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Engaging with Generation Y.
You know the type- they come to work in stylish (too tight) apparel, chatting away on expensive phones about parties they were at last night- even on a week day. They give you that blank look when you tell them that facebook has been blocked on the network- a stare that says, ‘that’s OK, I’ll use it on my phone old-timer,’ whist all the while checking the status of their hair in the mirror behind you (boy as well as girl). They are cocky, self assured and have the attention span of a goldfish.
Definitions differ, but Generation Y-ers or Internet Kids were those born in the late 80’s or early 90’s, and grew up with a steady diet of the internet, video games and overworked, tired parents who maybe were a bit distracted to give them their full attention growing up. Traditionally hard to manage, they are the bane of managers, and a headache for HR.
I knew one of these Gen Y’s, who got a short term contract with a large local organization over the vacation period. After the vacation period it was extended for a while, until he took up his place at a foreign university, where he got a scholarship. This young man was so bored at this job that he started blogging about it on the internet. His blog posts got quite popular too. At one point, his job was making photocopies- all day long. Outside of that, he had large amounts of time where there was nothing to do, and he took it upon himself to go to other departments, asking for work (which is how he ended up with the photocoping gig).
It starts off with organizations feeling the need to have corporate responsibility programs where they offer short term jobs to young people- others have more formal graduate programs which take in recent graduates. That is how I started working as well. As well intentioned as these programs sometimes are, organizations seem to have problems integrating these new workers with the rest of the organization- and HR gets job to fix it. At some point these 20-somethings enter the world of work officially, and face a lot of resentment, under employment and dare I say discrimination. In order to really maximize their youthful exuberance, it’s important to understand some of their traits- which will assist in managing them.
Tech-heads. These kids are wired- all the time. They have all the gadgets, all the required social media accounts and use them constantly. In fact, many suffer actual withdrawal symptoms when cut off from the internet. If you are lucky to have any of them in your social media space as I do, you will realize that status updates at 1-3 am is quite normal, on any given day.
Strong Family & Friend orientation. They also have a strong social orientation to friends and family, which may trump any work associations or event. They are constantly on the phone or social media sites connecting with loved ones, usually talking about how bored they are at work.
Achievement Oriented. This is usually a big source of contention. Gen Y’s expect to be promoted within 6 months of getting hired, and get really upset when it does not happen. This happens in part because many parents have fostered in them an entitlement attitude, where they get ‘prizes’ for displaying expected behaviors, like getting good grades, or making curfew consistently. This is where all the tech gadgets come from.
Even though they are ambitious, if given the opportunity to spend less time in the office, they would jump at the change. They are also of the view that they can do your job, and in less time.
Team Oriented. They run in packs- literally. This is in part because many of them grew up in neighborhoods where there were a lot of other young people their age that they grew up with. Additionally with the growth of team sports at school, they learn from a young age that more fun is to be had in groups. Peer influence is high, as well as the need to interact frequently. They keep up these relationships via their newly acquired tech toys.
Attention Craving. Gen Y’s crave attention and feedback- something which irks many a manager. They seek regular feedback, and need to hear ‘good job’ a little more regularly that most executives are willing to say. For those more senior among us, we were socialized in the opposite way- getting praised for doing good work was not expected, hardly given, and sometimes used as a weapon to create unhealthy workplace competition.
So how to you manage these party going, attention seeking, internet addicted, wanna be managers? The first requirement is a change of attitude.
Company Culture. Most companies have an established culture that officially or unofficially maintains the status quo. Usually, this culture gives impressive weight to seniority and experience, and an established way of doing things (process, procedure). Unfortunately these are the things that tend to work against innovation- and Gen Y’s. For those who have had the benefit of working/studying abroad, you may have been exposed to a more team based, collaborative work culture, which tends to go against the command and control structures that we may have become accustomed to. Gen Y’s are made to tow the line, or face the dungeon (‘sit at your desk- just to your work’). Gen Y’s love a challenge, love team based environments and love praise- if these are absent, they will suffer. If the first reaction to a Gen Y in your organization can be considered condescending and patronizing, then you know that they will not work out well with the ‘regular folks.’
