Gen Ys: Lazy or hardworking?
It's interesting to see the media lately around the work ethic of Generation Y. Headlines such as "Managers unhappy with Gen Y" and "Gen Y disappoints employers" are getting a lot of airtime lately. These articles quote surveys saying business owners claim Gen Y's are impatient, demanding and difficult to manage. For me though, I think it's all a matter of perception and leadership. Perception, because we all have a chance to see problems or opportunities. Take for example, the tags 'impatient' and 'demanding', which can reveal itself in the workplace in a number of ways, like ambition, the need of instant gratification, the desire for continuous feedback and be involved in decisions that affect their job and workplace. These can be seen as positive or negative, and your perception will influence your leadership. See it as a positive and you can see employees that are 'ready for a variety of challenges' and 'willing to learn and improve - fast'. In the latest report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling at the University of Canberra, it found that Gen Y's are actually working and studying harder than previous generations. So why aren't managers harnessing this? The leadership style needs to change to engage Gen Y’s.
LEADERSHIP BEFORE
Boss
Specialty
Respect for time spent
Conformity
Tell
Control
What?
LEADERSHIP NOW
Mentor
Variety
Respect for results
Creativity
Engage
Flexibility
Why?
Could you try…
Presenting Gen Y’s with a variety of tasks?
Offering incentives for performance and results?
Communicating the value of the work performed by the Gen Y?
Presenting fun and interactive learning programs such as the yGen program?
Organising activities that develop relationships in the office?
Offering flexible working times?
What is your perception of different generations and how does that affect your leadership?
posted by Alicia Curtis @ 11:50 AM
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