You have in your employ a group of well-educated, technically savvy, efficient young workers who are skilled multi-taskers. These Generation Y individuals are a bit of an enigma to you. But you've invested a lot of time and energy in hiring and training them and you want to get the best they have to offer and keep them in the fold. Here are some of the things you can do to achieve that objective.

How to Accommodate Generation Y's Expectations

High on the "wish list" of the typical Gen Y worker is the desire to work for a socially responsible organization. The men and women of Gen Y also want to have fun, belong to a team, make a difference, enjoy a degree of flexibility and develop skills. Accommodating every item on that list is probably not a realistic possibility for most employers. But accommodating some of these items is. Here's how you can find some common ground.

1. Provide thorough, job-specific orientation, including:

Explain to Gen Y workers how their role fits into the corporate "big picture."

2. Be clear in your expectations and specify what can and can't be changed. Don't make any assumptions about workplace etiquette or safety procedures. Remember, there's a knowledge gap and some Gen Y workers may bring to the workplace very few basic skills.

3. Coach workers. When training, explain why something needs to be done a certain way.

4. Encourage communication. Talk to your Gen Y workers. Learn about their interests. And, if it's appropriate in your workplace, ask them how they like to communicate. Do they text message, for example, or use instant messaging? Let them know that the communication is two-way and that they can talk to you, too.

5. Provide feedback when tasks are completed and when mistakes are made. Be sure to include the "why."

6. Create an environment of inclusion. Remember that Generation Y'ers want to belong to a team.

7. Recognize efforts. Yes, Gen Y employees want recognition; who doesn't? Recognition motivates and inspires employees, contributing to loyalty. But the recognition must be specific, timely and meaningful.

8. Establish goal-setting. The Gen Y worker wants to learn, develop skills and be challenged and goal-setting can help address those expectations.

9. Offer mentoring, to help your Gen Y workers build relationships with their more experienced co-workers and learn from them; consider pairing up different generations.

Generation Y Workers Value Relationships

The most effective way to bridge the generation gap and tap the potential of your Generation Y employees - and keep them safe on the job-is to develop relationships with them. Good pay will get Gen Y workers in the door, but it won't necessarily make them stay. They will, however, stay for a supervisor they respect and trust.

Conclusion

About 30 years ago, companies recognized a shift in the American work ethic. Young adult workers were rejecting jobs they deemed menial or unpleasant, and employees everywhere were showing a preference for leisure time versus overtime. Job satisfaction ranked higher than good pay and employers, not employees, had to change. According to Harvard Business School professor Wickham Skinner, "We simply have to remove the roadblocks stopping individuals from gaining satisfaction on the job." That was in 1972. Perhaps there aren't so many differences between the generations after all.

YOUNG WORKER ORIENTATION

10 Ways to Blow It

By Catherine Jones

How do you know if you're getting off to a bad start with your new Gen Y worker? Here are 10 ways to ensure failure:

Source: Community Futures

MEMBER REPLY

How Baby Boomers See Generation Y

There have been a couple of replies to this article series from Gen Y workers. One in particular took exception to the generalization.

I work in the EMS field as a training officer and network with EMS managers and instructors from all over the US. The characterization of the AVERAGE Gen Y worker in the article is accurate. Just like you cannot "box" boomers like me, the characterization is not absolute.

The reply sounds like it came from a decidedly exceptional "Gen Y'er". Our agency, like many, many EMS agencies are having generational issues with the 20 something's coming into the workforce. The issues began with the "Gen-X'ers".

The problem is the way the young people are being educated. The public schools have adopted a non-competitive, no real consequence, no personal responsibility educational style and this is doing the youth of America a disservice. By and large, as an employer, I see new employees coming in and:

These are just a few examples of behavior and culture issues we have to deal with every day. Do I stereotype, probably. Does it fit 100% of the workforce of GenY'ers? No. We have a few that come in with the "can-do" attitude that employers need, but these are exception, not the rule.

So what is the challenge? To try and work with what we've been given, which is what we do. We have had to adapt our management style to effectively deal with these workers. The article fairly characterizes the issues and has provided so far some real guidance of how to meet the challenges of this growing workforce.

Clinton Randolph, PMD
Training Officer
Liberty Ambulance Service

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