Feedback. As for their need for attention, this has some serious implications. If feedback and praise in the office is not objective, even handed and consistent, it does more harm than good. What you end up with is ‘older’ employees getting disgruntled when the ‘new kid’ starts getting the pick of great assignments, and gets a pat on the back every time the boss passes by (new pet). Office politics kicks into high overdrive, and intentional obstacles are created. As for those that do not any type of feedback at all, the new hires will become just as disgruntled as the ‘older heads’ in short order- if they stay.
Solution? And this is where HR gets paid the big bucks (don’t laugh)- performance management and feedback mechanisms have to be created that allow for managers to give objective feedback (possibly around projects) to the new hires very regularly, whilst integrating the established staff that may not have been accustomed to that process. Training for managers in Coaching and Mentoring-especially related to younger staff members, may be essential.
Also note that the issue of promotion is not as big as you may think. In our culture, people who get promoted get a few things- a better salary, more responsibility/autonomy etc., but the one that is most important to this generation is that they get MORE ATTENTION and are taken more seriously. If you create a dynamic work environment where the Gen Y’s feel valued for their contribution, get to work cross functionally and receive rewards (not necessarily monetary) for achievement, you may find that the promotional drive in many of them will be greatly reduced. And for those sharp shooters who still have their eye on the top, increasingly challenging projects (with support) may help; but for this one you will have to enlist more help from other more established staffers who may be resentful (and therefore have HR on speed dial).
Social Media. The Gen Y’s get a lot of heat for the one thing they are good at, which is the use of social media. How about finding a way to integrate it into your business process? I don’t mean by posting ‘I hate my boss’ notes on facebook (which they do), but many local companies have not yet seen the benefit of having a web presence outside of the traditional, static website. Social media give you an opportunity to interact with your current and potential customers in a more direct way, and since they know so much about it, you can enlist their support in developing and executing an online strategy that includes facebook, LinkedIn and now Google +. You will just need to vet the content first, of course.
At the end of the day, Gen Y’s are social beings that thrive on constant interaction, feedback and praise. In other words, they are children and in some respects need to be treated that way, even though at times their appearance and behavior may suggest otherwise. That does not mean however that in the work environment, they are there to run trivial errands, should be given menial tasks and denied exposure because they have no ‘experience’.
In any event, they hold the keys to the employee and the customer of the future, where innovation, instant gratification and social collaboration become more important than job title, pay grade and MBA’s. We may heap scorn on facebook as a giant time waster, but as a business enterprise, it has always grasped the power of this generation, because it is run by people of this generation. So when they go on the launch an IPO later on in 2012 and raise an estimated 10 billion US in capital (as is expected), remember that some of the most successful people in business in the next 10 years will be from this generation, so you may want to relinquish the ones that you have from photocopying duty.
The Consultant’s 12 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my client gave to me…
a company in complete anarchy
On the second day of Christmas my client gave to me…
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the third day of Christmas my client gave to me…
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the fourth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the fifth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the sixth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the seventh day of Christmas my client gave to me…
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the eighth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
8 ream-sized reports for reading
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the ninth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
9 scope creep changes
8 ream-sized reports for reading
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the tenth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
10 customers complaining
9 scope creep changes
8 ream-sized reports for reading
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the eleventh day of Christmas my client gave to me…
11 exit strategies
10 customers complaining
9 scope creep changes
8 ream-sized reports for reading
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
On the twelfth day of Christmas my client gave to me…
12 unpaid invoices
11 exit strategies
10 customers complaining
9 scope creep changes
8 ream-sized reports for reading
7 employees cringing
6 ways of not paying (me)
5 impossible targets
4 grumpy managers
3 dysfunctional departments
2 impossible deadlines
And a company in complete anarchy
Consultants: How Companies get (AB)used (and how you can protect yourself)
First a disclaimer- strictly speaking, I do not consider myself to be a consultant, although some of what I do concerns the dark art. When I started this company I took great pains to disassociate myself from the field, and the fact that the name of my company is Beyond Consulting is no accident, but that is a story for another time. Like many of you, I have spent many a company’s dollar, and sleepless nights behind persons who claimed to know how to solve our organisational problems, who ended up either making a situation worse, or who just had no measureable effect. As someone who in a past life had to hire and manage consultants, I soon got the impression that I was paying to watch someone practice, which may have worked if we were at the playground and not in an actual business enterprise.
