire, UK, Sue acted as an internal learning consultant for 6 years, but is now an associate focused on research, in particular young people (Generation Y) and their managers at work. A major international Gen Y research project was completed in 2013 and ongoing research is looking into tapping into the experience of Baby Boomers. Other subjects include human interaction in a virtual MBA program, innovation in executive education, and ROI in customer service. Sue has taught for the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, judged e-learning awards, and spoken at many conferences. She is also on the Executive Committee of the Oxfordshire Family History Society and is editor of its journal, which won a major award in 2013.

Sue's first degree is in biological sciences, with a postgraduate qualification in Business Management and an MSc (Distinction) in Networked Learning from Lancaster University. In her continued aim to be a polymath, she has recently gained an Advanced Diploma in Local History from the University of Oxford.

Itamar Sharon is the founder of GeneratY. With GeneratY, he helps organizations with managing Generation Y. He believes that this generation can be of great value for an organization, but only when they are triggered and managed in the right way. By giving advice, workshops and presentations, he creates awareness within an organization and helps them benefit from the great potential their young workers have.

Itamar lives in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and is 28 years old.

Preface

Generation Y? Millennials? Digital Natives? The Net Generation?

Who are they? Where did they come from? Why are we having such difficulties managing them and keeping them in our companies?

In virtually every organization, the halls are buzzing with conversations about Generation Y (Gen Y)—the latest generation of workers that baffles us and leaves us with more questions than answers about how to manage and work with them. This book fills an important gap in the current academic and business literature by responding to the questions about Gen Y that keep you awake at night. It is a roadmap that helps you navigate through the uncultivated terrain of attracting, engaging, and retaining Gen Y talent in your organization en route to establishing a high performing and productive workforce that positions your organization for competitive advantage.

In my travels as a business practitioner, consultant, educator, and researcher over the past 20 years, I have been gratified and humbled by hundreds of your stories about Gen Y. You've shared with me those moments that caught you off guard and left you dazed: the candidate who showed up for a job interview armed with a reference letter from his mom, the market researcher who asked in disbelief, What do you mean I can't use Twitter for my market analysis?, the employee who raised her hand in a staff meeting and asked if jeans and a t-shirt constitute business casual, and the employee—just shy of 3 weeks of service in your company—who, having been told by you that she wasn't eligible for promotion this month, text messaged you the next day to announce her resignation. The stories are endless and boundary-less.

My point in sharing these stories is not to disparage Gen Y but rather to heighten our awareness and honor the new realities in our workplaces. I'm hoping you will join me in suspending judgment about Gen Y so that we can begin what promises to be an illuminating trek toward discovering new possibilities to interact and engage deeply and meaningfully with the newest addition to our workplace complement.

Why this book?

The main purpose of this book is threefold:

To chart proactive strategies to deal with the burning challenges you experience managing and working with Gen Y

To develop a toolkit of new techniques and practices you can use to enhance how you attract, develop, engage, and retain Gen Y

To dismantle myths about Gen Y and embrace a new mental model of who they are, which shapes, and how we build working relationships with them

The signature strength of this book is its practical and concrete tools, techniques, and practices that you can apply immediately. The proposed pathways are based on first-hand experiences, collaborating with organizational leaders, like yourselves, and members of the Gen Y community to unearth root-cause challenges and to chart proactive solution strategies. Offered are unique twists on solving the problems that you face, whether it is how to tap into the hidden talent bank to find qualified Gen Y candidates, how to communicate more effectively with Gen Y, or what motivates them to stay in your organization and work to their full potential. You will discover Gen Y's needs and expectations in the workplace and how you can channel these new insights into managing them.

The gold to be found at the end of this journey is:

Better understanding of Gen Y (and perhaps, learning a little about yourself along the way)

Building even stronger working relationships with Gen Y so that they want to join and remain in your organization, aspire to be your peak performers, and contribute substantially to the success and viability of your organization

Added to this, it is anticipated that you will gain confidence in your own leadership to air and resolve, in an open and constructive manner, the challenges that you currently experience with the Gen Ys in your life and lead by example in tackling the us vs. them battle that pervades many workplaces.

All the tools and practices move you closer to creating an engaging, high-performing, and productive workforce, especially at a time when organizations are racing to develop teams that position their organizations for competitive advantage in a fluid and shrinking global economy.

What this book covers

In this book, you'll find the following chapters:

Chapter 1, Generation Y – Who Are They?, addresses questions about Gen Y's attributes and workplace needs and expectations and shatters common myths about the newest generation.

