Generation Y – Prosell’s view

There is a lot of focus being given to the ‘Generation Y issue’ both by the press and the companies employing them. As an increasing percentage of sales and customer service personnel are coming from this group, Prosell has been asked by a number of its Clients to address the topic of how to develop the performance of Generation Y’ers.

Before we discuss some of the issues we need to establish who Generation Y is. Generation Y was born between 1980 and 1994 and they make up 20.5% of the Australian population and they’re certainly causing a stir. The Financial Review recently reported that four mid-sized accounting companies briefed a recruitment firm to only put forward candidates aged over 45 because of the perceived unreliability of Generation Y employees!

Some companies believe that Generation Y employees don’t stay long enough for a return on their investment in recruitment & training. It has even come so far that a company called Adage was granted exemption under Section 126 of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act to allow the advertisement of positions for only “mature-age” job seekers! However, interestingly enough, a survey of 124 companies done by Adage, focussing on ‘mature’ workers, found that::

· 69 per cent believe that mature workers are expensive

· 36 per cent of mature workers are not open to new training opportunities

· 27 per cent are less productive than younger workers

· 63 per cent have a poor cultural fit

· 84 per cent have poor technological knowledge

So there’s clearly a very mixed view of whether or not to recruit Generation Y – maybe they’re not as dysfunctional and expensive as some people believe. The key benefits of Generation Y employees are that:

· They are technology experts – this makes them great for product development and sales roles

· They are innovative and entrepreneurial – they will challenge the way things are done and improved services & products will be the outcome

· They understand Generation Y customers!

A Drake survey of 3,000 Generation Y employees showed that an amazing 90 per cent of them would continue with their employer if “better training and career development programs were in place”. Other important benefits to this generation are; job rotation, unpaid leave, time in lieu and work from home options.

Based on Prosell’s work is seems that the best way to get the most out of your Generation Y employees is to:

1. Conduct regular surveys to understand their motivation and use the results for developing retention strategies

2. Have regular performance review meetings to identify their needs and aspirations and to develop individual development plans

3. Use exit interviews with departing Generation Y employees to understand their reasons for leaving

If you have any questions this article or issues with your Generation Y employees contact us, we’ll be more than happy to help you and discuss your options.

References:

Financial Review, Workplace backlash against Gen Y, Ann-Maree Moodie Drake International, White Paper Volume 3, #1, Generation Y, 2006.