The thing is, when I did leave full time employment and started my company, I realised that it was easier to classify myself as one (even though I hate the term), because I was confusing potential clients when they asked ‘what do you do’, and it took me two long sentences to explain. Now I just say, ‘I’m a consultant,’ and hope my client list and genuine smile keep me from getting kicked out of their office.
So why the bad name- why have consultants become the lawyers of old? I picked out a couple of reasons why, based on my experience on both sides of the fence- and what you could probably do to protect yourself, and your company from getting used and abused.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. So bright and early on Monday morning, the CEO calls you into his office- which is the first bad sign. He tells you excitedly that a fellow CEO friend shared an article with him from some business magazine (second bad sign). This article talked about some wonderful new performance management program that can help increase employee productivity by up to 20% (never been tried locally), and he wants you to implement it. Apart from the fact that you never heard of this new ‘thing’ (or maybe you did, and knew it would never work in your company) and had no desire to add to your already overburdened workload, you give the CEO an enthusiastic response (that really deserved an academy award), and headed off to wallow in self pity in your office.
Now while this exact scenario may have never happened to you, some of us get stuck with projects that we have very little knowledge of, or appetite for, so we hire a consultant- an expert, to come in and deliver. We make a few calls, put out a few ads, and a few proposals later, we have a decision to make.
Here is the problem- because you don’t know much about the area, you are not really sure what to expect, or how to proceed, and you rely heavily on the consultant- every consultant’s dream. So at the end of it, you end up paying for more than you should have, on a project that took twice as long to complete (if at all), for a system that cannot work in your environment. But it’s not entirely the consultant’s fault. Most people will not walk away from an opportunity to work, on the mistaken premise that they have the ability to get the job done- and some companies think they are ready for something when they truly are not. It takes a really good consultant to say at the outset- ‘I don’t think you organisation is ready for this.’
How do you fix this? Well firstly, you would have to become a consultant yourself. Because I ended up in the position of that manager so many times in the past, I had to literally become something of a resident expert on a few things. Since I wasn’t willing to be the scapegoat at the end of a failed project, I became the literal shadow of the consultant that did come in to do the work, and they didn’t always appreciate it. Yes, my day to day job did suffer a bit, but over a short period of time, I was able to myself become a bit of a resident expert myself, and was better able to steer the boardroom discussions, and direct the work of the hired help. You can’t hire and hide- under the mounds of paper and phone calls at your desk.
It didn’t happen overnight, but to have effective consulting interventions, you must know what you want done (specifically), and be heavily involved in the process of making it happen, along with the consultant. You must give the consultant pertinent and relevant information about the possible obstacles that he/she will face (like a CEO that always thinks that they’re right), and you must be willing to put in the extra time to review the reports and recommendations that are generated.
I got so involved in these projects (because by nature I’m a perfectionist), that at some point I left my ‘day job’ and joined the ranks of the so called experts. That has its benefits and drawbacks, but that too is a story for another day.
For me, the consulting interventions that don’t work out well are those where the client is unable to work alongside the consultant- either because of lack of time, or lack of knowledge of the area- I have even gone to the extent of teaching some of my clients about what I do, so that they come to understand what is involved, and why it costs so much (wink, wink). At the end of the day the consultant’s reputation is at stake, and the client contact could get branded as a non-performer, a lose-lose scenario is there ever was one.
Hiring consultants does not solve a problem, but it presents an opportunity for new ones to never occur.
Stay tuned for more on this subject in future posts.
