Saba® People Management Blog

27 April, 2008
Why Generation Y?
Author: Maksim Ovsyannikov

I recently attended a major HCM conference where a panel of baby boomers, pretending to be experts on the millennial generation, was giving advice on how to attract and manage Generation Y.  Initially I was surprised that the panel did not include a single representative from Gen Y, but after looking around, I noticed that practically none of the so called “experts” on this topic are in their twenties.  Most are indeed ready to retire! 

What’s also interesting – very few sources on the topic of Generation Y actually studied this via involvement from the Gen Y members themselves.  This shocking phenomenon, which I call “the millennial fever”, seems to be everywhere.  Hyper analysis of this topic has practically led to volumes that are being written to help explain and digest the differences between Gen Y and others.  The truth is – we are not that different from the rest of you out there!  Let’s take a closer look…

We fundamentally care about and value the same things you do.  We want to feel the impact of the work that we do and we want our employers to invest in our development, offer us opportunities for personal and professional growth and reward us for our commitment and performance.  Did you want different things from your employer 30 years ago?  If you answered “yes”, I don’t believe you.  You see, fundamentally, we are first human, and then iPhone users.  We are first and foremost individuals and only then we are the users of Facebook and MySpace.  We are mostly first members of our communities and only then members of a social network!  The hype about us being drastically different is somewhat true, but organizations that focus on the differences will miss out on the fundamentals, which stay the same.

Give this a thought - a senior executive of a Fortune company recently asked me what his organization should be doing in order to attract and retain the members of Gen Y workforce. My answer was very simple - you should look for potential, invest in it and reward people properly.  You should give them tools to connect to each other and learn from each other so that they can accomplish more for your organization..  “But if you think that other people who work for you don’t want the same – you are making the biggest mistake of your career”, I added.  You see, it turns out that if we focus on what’s fundamentally important, we will cater to our entire corporate community, inclusive of Gen Y.  So, why Gen Y?

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Comment from Drew Galloway on April 29, 2008
I think much of this may stem from the differences between opportunities available to Gen Y'ers vs. baby boomers when they were in their twenties. Baby boomers learned that the best way to manage their career was to find a job with a good company and stick to it for life, eventually retiring with a gold watch and good pension. Jobs were not as plentiful back then, and young people were made to feel "lucky" just to have a job. But they also knew that they could count on that pension when the time came. The company would "take care" of them. Such things don't exist today for Gen. Y'ers. Companies no longer invest in their employees, and as a result, Gen. Y'ers don't have the same sense of loyalty. Compounding this issue, is that there are more jobs available for young people today than when baby boomers were entering the market. Boomers are overwhelmed at the amount of employment choices entry level or novice candidates have. In the end, you are right...we all want the same thing...its just that baby boomers don't think we deserve it.

Comment from Amy Lynch on May 6, 2008
Excellent post! I too often work with companies that want to attract Gen Y talent, but don't involve Ys in the conversation. If more did, they'd hear things like what you wrote. Ys ARE different in the way they/you process info. And the Y take on work ethic is different (as in, "Why should I be at my desk 80 hours a week if I can do the job from home in 30?"). But, as you point out, the fundamentals are very much the same. Best! Amy Lynch