Chapter 2, Attracting Gen Y Talent to Your Company, explores social media in recruitment in order to surpass the competition in attracting Gen Y talent to your organization.

Chapter 3, Acclimatizing Gen Y to Your Workplace – Training that is Sticky, Stickier, and Stickiest, examines digital tools in training to engage a generation that leads the digital information revolution.

Chapter 4, Unlocking the Secrets to Awesome Conversations with Gen Y, explores how you can engage in more meaningful and productive conversations with Gen Y, tackle barriers to effective communication, and ultimately, build strong working relationships with Gen Y.

Chapter 5, Inspiring Star Performance– Reaching Seriously for Sirius, examines job enrichment strategies that you can use to foster work experiences, within and beyond the job, that inspire Gen Y to be and offer their best and become your star performers.

Chapter 6, Performance Management– Becoming Hyperintentional About Sustainability, charts a course of action to manage daily performance, developing and conducting effective performance appraisals and navigating the unexpected.

Chapter 7, Rewarding Peak Performers – Goodbye Plaques, Trophies, and Recognition Pins, proposes financial and nonfinancial rewards to acknowledge high performance and to give your organization the competitive angle in motivating Gen Y.

Chapter 8, Mentoring the Next Generation of Leaders – Legacy Building, One Gen Y at a Time, focuses on the leadership role you can play in mentoring Gen Y on their career-development journey and in developing the talent needed so that you have the right staff, with the right skills, in the right roles for your organization's future.

Chapter 9, Retaining Gen Y – What Else Does it Take to Keep Them?, provides you with a different twist on how to create and sustain a workplace culture that minimizes the probability that Gen Y will seek employment elsewhere.

Chapter 10, Multigenerational Unity – Singing in Semiperfect Harmony, traces how you can exercise your leadership to bridge generational differences in the workplace and foster a cohesive and cooperative workplace that contributes to sustainable organizational effectiveness.

In each chapter, you'll find the following unique features:

Meeting the Gen Y Community: An interview with a member of the Gen Y cohort from around the world who unlocks the secrets of working with their generation

Reframing Challenges as Opportunities: A description of a challenge typically experienced when managing Gen Y, followed by a recommended course of action that transforms the challenge into an opportunity for workplace success

Leaning in to change: Questions posed to guide you in identifying and mapping out a change you would like to make in how you manage Gen Y

Google It: Links to websites, articles, YouTube, and Ted Talks for those of you who are interested in exploring the topics further

Practical applications and colorful examples and stories that inspire you to engage with Gen Y in new ways

Who this book is for

This book is written for those of you in a leadership capacity who find yourselves intrigued and perplexed by Gen Y and who are eager to discover the buried treasure chest of approaches to managing and working with Gen Y that will put you ahead of your competition. The target audience for this book is new, experienced, and soon-to-be managers at all levels in the organization. The book is written in user-friendly, jargon-free language appropriate for managers in all professions, industries, organizational cultures, and at any stage in their leadership career.

How to read this book

It is understandable that some of you may have little time to read this book cover to cover; hence, the book is organized so that you can skim through chapters or jump to the chapters that meet your needs. Others may like to read the book from start to finish, absorbing all the ideas that are offered. Feel free to read the book in whatever way you prefer. Regardless of your preference for navigating through the book, I hope you find the tools and techniques valuable and that you can spend time reflecting on how these new approaches can be applied to your organization as is or with a little tweaking.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

New terms and important words are shown in bold.

Make a note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tip

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Action Point

Action points appear like this

List

List appear like this

Reader feedback

Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to <[email protected]>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.impacktpublishing.com/authors.

Chapter 1. Generation Y – Who Are They?

With hurricane-shattering force that broad-sided us unexpectedly, Generation Y (Gen Y), has descended on our workplaces. A new generation of workers—born between 1981 and 2000—is in our midst, and they are triggering the most radical workforce changes with their distinctive attitudes, behaviors, needs, and expectations. With their arrival, the organizational landscape will never be the same again.

This first chapter sets the context for the book by providing a portrait of Gen Y, so we have a common understanding of who they are before we launch into strategies. In this chapter, we will:

Unpack the attributes of Gen Y

Examine what Gen Y needs and expects from us in the workplace

Shatter myths about Gen Y that can derail our working relationships with them

Before proceeding, there is a caveat to be mindful of. The description of Gen Y that is offered