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EMPOWERING GENERATION Y The ‘Why’ and the ‘How’...

The workplace is changing. In ever greater numbers, Generation Y (GY), those people born between the years 1980 and 1994 are infiltrating organizations - these are a curious sort, who display extremely different characteristics and attitudes to those of their predecessors. It is a long established fact that in knowledge driven economies, like the U.K., it is a company’s employees who yield the greatest potential for competitive ad-vantage - but in today’s increasingly multigenerational workplace, identifying what is important to and valued by employees takes on an importance which is hard to overstate. Organizations may feel pressure to change from customers, suppliers, governments, but if they ignore the need to change in order to attract and empower Generation Y employees, they will do so at their peril. In the context of current economic conditions and the volatility of business environments, the nimbleness rendered by the ability to make systemic, organization-wide change happen and happen fast will ordain an organization’s capacity to survive. How do you plan to avoid strategic drift?

The prospect of Generation Y’s impact on the work place may present a threat for some - but for the savvier of organizations, it presents a great opportu-nity. Academics and practitioners alike agree that this

group carry a potential for unprecedented productivity. So, besides this, what other rea-

sons exist for organizations to empower their Genera-tion Y employees?

GY loves responsibility

Never before has any group wished so strongly to prove themselves and exhibit their talent.

GY are independent and motivated

No need for micromanagement - GY have a stronger than usual innate sense of drive and initiative

GY are ‘techno-savvy’

Having grown up in the techno era, GY derive their innovative capacity from comfort with ever evolving

systems and IT. They will drive you forward.

GY thrive in situations of challenge

‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’ - with a ‘can do’ attitude, GY display much higher levels of commit-

ment to difficult and pressurized tasks.

GY are entrepreneurial

With more ideas than those who have gone before, GY are starting businesses in record numbers -

harness this creativity for your own organization.

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http://millennialsthinktank.com/

Responding to the challenge posed by the entrance of Generation Y to the workplace will be the difference between organizational success or demise. That being so, it remains that an appropriate approach to empowering these employees through strategy and practices may unleash the unprecedented surge in productivity that academics predict. So, how can this be done?

Based on the results of our research and flavoured with numerous other academic considerations of the issue, The Millenials Think Tank presents:

Top 10 Tips for Empowering Generation Y Employees

by Organizational Strategy and Practice

1 Career progression - outline the steps.

Communicate the organization’s policy on promotion. With a clear view of the road ahead, GY’s motivation is main-tained and enhanced.

2 Systematize variety.

Arrange your organization’s workload into bite-sized pro-jects to allow GY employees to constantly meet new peo-ple and tackle a diverse range of tasks.

3 Learn to trust.

Do not be tempted to micromanage GY like older mem-bers of your workforce - this will impinge on their motiva-tion. Give GY the freedom to apply their own initiative.

4 Form an organizational mission statement.

Mission statements can engender the sense of purpose and identity that GY seek from their organization - they offer their full engagement is available - make sure you have it.

5 Revisit your CSR Strategy.

GY have an acute sense of ethics and demand the same from their employers. Take part in CSR - do something relevant which allows GY to ‘give back’ to their community - they really care about this.

6 Offer flexible working conditions.

GY highly value opportunities to pursue hobbies and inter-ests - motivation and productivity are enhanced when the sense of conflict between these and work demands is minimal.

7Inter-generational mentoring.

Connect your GY employees with someone above them in the organizational hierarchy - preferably a Baby Boomer. Provide an open forum for the sharing of knowledge and ideas, then watch the synergy flow.

8 Rethink rewards.

For GY, it’s not all about the money - work is not simply a transaction. CSR, teamwork, challenging projects, opportu-nities to travel, an actual sense of being valued, are all more attractive.

9 Employ 360˚ feedback for appraisal.

GY appreciate the opportunity to give/receive feedback from those above/below/on the same level as them in the organization, it accords with their sense of openness.

10 Rethink your approach to CPD.

What does CPD mean to you? For GY, it means a chance to develop skills over and above what is typically de-manded of them day-by-day - they wish to be ‘rounded individuals’ - so make the opportunity available