Better watch it, Boss: you might not meet with the approval of your new Generation Y employees.
But to motivate and retain them, companies and executives are going to have to understand their 18- to 24-year-old staffers, says employment services provider Randstad Canada.
Generation Y has higher expectations for the employment market than any other generational group.
The day they arrive at their new company, its members start looking for a better job. At least that’s how half of Gen Y employees describe themselves in Randstad’s 2004 Employee Review.
Randstad said in a news release that its study paints a detailed portrait of the generation gap in the workplace.
One of the most striking findings of the research is that only about 36 per cent of Gen Yers want to be working where they are two years from now; most don’t expect their current job to be more than a temporary stop on their career paths. In comparison, roughly 60 to 70 per cent of employees over 25 years of age planned to stay put.
The study found that Gen Y and the 25- to 39-year-olds of Generation X perceive their jobs very differently.
Two-thirds of Gen X get satisfaction from their work and more than three-quarters take pride in the type of work they do. In contrast, only about four in 10 Gen Yers feel this satisfaction and only a little over half are proud of the work they do. It’s not surprising, then, that Gen Y is the group most ready to look for greener pastures.
Gen Yers are the most educated: While they don’t yet have the practical experience, if there is one thing they know how to do, it’s learning. So there’s little wonder that only 43 per cent seemed satisfied with the opportunities to learn new things at their job. Training and personal development are their second-highest priority after job security, and they expect management to see the value of their potential. They also aren’t too thrilled with menial, tedious jobs.
The bottom line, says Randstad, is that Generation Y is demanding, impatient and has a high opinion of their abilities. But they’re about to be the hottest ticket in town for the job market. Recognizing the importance of hiring, training and motivating Gen Y workers is critical to employers.
Based on Randstad’s five years of research, the best way to deal with Gen Y employees is to: Be a participatory role model, challenge them, let them be social, train them, respect them, be flexible and let them grow.
Companies and managers who ignore this do risk losing these bright young Gen Yers to companies who do understand them, says Randstad.
